Friday night’s game between the Eagles and Jets may have resulted in a serious knee injury for New York quarterback Zach Wilson. The other starting quarterback provided his team with a brief scare, too.
Jets linebacker Quincy Williams applied a massive — and late — hit to Jalen Hurts, after he scrambled out of bounds on a third-down play. Coach Nick Sirianni reacted as if he wanted to go three rounds.
After the game, Sirianni explained his outburst, which included Sirianni yelling to the other sideline, “Saleh! What the fuck?!”
“I wasn’t mad at Coach [Robert] Saleh,” Sirianni told reporters. “I was mad at the situation. 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. Obviously, I didn’t want that hit to happen on the sideline. I know it happens, and I know it’s football. I was more mad at the situation, not mad at Coach Saleh.”
Coach Saleh wasn’t happy with the play, either. Primarily because it gave the Eagles 15 yards and a fresh set of downs.
“I talked to him after the game,” Saleh told reporters. “Egregiously awful from Quincy, and he knows that. He knows better. And those are the plays that Quincy has to get out of his game if he wants to become the linebacker that I think he can be, that we all think he can be. It’s one thing to make a mistake in the game, it’s another thing to make a mistake that leads to points, touchdowns. It’s a good drive, we’re off the field, Jalen is a phenomenal quarterback, and to stop them, hold them to a field goal after giving up an explosive — pretty good showing for the first drive. Then to have that happen extends the drive. Anytime you extend the drive like that it’s probably going to lead to bigger points. So Quincy knows, but at the same time those are the plays he’s got to get out of his game if he wants to be the player we think he can be.”
The fact that Williams hit Hurts so late suggests that Saleh is coaching his players to treat running quarterbacks like running backs. That’s something more teams will be doing — and it’s something the officials supposedly will be calling appropriately this year. But a player still can’t be blown up when he’s clearly out of bounds regardless of whether he’s a quarterback or a running back, and Hurts was.
For his part, Hurt had no complaints. “It happens,” he told reporters. “He hit me late. They called a flag. We moved on.”
He was happy, however, that so many came to his defense.
“I think that’s what we’re about,” Hurts said. “In the end, I think that’s us having each other’s backs. That’s Philly.”
The good news for Philly is that Hurts emerged from the game healthy. That’s always the top priority for any team playing in the preseason.
I love how coach Siriani sticks up for his players.
Nothing wrong with that hit if you don’t mind giving up 15 yards and a first down in a meaningless game. It’s a tone setter and it sends a message to every QB who will face the Jets this season. If you don’t like it, stay in the pocket where you are afforded more protection and get the ball out of your hands quicker. Which is also a win for the defense vs these run first QBs. Williams either has a high football IQ or the coaching staff is doing a great job. Or both.
Hurts is a terrible QB.
“It’s a tone setter and it sends a message to every QB who will face the Jets this season.”
And the tone it sets is that the Jets will continue to be a bunch of losers for this season. Undisciplined and stupid plays, which ensures once again that every game the New York Jets play is meaningless, pre or regular season.
“Next thing that’s very important to me is that we build a smart football team. That we have a smart football team here, and I know we have the people in place to do that. The first part of being smart is knowing what to do. We’re going to…we’re going to know…we’re going to have systems in place that are easier to learn. Alright, complicated to the defense or offense that they’re going against, or the special teams group they’re going against, but easy for us to learn. Because when we can learn our system, and we can get good at our system, then our talent can take over.”
It was late, but it wasn’t egregiously late. If QBs are going to run for the sideline, they have to give up and go out of bounds sooner than Hurts did. If you try to get every last half-yard like that, then you’re going to get blown up. And the 15 yard penalty isn’t going to help you if you get hurt on the play. You don’t see the best QBs try to get that extra half yard because they know it isn’t worth it. Hurts doesn’t seem to have figured that out, and in a pre-season game? Yikes that’s dumb.
Sirianni had absolutely no reason to apologize … he reacted the exact way a HC should in that scenario.
Saleh is in over his head. Lol
Saleh is in over his head. Lol —– He’s no BB right?
Cheap shot preseason games dont send messages they get people hurt
sugarbears says: August 13, 2022 at 9:06 am Nothing wrong with that hit if you don’t mind giving up 15 yards and a first down in a meaningless game. It’s a tone setter and it sends a message to every QB who will face the Jets this season. If you don’t like it, stay in the pocket where you are afforded more protection and get the ball out of your hands quicker. Which is also a win for the defense vs these run first QBs. Williams either has a high football IQ or the coaching staff is doing a great job. Or both.
Watch the video. He’s at least three steps out of bounds and has slowed almost to a stop. That’s a cheap shot, period.
Philly has been dishing out cheap shots for years. Karma.
Hopefully that player gets a significant fine for that stunt. That was over the top cheap, especially for a preseason game.
phinatic29 says: August 13, 2022 at 9:47 am
Sirianni had absolutely no reason to apologize … he reacted the exact way a HC should in that scenario.
Someone lauded the late hit because it was a preseason game.
Hurts should not see another preseason snap.
If Hurts does play in the preseason and this happens again one of his offensive linemen is going to have to retaliate. It IS just a preseason game after all, right?
Minshew Magic completed over 68% of his passes last season and had a QB rating over 105 versus 61% and QBR of 87 for Jalen Hurts. Time to kick off Minshew Mania? Don’t underestimate The Power Of The Mustache. They don’t call him The Jock Strap King for nothing.
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