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The Philadelphia Eagles had an easy time at the erstwhile-unbeaten Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning 25-11.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the star of the game, scoring two touchdowns, one a 34-yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and the other his trademark sneak.
However, had things gone differently, he might not have played at all. During the ABC broadcast, Adam Schefter reported that Hurts had experienced flu-like symptoms before the game, but that did not stop him from playing anyway:
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Fans react to Jalen Hurts' apparent flu diagnosis
Despite the Eagles' dominance, NFL fans in general had only one thing in mind: the star quarterback's apparent illness. Their suspicions were seemingly confirmed when Hurts was intercepted in the third quarter by Tampa Bay cornerback Dee Delaney:
Fans went to X to express their amusement, making comparisons to Michael Jordan:
Fortunately for the Eagles, linebacker Nicholas Morrow forced a safety in the ensuing play:
When did Jalen Hurts fall ill before?
This is not the first time in his career that Jalen Hurts has contracted what seems to be flu.
In 2021, before his first full season, the Philadelphia Eagles star came down with stomach pains ahead of a preseason game against the New England Patriots, as Nick Sirianni recalled:
“He had pain in his abdomen. For a guy like that to tell us, he’s a tough guy, so it must have been hurting him pretty good for him to let us know about that."
While initially feared to have had contracted COVID, he tested negative, but the Eagles preempetively benched him for Joe Flacco and Nick Mullens, who were intercepted once each in the ensuing 35-0 home loss. Sirianni said:
“He came in, he wasn’t feeling great. We put him through pregame warmups, and he wanted to go out there and go through pregame warmups. He came back in. He still wasn’t feeling good.
"We evaluated him. We just decided that it wasn’t in his best interest to play with what he was feeling. We evaluated him. He’s doing OK now. That’s why we held him out.”
Hurts declined to discuss his injury with the media upon his return to camp.
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