Stomach Infection Send Hurts To Sidelines, Hospital

Jalen Hurts warmed up at the Linc but stomach pains landed him in the hospital instead.

The Eagles survived a starting quarterback scare Thursday night as Jalen Hurts was suddenly sent to the hospital to be examined for abdomen pain as the Eagles were starting to play the New England Patriots in a preseason game but was diagnosed with a minor stomach infection.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said his second-year quarterback arrived at the stadium complaining of stomach pains but still wanted to play against the Patriots at the Linc. Hurts dressed in uniform and warmed up with his teammates, but the Eagles chose to keep him out and eventually sent him to the hospital for an exam.

“He wanted to go out there and go through pregame warmups. He came back in and still wasn’t feeling good. We evaluated him and we just decided it wasn’t in his best interest to play with what he was feeling,” Sirianni said. “We evaluated him. He is fine now. He is doing OK now, but that is why we held him out.”

The decision to yank Hurts spawned further changes, as Sirianni decided to keep veteran starting offensive lineman Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson sidelined as well.

Backup quarterback Joe Flacco started the game and was protected by backup linemen Nate Herbig, Jack Driscoll and Matt Pryor, as the Eagles were dominated by the Patriots in a 35-0 loss.

“Somebody alerted me that something might be happening,” Flacco said after. “Obviously, he went through warmups and things like that. I didn’t really think too much of it. It’s just kind of the nature of this business. You have to be ready to go in at any time.”

Sirianni said Hurts would probably take a couple of days off before returning to practice. The Eagles are off Friday and on Monday will begin two-day joint practices against the Jets in Florham Park, N.J., before their Thursday preseason finale at MetLife Stadium.

The lingering question is whether Hurts will play in the preseason finale. Sirianni didn’t commit to Hurts playing in that game and emphasized the competitive nature of the joint practices.

“Next week we have two practices against the Jets and two other practices, so, again, we’ll evaluate how he’s feeling the next couple days,” Sirianni said. “Again, we get two practices against the Jets. I’ve said before, those are like games. Those inter-squad practices are like games, so he is going to be able to get two more there. I’m pretty confident that we’ll get a lot of good work against the Jets.”

– Geoff Mosher (@geoffmoshernfl) is co-host of the “Inside the Birds” podcast and staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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