Alabama Players in the NFL Tracker Week 14: Jalen Hurts Wins and Derrick Henry Sets Another NFL Record

Alabama didn't have just one NFL starting quarterback on its roster in 2017-18, it had two as rookie Jalen Hurts his getting his shot with the Eagles

Author:
Kristi Patrick
Publish date:
Dec 13, 2020 9:57 PM EST

The biggest story in the NFL during Week 14 was arguably out of Philadelphia, where former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts made his first career start, and the Eagles were hosting the team with the league's top-ranked defense.

The rookie passed for 167 yards with one touchdown, with no interceptions, and also ran for 106 yards as the Eagles won 24-21.

He joined Lamar Jackson (119 rushing yards in Week 11, 2018) as the only quarterbacks with at least 100 rushing yards in their first career start in NFL history.

"It gave us a spark as a team that I was looking for,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said about starting Hurts, the team's second-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Meanwhile, Tennessee running back Derrick Henry rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the Titans' 31-10 win at Jacksonville. He's the first player in NFL history with four career games with at least 200 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Henry has seven career games with at least 170 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (seven games) for the third-most such games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson (11 games) and Jim Brown (nine) have more.

Henry, who rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns in Week 6 and rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns in Week 12, is the fifth player with three games of 175-or-more rushing yards and two-or-more rushing touchdowns within a single season in NFL history, joining Jamal Lewis (2003), Joe Morris (1986), Tomlinson (2006) and Ricky Williams (2002).

Henry has recorded at least 100 rushing yards in nine consecutive road games, the second-longest streak in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders 10 consecutive games from 1996-97) has a longer streak.

Finally, in just his sixth start, Tua Tagovailoa notched his first 300-yard passing game while trying to lead the Dolphins to a comeback win. He had his first rushing touchdown and interception as the Chiefs held on for a 33-27 victory.

Week 14 Preview

Jalen Hurts in the middle of a quarterback controversy.

Where have we heard that one before?

Hurts, of course, was Alabama's starting quarterback in 2017 until Tua Tagovailoa was inserted at halftime of the National Championship Game against Georgia and along with some other freshmen keyed the dramatic comeback win in overtime.

Hurts returned the favor in the 2018 SEC Championship Game, but was never able to reclaim the starting job again before transferring to Oklahoma for his season season.

However, in the process he proved that no one may be better at handling that kind of situation than the second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles.

On Tuesday, head coach Doug Pederson announced that he was going to start Hurts against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

"We're not where we want to be as an offense," Pederson told the team website. "I looked at the whole thing and decided that for this week to look for that spark again to try to get the team over the hump, to try to get everybody playing better."

The Eagles are 3-8-1.

The Saints have the NFL's top-ranked defense this season.

Plus, the game will be in Philadelphia, where the fans are often harder on the home team than the visitors.

The other end of the move is the benching of Carson Wentz, the second overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State, who has been in a horrid slump. The 27-year-old tops the league in interceptions (15) and sacks taken (46). His completion percentage of 58.1 percent is 31st in the league, and yards per attempt of 6.02 is 30th.

Last week, Hurts came off the bench and had his first career NLF touchdown pass during a 30-16 loss to the Packers. Even though he was only 5-for-12 for 109 yards and five carries for 29 yards, he still outperformed Wentz.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, in 2019 the Eagles signed Wentz to a four-year, $128 million contract extension, of which $66.5 million is guaranteed, only it doesn't begin until his rookie contract expires in 2021.

"Carson is like all of us right now, he's disappointed. He's frustrated," Pederson said. "He's been a professional through it all. He supports his teammates and that's what you want to see from him, the leader of the team. I know sometimes the quarterback gets a lot of the blame like the head coach does. It's the good with the bad. It's not about Carson Wentz. It's not about one person. We know we have issues on offense and it has been a struggle for us all season. That's where the frustration lies a little bit, but he's been a pro and would expect nothing less."

So where does that all leave Hurts? It's hard to say.

But the situation isn't that foreign to Pederson. Although many remember him as being the backup to some guy named Brett Favre in Green Bay, he was the starting quarterback for the Eagles when Andy Reid decided to go with Donovan McNabb.

"I just want to see development. I think it's a great opportunity for him, a great opportunity for the team," Pederson said.

NFL Week 14 Notes

• Keep your eye on Atlanta receivers Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley against the struggling Chargers. Although it is a cross-country matchup in Los Angeles, Jones had six receptions for 94 yards against the Saints last week, while Ridley notched five catches for 108 yards.

• Titans running back Derrick Henry leads the NFL with 1,317 rushing yards and has recorded at least 100 rushing yards in eight consecutive road games, tied with Chris Johnson (eight games from 2009-10) for the second-longest such streak in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders (10 games from 1996-97) has a longer streak.

• Making his fifth career start last week, Tagovailoa improved to 4-1 and passed for a career-high 296 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions for a 97.8 rating in the Dolphins’ 19-7 win over Cincinnati. Tagovailoa became the second quarterback in the Super Bowl era with at least one touchdown pass and zero interceptions in each of his first five career starts, joining Jeff Kemp. If he can avoid being picked off by the Chiefs on Sunday, he'll be the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to record zero interceptions in each of his first six career starts.

• While most Alabama fans can now brag about recently having two NFL starting quarterbacks on the roster at the same time, in the bigger picture Hurts will become the sixth rookie quarterback to start a game this season. It'll be the fifth-consecutive season that at least six rookie quarterbacks have started at least one game, the longest such streak in the Super Bowl era.

• Washington wide receiver Cam Sims had career-high five receptions for 92 yards last week.

• Three former Alabama players are up for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for excellence both and off the field: Jonathan Allen, Bradley Bozeman and Dalvin Tomlinson.

Matchup of the Week

• The Ravens vs. the Browns are always an interesting matchup since the Ravens used to be the Browns before moving to Baltimore (to fill void the left by the Colts). This time it's a little different, though, as playoff implications will be on the line during Monday Night Football. The Ravens lead all-time series, 32-11, and have won three of past four games in the series, but the Browns (9-3) are two games ahead in the NFL North standings. Active players for the Ravens are Anthony Averett, Bradley Bozeman, D.J. Fluker, Marlon Humphrey and Mark Ingram II, while the Browns have Jedrick Wills Jr. and Mack WIlson.

NFL Week 14 moves

• Defensive back Shyheim Carter was released by the Atlanta Falcons.

• Defensive back Anthony Averett was activated from the Reserve/Injured list by the Ravens and played in Tuesday night's game against the Cowboys.

• Defensive back Saivion Smith was promoted from the practice squad by the Cowboys, and reverted back to the practice squad following Tuesday's game. On Saturday Smith was activated from the practice squad.

• Tight end Hale Henges terminated his contract with the Indianapolis Colts. On Thursday Henges signed with the Vikings.

• Long-snapper Carson Tinker was listed as a protected practice player by the New York Giants.

• Bengals placed offensive tackle Jonah Williams on the Injured Reserve with a right knee injury. The good news is that the injury doesn't appear to be as bad as initially feared.

• Washington listed Center Ross Pierschbacher as a practice squad protection.

• Washington placed linebacker Ryan Anderson on the Injured Reserved with a knee injury.