Jalen Hurts injury: What doctors say about shoulder sprains
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' status for Saturday's showdown with the Dallas Cowboys remains in doubt after the MVP candidate suffered a sprained right shoulder in the team's 25-20 win over the Bears on Sunday.
The Eagles said Tuesday there's a "possibility" that Hurts could play on Christmas Eve.
The Birds are not giving any specifics about what kind of shoulder sprain Hurts has, but since he might play Saturday indicates that it's not that serious.
It was a crushing hit that smashed Hurts' right shoulder into the frozen hard turf which could have caused a more serious injury, but the Eagles say it's just a sprain.
"A shoulder sprain is a pretty vague term and could cover a number of different soft tissues," Dr. Meghan Bishop, who is not treating Hurts, said.
Bishop with Reconstructive Orthopedics is not involved with the quarterback's care, be she says he was lucky.
"It sounds like based on the MRI and based X-rays, this is something he'll be able to recover from with some rest and rehab," Bishop said. "My guess is that he'll probably be out one to two weeks max, up into the playoffs and be ready to go."
Bishop says during the recovery, the medical team will probably focus on keeping Hurts' shoulder strong and flexible.
"He is working with some of the best physical therapists and athletic trainers and doctors to be able to get him back to full strength," Bishop said.
The fact that Hurts was able to play after the injury is a positive, along with this.
"It's good that it didn't occur while he was throwing," Bishop said, "so his throwing mechanism should be OK."
While Hurts is tough and underplays focusing on himself, Bishop says there's no doubt he's feeling some pain.
"Any kind of soft tissue injury to the shoulder when you're a throwing athlete can cause discomfort," Bishop said, "especially with throwing the ball, can be painful at night when you sleep on the shoulder."
Bishop says shoulder sprains do not cause long-term issues and the fact that Hurts is in such good shape will help his recovery.