Jalen Hurts Is Biggest Takeaway From Debut Of In-Season HBO Series
It wasn’t a bad throw, after all. It was a matter of miscommunication when Jalen Hurts appeared to throw a pass behind a crossing DeVonta Smith that would have likely led to a touchdown during the Eagles' 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday.
Credit HBO’s Hard Knocks the NFC East edition for capturing some raw emotion from the Eagles quarterback in their debut episode on Tuesday night. Hurts doesn’t show emotion very much when he does his postgame press conference, but what the HBO cameras captured was a QB in the heat of battle.
The play to Smith showed Hurts make a hand signal toward the receiver, who didn’t see it. Hurts wanted him to run a stop-route, but Smith continued his route toward the center of the field deep in Bears territory. The HBO cameras showed Hurts taking accountability on the sideline.
“I thought you… When I pointed like this - that’s my fault,” he said to Smith on the bench. “I thought you were going to settle down.”
Hurts sat on the bench for a few seconds then went over to his receivers and said, “That’s a play I got to make, keep doing what ya’ll doing. Here we go. We’ll finish the next one, that’s a play I’ll make.”
Hurts’ in-game accountability to his teammates was probably the biggest takeaway from episode one. He did it again when he fumbled away a gold opportunity for the Eagles to take their first lead of the game with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter.
Jalyx Hunt had given the Eagles good field position with his second interception of the season. Three Saquon Barkley runs totaling 24 yards brought the Eagles to a third-and-one at the Chicago 12.
On the tush push from there, Jalen Hurts had the ball ripped way from Nahshon Wright. The lost fumble was pivotal in the loss.
“That’s me,” Hurts said to his teammates near him on the bench.
He went over to his offensive linemen and said, “That (bleeping) dumb (bleep) I did. … I was trying to secure the ball, and he came in there and gutted it out. …That’s on me, I gotta protect the (bleeping) ball at the end of the day.”
The Eagles are sitting at 8-4 and will play the 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.
After a flurry of injuries, Blumel's dream of joining the Bruins has finally come true
One of the stories of the Boston Bruins' 2025 training camp was the debut of Matej Blumel. Pavel Zacha took the young Czech under his wing, and he nearly made the team out of camp. It was a bit of a surprise that he didn't break camp with the Bruins, and fans breathed a sigh of relief when no one claimed him on the waiver wire. However, after a flurry of injuries, Blumel's dream of joining the Bruins has finally come true.
Blumel's tenure started on the second line with Zacha and Alex Steeves. It was a natural fit given that he and Steeves starred together in Providence for most of the year, and he and Zacha were inseparable in line rushes during training camp. With the first two games of Blumel's season coming in losses, head coach Marco Sturm juggled the lines for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, and Blumel couldn't be happier.
Blumel will now play on the left wing on the first line next to fellow countrymen Zacha and David Pastrnak. It was a fun idea thrown around in training camp as people tried to decipher how the lineup would look, but it's very cool to see it become a reality. While Marat Khusnutdinov moving down the lineup is a bit unfortunate, given the way he was playing, Sturm and the Bruins could really find something with this new trio.
""I can see it off the ice, they take care of [Blümel]. David and Pav, they take care of him. They even take him out for dinner and stuff like that on the road.""Marco Sturm
Friday night's Bruins game is a special one for Matej Blumel
The opportunity to play with his fellow compatriots isn't lost on Blumel. Pastrnak seems to like the young Czech, and if he can seize the opportunity, Blumel might stick around with the Bruins as Pastrnak's permanent linemate. Who knows, maybe you can even look at the big picture and wonder if Blumel could have a good next few weeks and steal a spot on Czechia's Olympic roster as a chemistry option with the two Bruins.
Nevertheless, Blumel is only looking ahead to his first opportunity to play alongside Zacha and Pastrnak, and he is ready for whatever comes with it.
""You come in the locker room and you see your name up there with those two, and morning skate with them, it is a really cool moment. When I signed here, it was kind of my wish to suit up for a game with those two.""Matej Blumel
The hope for Blumel is that the wish isn't just a one-game sample size. If the trio can click together on Friday night and help lead the Bruins to their first win in four games, it could be the start of something special.
