The shoulder, that's always the first question or two. To make it clear, as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did on Thursday at the NovaCare Complex as the team returned to work for a walkthrough practice and meetings in preparation for Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs, "I'm getting there. I've made it clear this whole time that it's been something that I've been dealing with. Getting there."
Getting better?
"With time," Hurts said.
And now let's move on, because there is so much to talk about with Hurts and his rise in Year 3 of his Eagles career. What a brilliant year he's had – 35 total touchdowns in the regular season and four more in the two playoff wins, a Pro Bowl nod, affirmation as a second-team All-Pro, MVP finalist, leading a team to the Super Bowl – and as he prepares for the highest stage, Hurts remains who he is and will always be: The guy just doesn't waver as he preps for a Kansas City defense that he faced last season and completed 32 of 48 passes for 387 yards and a pair of touchdowns and added eight carries for 47 yards in a 42-30 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
Hurts will be part of history on February 12 when he and Patrick Mahomes represent the first pair of Black quarterbacks starting the same Super Bowl game, something he acknowledged as special.
"I think it's history. I think it's something that's worthy of being noted and it is history," Hurts said. "I think it's come a long way. I think there's only been seven African American quarterbacks to play in the Super Bowl. To be the first for something is pretty cool. It'll be a good one."
The one line that stood out, in typical Hurts fashion, was when he said, "Let's keep the main thing, the main thing."
What does that mean? "It's a Philly thing," we know about, born from a Hurts quote in a press conference and that line launched a sold-out marketing and merchandise campaign.
"Keep the main thing, the main thing."
It means that Hurts and the Eagles aren't going to be drawn into any of the sideshow distractions that a Super Bowl brings. Can you imagine what it will be like on Monday at Media Night – a media circus, if there ever was one – with clown-show reporters trying to get the goofiest, silliest stuff from him. He's just not going to go there.
This is all business for Hurts, for the Eagles. The Eagles are on a mission to win their second Super Bowl in six years. Hurts is deep into tape study now, no doubt boiling down the good and the not-as-good from the Week 4 game in 2021.
"I think they had a really good team last year. They have a really good team this year," Hurts said. "I think, in terms of us, we have to go out there and do what we've done all year, just go out there and execute at a high level. We know we have a huge challenge in front of us with what they do on defense, their front seven, how active they are up front.
"We just want to go out there and kind of play clean."
For Hurts, it is always about being the best, and "the Super Bowl is on the list to be the best," and that's the focus. That and only that. Enjoy the moment, he said. Embrace the moment, he said. And stay focused on the "task at hand."
His best play of the season, he was asked?
"My season's not over," Hurts said, chuckling.
It sure isn't. We have one more game to watch Hurts and this outstanding offense and this dominating Eagles team all together. After that, we know, there are going to be changes because that's how it works in the NFL.
Cherish this last challenge on the game's biggest and most important stage.
"One more game," Hurts said, and that says all that needs to be said.
