Vikings’ Javon Hargrave Gets Honest About Eagles’ Jalen Hurts
The Minnesota Vikings will be facing Jalen Hurts, who is coming off a decent performance in the Philadelphia Eagles‘ loss to the New York Giants in Week 6.
Hurts recorded 283 passing yards while completing 72.7 percent of his passes for one touchdown and one interception. Nonetheless, the Eagles fell and will look for a bounce-back win against the Vikings.
Javon Hargrave is a player on the Minnesota squad who is familiar with Hurts. He recently spoke with Vikings Entertainment Network’s Tatum Everett about ensuring his former teammate has a quiet game.
“We just all got to be one with great communication,” Hargrave said about containing Hurts. “We know if he get out that pocket, he’s Superman out there. So, we kind of got to work as a unit to try to keep him in that pocket and don’t let him be able to make a lot of plays.”
Vikings Will Need to Account for Tush Push
When playing against the Eagles, every defense needs to account for the tush push play. Hargrave has experienced both sides of the coin—he’s benefited from the tush push play and now faces the challenge of defending against it.
“It’s just funny because when I was on that side playing with them I love to play,” Hargrave added. “But of course I’m with everybody else. I kind of hate the play. I think the only way you really can stop it is just don’t let them get down there. So we just trying to talk about those things.”
Carson Wentz to Start for Vikings
While the Vikings defense are preparing for Hurts, the question heading into this matchup was who would Minnesota pick to start this game against Philadelphia under center. Despite J.J. McCarthy returning to practice in a limited role, head coach Kevin O’Connell named Carson Wentz the starting quarterback for Week 7.
“I think as opposed to maybe having to designate and list a running back or a receiver, if we get into that situation, I feel comfortable enough in what would be considered that kind of emergency capacity to be able to call some [plays],” said O’Connell (h/t
“I feel good after watching him practice about some of the things that give him some problems at this point but at the same time, some of the things he feels
“And he got a ton of reps this week, both with the first group, and also with getting some real good reps with that look team of feeling the rush of [Jonathan] Greenard and [Dallas] Turner and [Javon] Hargrave and [Jonathan] Allen and really working on some things that are really starting to come to fruition. So, I was proud of the way he attacked the week, and I know, although he knows he’s not quite all the way there yet, he’s progressing in a really good way.”
Report: Chiefs starter Josh Simmons dealing with ‘extremely serious’ personal issue
Kansas City Chiefs starting left tackle Josh Simmons missed the team’s Week 6 game against the Detroit Lions due to what was described as a personal issue, and there have since been reports that the matter is serious.
The Chiefs announced hours before their 30-17 win over the Lions on “Sunday Night Football” that Simmons was questionable for a non-injury reason. The rookie did not play in the game and has not been at practice this week. On Wednesday, Patrick Mahomes told reporters that he is “praying” for Simmons. Head coach Andy Reid had no interest in discussing the Simmons situation and directed any questions to general manager Brett Veach.
ESPN’s Nate Taylor tried to provide some more context during a Thursday appearance on 96.5 The Fan’s “Fescoe and Dusty” show.
“When Patrick Mahomes said (Thursday) that he’s praying for Josh Simmons, I think we all need to take that cue from the quarterback,” Taylor said. “I’m fearful, I guess, is probably the best way I can explain what I’ve heard, some of which I’ve tried to gather and confirm and other things that I’m still trying to pursue in terms of just having a better understanding of what Josh is going through.
“I’m just fearful because we don’t have all the details right now, and that makes the outcome, perhaps, grim. I just want people to understand that this is really difficult for Josh and I can’t imagine what he’s going through, based on what I’ve heard. Hopefully we’ll know more in the coming days.”
Hours before Kansas City’s Week 5 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Simmons was added to the injury report because of an illness. Simmons played in that game, but Taylor said he believes that injury designation was related to whatever is going on in Simmons’ personal life. The longtime Chiefs reporter also described the issue as “extremely serious.”
“Based on what I learned yesterday, I almost came away more impressed with how he’s performed over the last couple weeks before any of this became a greater situation. … This is extremely serious and if it gets resolved, hey who knows, a month from now, he could be back on the field,” Taylor said.
Simmons, a former Ohio State star, fell in the first round of the draft due to injuries and supposed concerns about his worth ethic. The Chiefs drafted him 32nd overall, and he has quickly become a quality starter at a position of need.
For now, it is unclear when or if Simmons will return.
