Eagles' A.J. Brown 'Would Like' Jalen Hurts to Slide More to Avoid Potential Injury

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was knocked around in a Week 1 win over the New England Patriots, and veteran wide receiver A.J. Brown hopes his teammate learned from that experience and begins sliding more on runs to avoid injuring himself.

"He's a competitor, he's going to try and go get it and I can't fault him for that," Brown said after the Patriots game, per ESPN's Tim McManus. "But as a wide receiver, as a friend, I would like for him to slide a couple more times.

"You've gotta let him be him, so prayers up."

Hurts, who rushed for 37 yards against New England, took 15 hits in Sunday's game, including a big knock from safety Jabrill Peppers late in the fourth quarter that sent him airborne and knocked the ball loose.

Hurts is one of the best running quarterbacks in the NFL and he has rushed 304 times over the last two seasons, which is a league-high among signal-callers, according to ESPN. He has also been hit at a high rate in that span, taking 375 quarterback contacts, which is second behind only Josh Allen.

Given Hurts' impact on the Philadelphia offense, it's imperative that the Eagles better protect him moving forward. If he suffers any sort of major injury, the team's Super Bowl hopes will likely go with it.

"We'll always think about protecting him first," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said, "but we didn't pay him more to do less."

Hurts signed a five-year, $255 million contract extension with the Birds in April after leading the team to the Super Bowl last season.

The Eagles are slated for a Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football and are looking to improve to 2-0 on the year.