How Jalen Hurts-ness, and not just his knee ligament, is holding Eagles season together.

PHILADELPHIA − The game was over for more than an hour when Jalen Hurts sat at the podium and allowed himself to slip from the stoic, reveal-nothing demeanor that had marked his remarkable NFL career so far.

We had all seen the hit on Hurts' left knee from DeMarcus Lawrence's helmet near the end of the first half, and how Hurts could barely stand on his feet, and nearly fell down while limping to the sideline.

Incredibly, Hurts didn't miss a play.

But Hurts was clearly hurting, as his comment after the Eagles' hard-fought, scintillating 28-23 win over the Cowboys on Sunday made abundantly clear.

"Selfishly, I don’t think the bye week could have come at a better time," Hurts said.

It has been this way for at least three or four weeks. Somehow, Hurts once again found a way to keep playing and keep winning.

He completed 17 of 23 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating was 130.2 to make it the second straight game he was over 130. Hurts also ran 10 times for 36 yards. That included several "tush pushes," including his touchdown midway through the second quarter that tied the game.

So yes, Hurts is indispensable to the Eagles. And it certainly seems like the Eagles' 8-1 season is hanging by the thread, or ligament, holding Hurts' knee together.

But that would be shortsighted. It's not just the knee; it's everything. It's Hurts' arms, his legs, his moxie, his toughness, his refusal to lose, his overall Jalen Hurts-ness that's holding the Eagles' season together.

Sure, the Eagles have the best record in the NFL. And they have withstood injuries to their secondary, and that included losing both starting cornerbacks James Bradberry and Darius Slay for a few plays on the Cowboys' potential game-winning drive Sunday.

Then add star tight end Dallas Goedert to the list after he reportedly suffered a fractured forearm that could send him to injured reserve, and linebacker Nakobe Dean who left in the first half with a foot injury.

The Eagles can withstand all of those injuries. They can even withstand the countless mistakes on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter that left the Cowboys 4 yards short of victory.

They can't withstand an injury to Hurts.

And we saw exactly why when Hurts came back to start the third quarter, jogging out from the tunnel a minute or so after his teammates, Willis Reed-like.

Soon after, the Eagles faced a third-and-3 from their 47. The pocket collapsed and Hurts escaped to his right, ran for 6 yards and picked up a first down. A few plays later, Hurts threw deep, dropping the ball over DeVonta Smith's outside shoulder and into the end zone for a 29-yard TD pass.

The Eagles never trailed again, even if it seemed like they sure as heck tried to give the game away as the Cowboys had two drives within the last two minutes with a chance to score the potential game-winning touchdown.

“I don’t really know what to say," Hurts said. "It was a gritty win; it was a gritty win. It was a tough win."

That is not lost on Hurts' teammates. There's a reason the Eagles are 25-2 in Hurts' last 27 starts in the regular season. There are only four other quarterbacks with such a run. You might have heard of them − Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Jim McMahon.

That's why left tackle Jordan Mailata was practically inconsolable on the play Hurts was injured after Micah Parsons beat him for the sack.

"I was like, 'Damn, this is going to be a long night, especially if QB1 is down,'" Mailata said. "We have that next-man mentality, for sure, and we trust in Marcus (Mariota).

"But you don’t want to get into that position where you have to rely on QB2. ... Thank God, (Hurts) is a warrior because he played through it. And even after the game, just talking to him (about the sack) … and he’s like, ‘Move on from it.’

"And I’m like, ‘I can’t. I gotta talk to you about these things because I don’t want to see you get sacked.’ It actually pisses me off."

But Mailata was put at ease at halftime, seeing Hurts walk around the locker room without a limp while holding an IV bag, and then again when Hurts told him to forget about the sack and "move on from it."

"He was just saying, 'Let’s go. We gotta get this (expletive) rolling,'"Mailata said. "It boosted our morale. We came out there in the second half, went down the field. I think it’s pretty evident how much he means to this team."

That's why A.J. Brown didn't think twice, either. He knew Hurts was coming back.

"If he can get up and walk off, he’s OK," Brown said. "Our friendship is a lot different than everybody else. We were over there, he said a couple of words, and then right after, we’re laughing and joking.

"I knew what type of player he is, what type of guy he is. Like I said, he’s been through tougher things. You’re not going to see a reaction out of me because I know him. I knew how he’s going to respond."

So Hurts responded like he always does, carrying the Eagles to an 11-point lead with two touchdown passes in the third quarter.

It turned out to be enough. Barely.

“What an incredible win and an incredible sense of perseverance and resilience from this team," Hurts said.

But really, Hurts was speaking about himself. The Eagles simply followed his lead.

Like Hurts said, the bye couldn't have come at a better time. But even Hurts knows the two weeks before the Eagles' next game against the Chiefs in Kansas City, a rematch of the Super Bowl last February, might not be enough time for him to fully heal.

"We’ll see," Hurts said. "I don’t know."

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Jalen Hurts' knee is not only thing holding Eagles season together