Whilst all eyes have been geared towards Jalen Hurts‘ injury status during Sunday afternoon’s Conference Championship, perhaps the bigger focus should be on a quite literally bigger player this weekend.
Much has been made of the Philadelphia Eagles’ fortunate injury situation, being the only team lucky enough to play the same 22 original starters in the postseason as in their season opener against the Green Bay Packers, back in September.
But in addition to Hurts’ woes, the Eagles have a concern on what is perhaps the team’s biggest strength – the offensive line.
Cam Jurgens, Philadelphia’s Pro Bowl center, was seen leaving the field during warmups, with fellow Pro Bowl guard, Landon Dickerson, taking his snaps at center – with second year lineman, Tyler Steen, filling in at guard beside him.
This lead to many reporting that he would be out for the game – however, Jurgens is still technically active.
The #Eagles are going to make Cam Jurgens active for today’s game, so he isn’t officially out. But he’s considered unlikely to start and only expected in for an emergency situation. We’ll see how this unfolds. https://t.co/nzXUBjX3yT
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 26, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
But given the update, it does not look good for the Eagles’ Pro Bowler regardless, as it feels pretty likely that we will not see the former 2nd round pick from Nebraska hit the field come kick off.
More to follow..
Another Offensive Lineman Out For Championship Game
The Eagles’ unfortunate situation is not exactly a game-ender, but losing what has been one of the better centers in the league in Jurgens for the most important game of the season so far would never be anything but deeply negative.
Especially given the lack of experience that next in line, Tyler Steen, possesses.
Steen has started three games over the first two years in the league, losing out to free agent pickup, Mekhi Becton, this past summer for the right guard job opposite Dickerson.
But his work has been less than stellar, per PFF, who graded him out with a very poor 40.6 overall grade, including a pitiful 37.7 pass blocking grade, in 2024.
The Eagles have had the best offensive line in football this past season, in what has been a historically consistently excellent unit, but with no pivot, this could turn into a potential issue – particularly given the presence of Pro Bowler, Jonathan Allen, on the Commanders’ defensive line.
Both Teams Heading Into The Game A Big Man Down
As devastating as the injury is for Jurgens, it ends up levelling the playing field for both teams, with the Commanders down top offensive lineman and Pro Bowl guard.
Sam Cosmi suffered a torn ACL in last weekend’s bout in Detroit – a small but sizeable stinger in the face of immense joy.
Without Cosmi, Washington have an uphill battle trying to block Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis – and depending on the performance of Steen, perhaps the same will be said with regards to Allen.
Comments
Eagles Get Bad News On Pro Bowl Stud Hours Before Conference Championship