The Philadelphia Eagles, led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, will chase their second Super Bowl appearance in the past five years when they meet the San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Brock Purdy, in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
NFL Network’s Stacey Dales caught Eagles head coach Sirianni before the game, and here’s what he said:
On Hurts: “He’s just got to go out there and be himself and play like he’s played all year. He’s worked hard to get to this point. We’ve worked hard as a team to get to this point and I’m excited to go watch him play today.”
On Purdy, a rookie quarterback who is 7-0: “With any quarterback, you have to make him feel uncomfortable as possible, with what he’s seen, with hitting him, with the crowd , with the crowd noise. Everything we can do to make him uncomfortable, that’s what we want to do.
“Now, he’s played good football, too, and we’ve seen that. He’s a good player and we’ve recognized that.”
On Sirianni’s final message to the team: “You don’t get to this point and start making a new message up. By the way, our identity is fast, physical and for each other — and do all these things together.”
Hurts is having a breakout, MVP-caliber year and its hard to top the pass-catching duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who both easily topped 1,000 yards receiving. Linebacker Haason Reddick leads the defense with 16 sacks.
Hurts is battling a sore throwing shoulder, but it didn’t seem to be a problem in last week’s dominant win against the Giants.
“I’ve felt better, but it doesn’t really matter,” Hurts said. “I’ve got to get it done.”
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Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. The AP contributed to this report.
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