Jalen Hurts on what DeVonta Smith’s injury means for Eagles

The future of the Eagles is Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith.

The future will have to wait a couple weeks.

The connection every Eagles fan wants to see – the 2019 Heisman Trophy runner-up throwing to the 2020 Heisman Trophy winner – is on hold as Smith nurses a sore knee.

The Eagles list Smith, the 10th pick in this year’s draft, as week-to-week with a knee sprain suffered near the end of practice on Saturday evening at the NovaCare Complex.

The preseason opener against the Steelers at the Linc is just eight days away, and Smith likely won’t be available for that game. That leaves the Patriots on Aug. 19 at the Line and the Jets on Aug. 27 at MetLife Stadium before opening day Sept. 12 in Atlanta.

“Smitty’s a pretty smart guy,” said Hurts, Smith’s teammate at Alabama in 2018. “It’s always valuable to have somebody practicing on the grass and get those reps in and all that, but in due time he’ll be back and he’ll continue to get better in other aspects as much as he can.”

When he’s not getting treatment, Smith will be in meetings and film study and out on the field during practice taking mental reps.

But this injury is not ideal for the 22-year-old Smith. We saw last year when Jalen Reagor missed time late in training camp – and again during the regular season – how hard it is to make up for that time. Reagor never really recovered. 

The good news is even if Smith misses three weeks, he’ll still be able to play in the preseason finale against the Jets and have two more weeks of practice time before the opener. 

Until then, Hurts promises that he and Smith will get as much done as possible considering the circumstances.

“We’ll never stop growing,” he said. “We’ll never stop attacking.”