If you thought Jalen Hurts took a big hit when Quincy Williams pummeled the Eagles quarterback out of bounds on an illegal play that enraged Philadelphia’s sideline in Friday’s preseason opener, it might pale compared to what Jordan Mailata was prepared to do to Williams before he thought otherwise.
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“I wanted to lead him with my helmet,” said the 6-foot-8, 365-pound Australian left tackle. “Then the warning sign came in. I didn’t want to go back in the (concussion) protocol. I wanted to strangle him, to be honest.”
Other linemen rushed over and might have been ready to drop gloves. And Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, with no pads but with a reaction that would make the grade school teachers back in Jamestown, N.Y., blush, appeared set to tap in himself. This wasn’t Jason Peters brawling with Washington’s enforcers after Nick Foles took a hit in 2014, but there should be little question about whether Hurts’ linemen are prepared to be his bodyguards.
“That’s us having each other’s backs,” Hurts said. “That’s Philly. That’s coach Sirianni. That’s Jordan Mailata. That’s (Jason) Kelce. That’s some of the defensive guys. Just everybody.”
There’s no breaking news chyron for teammates defending their quarterback. It might be more newsworthy if the offensive line was apathetic. But in a preseason game when the starters played only one series and the schemes were vanilla, it’s hard to be certain what will translate to September. Hurts went 6-for-6 and threw a touchdown pass. The first-team defense stymied the Jets and intercepted Zach Wilson. Those series might matter little come the season opener.
What will translate, though, is the way the locker room feels about Hurts. Mailata changed into a Hurts T-shirt. Hurts made his rounds in the locker room, not merely confined to the corner where the quarterbacks convene. There’s much that remains unknown about Hurts in his second year as a starter, and debate won’t dissipate about whether he’s the Eagles’ long-term quarterback. What lacks any grounds for debate is the way he’s regarded by teammates and coaches.
“We have tremendous respect for Jalen,” Mailata said.
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“He’s our quarterback, right?” Sirianni said. “I spend more time with him than any other player in meetings, talking to him after meetings, everything. He’s the one guy that my son and I have a handshake, and the same handshake is done with Jalen, and my son and Jalen are doing it now as well. Him and I are close.”
The person who seemed most unperturbed about the hit was Hurts. He quickly popped to his feet, like a batter sprinting to first base after taking a beanball. One characteristic of Hurts that’s been apparent since he came to Philadelphia: He won’t let opponents (or anyone) see him bleed if he can help it.
“It happens,” Hurts said. “I’ll let y’all say whatever. He hit me late. They called a flag. We moved on.”
Upon further prodding, Hurts poked fun at the storyline. He just had a perfect passer rating and the attention is on a hit that left him nonplussed?
“I’m very pleased to be talking about the hit if this is the biggest takeaway from the night,” Hurts said. “You definitely don’t want to come out here in these games and take hits, let alone a late hit like that. But it happens. I’m not tripping about it. It happens. I’m healthy. I’m fine. I got right back up and played the next play.”
That doesn’t diminish the visceral reaction around him, because he’s fortunate he was able to jump up so quickly in good health. Any helmet-to-helmet hit carries risk. Add in the reality that it was an unnecessary hit, out of bounds and in a preseason game, and one would understand the vitriol from the Eagles sideline.
“It’s a preseason game, there’s no room for a dirty play in the NFL,” Mailata said. “Especially not to my QB.”
Mailata said if Hurts didn’t quickly resettle and run to the huddle, he “definitely would have hit (Williams) with my helmet.” Although he did admit he wasn’t sure it was Williams at the moment, suggesting he ran to the first linebacker he saw. He stopped short of sharing what he said.
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“Maybe just bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep,” said Mailata.
It didn’t take a trained lip reader to interpret what Sirianni said. He threw his headset and shouted toward Jets coach Robert Saleh. He also expressed his thoughts on the play to anyone and everyone in earshot (and eyesight, when including the television cameras). A censored version would have included similar bleeps to what Mailata suggested.
“I wasn’t mad at coach Saleh. I was mad at the situation,” Sirianni said after the game. “I was more mad at the player than coach Saleh. Coach Saleh is a great guy. I have so much respect for him. It was just emotions of the game. I was just sticking up for Jalen. I’ll never apologize for sticking up for my players. I should have handled it a little bit better than I did.”
Saleh, who had his own quarterback injury to worry about, condemned the hit. He called it “egregiously awful” and spoke to Williams after the game.
Of course, this won’t be the last time Hurts takes a big hit. It probably won’t be the last time he takes a big hit after the play. There might be debate about whether Hurts should have even extended that play. If Hurts is your signal caller, the offense is going to feature a quarterback who moves the pocket and becomes a runner. He could be susceptible to these plays even if he slides or tries to get out of bounds safely because he’s a ball carrier and defenders are racing to stop him. The hit on Friday was long enough after playing to conclude that it was egregious; there are other close calls when the flag isn’t thrown and the collision still takes place.
However, it’s within the Eagles’ control to ensure that this is the last time Hurts takes that type of hit in a preseason game. Sirianni wouldn’t make that concession — or at least on account of Friday’s penalty.
“We won’t ever be scared to do something,” Sirianni said. “You’re going to get hit. He got hit late out of bounds. Well, what’s stopping somebody hitting him in the pocket? It’s football and that won’t play into our decision.”
(Photo: Saquan Stimpson-ZUMA Press Wire / Cal Sport Media via AP Images)