Brown hurt as Eagles’ get-right hopes go wrong

Tim McManus, ESPN Staff WriterJan 7, 2024, 06:32 PM ET
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Philadelphia Eagles hoped their regular-season finale against the New York Giants would serve as a get-right game before the start of the playoffs.

Instead, it devolved into a borderline disaster.

Receiver A.J. Brown injured his right knee in the first quarter and later was ruled out of the game. Safety Reed Blankenship (groin), starting right guard Cam Jurgens (eye) and safety Sydney Brown (knee) also were ruled out.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts injured the middle finger on his throwing hand but stayed in the game before coach Nick Sirianni decided to pull several key starters late in the second quarter with the Eagles down 24-0 and their hopes of capturing the NFC East title all but lost.

Those hopes were officially dashed a short time later, as the Giants finished off a 27-10 victory.

The Eagles, who dropped five of their last six games following a 10-1 start, finish the season as the No. 5 seed and will play at No. 4 Tampa Bay in the wild card round next Monday.

Hurts took a trip to the medical tent in the second quarter after injuring his middle finger when his throwing hand collided with linebacker Bobby Okereke‘s hand on a fourth-down pass attempt. He had the finger wrapped and stayed in the game, but the offense remained ineffective and he was pulled along with center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson for the last couple of series of the half.

Hurts later said his finger “popped out” of place. He added that it felt “OK” when he returned, but when asked about being ready for the Tampa Bay game, he said he’s “taking it day by day at this point.”

Brown exited late in the first quarter after his right leg was pinned awkwardly behind him while he was being tackled by cornerback Nick McCloud.

Dressed in regular clothes, he greeted his coaches and teammates at the locker room entrance as they exited the field postgame. Sirianni told media after the game that he hadn’t talked to athletic trainers about Brown yet.

Sirianni added that he felt “terrible” that Brown got hurt and is hopeful he will be fine for the Bucs game but “we’ll see as the week goes.”

Philadelphia needed a win over New York and a Dallas Cowboys loss to the Washington Commanders to secure the division and a home playoff game. While the latter seemed like a long shot — Dallas ultimately won, 38-10 — the Eagles wanted to at least build positive momentum heading into the postseason.

But a defense that has struggled all season and failed to gain its footing under new playcaller Matt Patricia yielded over 400 yards to Tyrod Taylor and the 6-11 Giants.

Sirianni acknowledged the performance wasn’t good enough from top to bottom but tried to spin the messaging forward, noting “everybody is 0-0 going into this week.”

“When you get hit in life, when you get hit in football, you’ve got two options: You can stay down or you can get the F up. And I know this group is fighters, I know this group will get up,” he said.

The Eagles opted not to dress several key players, including receiver DeVonta Smith (knee), D’Andre Swift (illness) and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (rest).

Still, Sirianni said at the beginning of the week that the Eagles would “do whatever we need to do to win this game” in part because they wanted “to go into the playoffs not in a rut.”

“Right now, regardless of what’s going on outside of us, anything external, it’s about controlling what we can,” Hurts said. “I truly believe this team is more than capable of taking advantage of what’s in front of us. You’ve got to do the work and you’ve got to do what you need to do, but all you need is a crumb, all you need is an opportunity.”