It was scary when Jalen Hurts took a late hit out of bounds on Monday night against the Bears, and the Eagles QB was forced to undergo a concussion evaluation as a result. He left the field annoyed, but with urgency to get it over with, and Hurts was seen growing increasingly angry the longer he was sidelined.
In the moment, I appreciated the emotion from the quarterback, but more than anything, I just wanted him back out on the field. Doing what he does. Competing. What I missed in the moment, was
just how much was being revealed by the situation.
For years, people have complained about a lack of emotion from Jalen Hurts. They’ve tried to analyze his personality any number of ways, and used his baseline of calm and collected as evidence for both his successes and his failures. They’ve associated that personality with issues in the locker room, and used it as a scapegoat for poor chemistry among former friends.
What we saw on Monday night, was the “it” factor. The one thing to make Hurts lose his composure in a fit of anger. They took him out of the game — off the field he’s so often called his most sacred place, and weren’t letting him back to compete alongside his brothers in their quest to win. And, to make things worse, he believed he was fine enough to be on the field, and they took too long to get him there. Instead, he had to watch Andy Dalton throw an interception in the back of the end zone while he waited for the doctors to give him the thumbs up he knew he’d get several minutes earlier.
So, we finally saw it. Hurts was mad. He was yelling, cussing, and stomping around. And, it wasn’t because of a turnover, or in the final seconds of an ugly loss, it was when the game was taken away from him and he wasn’t given a chance to contribute.
For anyone wondering what it would take to see the infamously even-keeled QB crack, it’s not letting him play football.
