Jalen Hurts talks overcoming adversity to beat the Commanders

The Eagles are now 7-1 with a win over the Commanders, and quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to reporters after the game and touched on how his knee was feeling, why he’s so proud of A.J. Brown and what he’s accomplished, and how he never expected to be throwing a TD pass to Julio Jones.

Here’s what the QB had to say:

On his knee injury

“I’m here.

I’m really happy how we persevered, and how resilient we were today.

I’m happy we won.”

He doubled down when asked about his knee again, saying “I’m here,” and noted that he said during the week that he was done speaking about it.

On overcoming the deficit

“I think obviously there was some circumstances in the game that were not favorable for us, we would not have liked for it to happen, but I think we overcame it. And so, it’s just about the mentality that we have coming out from the way it should go, and being the team we know that we are.”

Hurts gave a lot of credit to the Commanders for always putting up a good fight when they face each other, saying that he knows that defensive front very well and that’s a good team over there. The QB also noted that Sam Howell had a big game, as well, saying the Washington quarterback was consistent and is someone Hurts has a lot of respect for.

On A.J. Brown’s history-making day

“He’s doing really impressive things. He’s playing at a very high level. He’s been consistent. And, as a friend, I know what his mentality is and where it’s coming from. It’s no surprise. And the way he works, what he does in the offseason, where his mental is, and why his why, and so I’m proud of him as a friend and as a quarterback. I’m proud that he’s truly invested into winning and putting the team first and doing whatever he needs to do in his role to win.”

On his TD pass to Julio Jones

The QB said it was a big time play for Jones in a big-time moment.

“I know [Jones isn’t] afraid of those. He’s been in those moments a lot of times in his career and it was cool to see.

Cool to see, cool to do. Cool to see him making a play for you. In all my years I wouldn’t say that I’d be throwing touchdown passes to Julio Jones, but here it is.”

Other notables

• The QB was asked if this was his best performance so far this season, and he quipped that it must’ve been if he’s being asked the question.
• Hurts was quick to explain that he didn’t the snap and wasn’t able to secure the ball causing the fumble at the goal line.
• At 7-1, the quarterback talked about how that it’s always about the journey for him and the team, and so while there’s one stop they’d like to get to at the end of the season, there won’t be a point where they feel there’s no more room to grow. Hurts said he has an internal fire that burns for his improvement, and that’s something he shares with the team, and they’ll keep growing on their journey.
• Hurts explained that his wide-open pass to D’Andre Swift wasn’t the way it was supposed to look, but they were on the same page and made it work, and he got in the endzone.