PHILADELPHIA − So much for the notion that the Eagles would build a big enough lead to get Jalen Hurts and many of the starters out of the game early in the second half.
Hurts, playing in his first game Sunday since spraining his shoulder Dec. 18, was clearly used differently, a sign that his shoulder might not be completely healed.
The Eagles made that clear with no designed runs for Hurts. And it was clear Hurts was under orders to slide or run out of bounds at the slightest hint of trouble, which he did.
All of which made for a tougher-than-expected 22-16 win over a Giants team resting its starters and starting a practice-squad quarterback in Davis Webb.
The Eagles didn’t have that luxury as they still needed a win to clinch the NFC East and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
The Eagles’ reward is a first-round bye. They won’t have to play again until the weekend of Jan. 21-22, thus giving Hurts another extra week of rest.
In all, Hurts went 20-for-35 for 229 yards with an interception.
But the Eagles played it very conservatively as Hurts ran 9 times for 13 yards. They settled for 5 field goals by Jake Elliott rather than risking Hurts to hits from the Giants defense.
Hurts showed there wasn’t anything wrong with his throwing arm. His very first play was a slant to A.J. Brown that Brown turned into a 35-yard gain, in the process breaking Mike Quick’s record for receiving yards in a season. Quick had 1,409 yards receiving in 1983.
Later in the first quarter, Hurts threw deep for Brown, hitting him for 37 yards. The Eagles got a touchdown on Boston Scott’s 8-yard run for a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Still, Hurts showed some rust, throwing an interception into the end zone on the opening drive of the third quarter with the Eagles leading 16-0. Perhaps a touchdown on that drive would have led the Eagles to pull him.
Instead, the Eagles got a field goal later in the third quarter, before the Giants scored a field goal and touchdown on Webb’s 14-yard run with 10:04 left in the fourth quarter to cut the Eagles’ lead to 19-9.
There was no pulling Hurts at that point.
The Eagles got another field goal with 3:21 left before Kenny Golladay’s 25-yard TD reception with 1:43 left provided the final margin. The Eagles recovered an onsides kick to close it out.
It was evident early on that Hurts wasn’t going to take any chances. He dropped back to pass on 2nd-and-1 early in the game and slid rather than take a hit. He lost a yard. Hurts didn’t try a QB sneak until their final drive in the fourth quarter.
Still, Hurts did take a few hits. The first time came when he escaped a sack and got bumped as he ran out of bounds late in the first half. Hurts landed on his right shoulder and bounced right back up on his feet.
On the same drive, Hurts was knocked down from behind after he threw. That was penalized as a late hit. Hurts was sacked twice on that final first-half drive which ended with a field goal.
The Giants, without QB Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley, managed to hang around.
If there was any doubt that Hurts would play, he made it official by walking into Lincoln Financial Field wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Michael Jordan when he unretired from the Bulls, with the words “I’m Back!” on the bottom.
Hurts wasn’t the only key player coming back from injury.
The Eagles activated safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and defensive end Robert Quinn off injured reserve Saturday, giving the Eagles a much-needed boost on defense.
Gardner-Johnson has missed the last five games after suffering a lacerated kidney on Dec. 4 against Tennessee. Despite missing so much time, Gardner-Johnson is still tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with 6. The Eagles acquired Quinn before the trade deadline.
Gardner-Johnson switched between safety and nickel corner in place of Avonte Maddox, who’s missing his second straight game with a toe injury.
Quinn, meanwhile, played in five games since the Eagles acquired him before going on IR with a knee injury. Quinn hasn’t had any sacks since coming to the Eagles. But his return is needed because it coincides with Josh Sweat’s neck injury suffered last Sunday against the Saints.
Sweat, who has 11 sacks, was ruled out for the game.
Record for A.J. Brown
It only took one play for A.J. Brown to set the Eagles’ franchise record for receiving yards in a season. Brown came into the game with 1,401 yards, 8 short of Mike Quick’s record set in 1983. On the first play, Hurts threw a slant to Brown, who turned that into a 35-yard gain.
This is Brown’s first season with the Eagles.
No sack record
The Eagles had just 2 sacks Sunday, falling 3 short of breaking the Bears’ NFL record in a season. Chicago had 72 in 1984. They’ll finish with 70 on the season.
None of the Ealges’ sacks were on Webb. Cornerback Zech McPhearson had the first sack, when field-goal holder Jamie Gillan kept the ball as he set up for a field goal. Linebacker Kyzir White had the second, when TE Lawrence Cager tried a pass on a trick play.
Eagles, Giants inactives has many starters
Eagles starters among those not on the game-day roster include RT Lane Johnson (groin), CB Avonte Maddox (toe) and DE Josh Sweat (neck), all sitting out with injuries. The other inactives are QB Ian Book and RB Trey Sermon.
For the Giants, they took 6 starters off the game-day roster in S Julian Love, CB Adoree’ Jackson, RB Saquon Barkley OLB Azeez Ojulari, OT Andrew Thomas, DL Dexter Lawrence and DL Leonard Williams.
QB Daniel Jones is on the Giants’ game-day roster, but he wasn’t expected to play. Webb started ahead of Jones’ backup, Tyrod Taylor. Webb had gotten into 1 game in his career, rushing 2 times for minus-3 yards while with Buffalo last season.
In other moves, the Eagles also signed P Brett Kern to the 53-man roster because he was out of practice squad elevations. To make room for Kern, Gardner-Johnson and Quinn, the Eagles placed LB Shaun Bradley (wrist) and DE Janarius Robinson (ankle) on IR. They waived G Sua Opeta on Friday.
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Eagles have a top-10 draft pick
New Orleans’ loss to Carolina on Sunday means that the Eagles will pick No. 10 in the first round. The Eagles made a trade with the Saints last April where, in essence, the Eagles sent 2 first-round picks to New Orleans (No. 16 and No. 19) in return for the Saints’ first-rounder (No. 18) plus a first-rounder in 2023 and a second-rounder in 2024.
The Saints went 7-10 this season.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
