PHILADELPHIA — Cam Jurgens shouldn’t have been playing on Sunday. On most game days, Jurgens probably wouldn’t have been active.
The Eagles — and Jurgens — knew what was at stake. Jurgens would be an emergency option at center, a sign of how much pain his back was actually in as the Pro Bowler couldn’t start the NFC Championship game.
“It was just dealing with some pain, trying to get through it,” Jurgens said. “It was a long week.”
The in case of emergency option was needed, as starting center Landon Dickerson — who moved over from left guard — had to leave the NFC Championship game with a knee injury at halftime. In came Jurgens, playing though the pain just trying to help the Eagles finish the job and get to the Super Bowl.
Mission accomplished, but it wasn’t easy. Jurgens admitted he masked through the pain in his 25 snaps.
The Eagles needed Jurgens. Back injury didn’t matter.
“Landon’s fighting through shit. Everybody’s fighting through shit,” Jurgens said. “I think we kind of went in there figuring what percent I could get up to and how much I could do. We felt those five that started were gonna give us the best shot and I was ready to come in. That was our game plan today.”
Jurgens labored through the second half, allowing two pressures in 11 pass-blocking snaps. He clearly wasn’t himself, but no one would know it watching the Eagles offense score touchdowns on four of their six second half possessions. They also rushed for 128 yards and averaged 7.9 yards per carry in the second half, this with a backup guard in Tyler Steen starting and a Pro Bowl center in Jurgens just getting through the day.
“Cam’s a tough son of a bitch. Steen. All of them,” said Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson. “There will probably never be a Hard Knocks in our room, but if there was … yeah … through the roof.”
How serious is the back injury? While Jurgens didn’t practice this week and watched, that won’t be the case for Super Bowl LIX. Jurgens will be ready to go, after a performance he admitted was “good enough.”
“That was really, that was gritty of him,” said Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. “He hadn’t practiced all week, really pushing through, and the resilience he showed coming in and being able to see the defense the way he was. We loved how he prepared, obviously, the preparation showed, and he’s been great all year. … He’s done a great job. We’ll need him to do that again this upcoming week.”
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