Philadelphia Eagles

Highlights: A dejected Jalen Hurts walked into an Alabama assistant coach’s office without knowing where to turn.

The Sunday before the start of the 2018 college football season, Hurts had just lost the starting quarterback job to Tua Tagovailoa after an offseason battle. He’d been through the wringer, getting benched in the national championship game the year before despite going 26-2 as a starter and watching as Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to a title.

Hurts went to then-Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley with a complicated question presented in a simple package.

“What do I do now?”

“That was the first time I ever saw him emotional,” Locksley said. “He was in tears, he walked into my office and said, ‘What do I do now? I’m 26-2 as a starter and I just lost my job. What do I do?’ I didn’t have a great answer for him other than, ‘I don’t know why this happened now, but I guarantee you that this will benefit you down the road in life, whether it’s in football or in life in general. … Utilize this opportunity.’ And there’s no doubt he did.”

Hurts and Tagovailoa will meet for the first time as NFL quarterbacks on Sunday when the Miami Dolphins travel to Lincoln Financial Field to face the Eagles.

Hurts’ decision to stay at Alabama for the 2018 season as Tagovailoa’s backup proved instrumental. Saban’s pitch to Hurts for staying rather than transferring was getting a chance to focus on taking the necessary strides as a passer and a processor to go with the dynamic ability that has helped make him a self-proclaimed “triple threat” who can beat teams with his arm, his legs, and his mind.

The Eagles will be without safety Reed Blankenship and cornerback Bradley Roby on Sunday night when they host the Miami Dolphins in a Week 7 matchup involving first-place teams. Blankenship (ribs) and Roby (shoulder) did not practice this week, and the team ruled them out Friday.

Meanwhile, right tackle Lane Johnson (ankle), wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), and tight end Dallas Goedert (groin) are expected to play against the Dolphins after they all were limited participants throughout the week.

Cornerback Darius Slay (knee) and rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter (ankle) also will be back in the lineup, marking their return from their one-game absence, while the team regains rookie Sydney Brown, who missed the past three weeks with a hamstring injury.

The Eagles last week filed a trademark application with the office for the phrase “Brotherly Shove” to be used on items including shirts, shorts, jackets, sweatshirts, jerseys, and hats. Trademark attorney Josh Berben, of law firm Gerben Perrott, first reported the application, filed last Tuesday, on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The application is awaiting review, the USPTO’s website indicates. And if the Birds win out, the trademark would mean that only the Eagles could use the term on merchandise, but would not prevent other teams from deploying the “Brotherly Shove” play itself during games.

The injuries killed us today, especially losing Lane Johnston - seemed like Hurts was scrambling more than usual. But the turnovers, ouch…

Highlights:

It takes some luck and a whole lot of toughness to play 145 straight regular-season games, according to former Eagles right tackle Jon Runyan, who has held the franchise record of 144 before Kelce tied it against the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday.

In the interest of self-preservation as he aged into the twilight of his career, Runyan said he learned how to conserve his energy on certain plays so he could go all-out on others. He couldn’t throw his body around with abandon as he did when he first entered the league.