PHILADELPHIA − It was clear early on that the Eagles weren’t taking any chances with Jalen Hurts in his return after missing two games with a sprained shoulder.
So there were no called designed runs in the first half.
But there certainly wasn’t anything wrong with Hurts’ 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.
In all, Hurts went 12-for-18 for 140 yards in the first half as the Eagles built a 16-0 lead against a Giants team resting their star players, including quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants started practice-squad QB Davis Webb, who had never thrown a pass since entering the NFL in 2017 as the Giants’ third-round pick.
But it was a different plan than usual with Hurts in the game, one designed to keep him from getting hit. So when Hurts dropped back to pass on 2nd-and-1 early in the game, he slid rather than take a hit and lost a yard. There were no QB sneaks, and few if any read-option calls.
Hurts wasn’t hit until late in the first half. 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.
The second time came after he threw and was knocked down from behind. That was penalized as a late hit. The third time came on a sack. Hurts was sacked again on that final first-half drive which ended with a field goal.
Still, the Eagles needed Hurts to play with the NFC East, top seed and first-round bye at stake. A win over the Giants, who are locked into the No. 6 seed, clinches both.
And 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 led the Eagles to a field-goal on the opening drive after the 35-yard pass to Brown down to the Giants’ 30. The Eagles scored a touchdown on their next drive, highlighted by the 37-yard pass to Brown. That TD came on 8-yard run by Boston Scott.
The Eagles added two more field goals, with the Giants never threatening to score.
But 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.
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.
