‘The toughest guys I know:' How Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens gutted it out

Neither one was remotely healthy. Neither one of them should have been playing. 

But this time of year? You do what you can. You do what you have to. And for Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens, that meant playing football no matter what they were dealing with.

“Cam is a tough SOB, man,” Eagles right guard Mekhi Becton said. “He’s one of the toughest guys I know. Him and Landon. They’re very tough.

“I was telling Landon the whole time I seen him messing with his knee, I’m like, ‘All right, bro, I’m here for you, don’t try to kill yourself. I’m here for you, I got you.’

“And then he told me he was going down. And then Cam came in and I knew how much he was hurting, and I pretty much told him every drive when we came off the field I was proud of him. We always uplift each other, for sure.”

A couple hours before kickoff, Jurgens went through a battery of tests to see if his sore back would allow him to start at center in the NFC Championship Game against the Commanders at the Linc.

Thumbs down. The decision was made to sit Jurgens and replace him with Dickerson, moving Tyler Steen to Dickerson’s left guard spot.

But Dickerson began dealing with a worsening knee injury in the second quarter that ultimately knocked him out of the game.

That meant Jurgens would have to play.

“That was huge,” Steen said. “Cam's a warrior for that because I know Cam, he was definitely battling for that injury for a while. So having to step in when an injury goes down, he's already like nowhere near 100 percent, I think that's huge. And just having that toughness to go out there and finish the game.”

Dickerson gutted out the first half and Jurgens gutted out the second half, and both were operating well below peak efficiency. But when all was said and done the Eagles had 55 points and the Commanders had 23 and both Jurgens and Dickerson had two weeks to get healthy before Super LIX in New Orleans.

“It takes everybody,” Dickerson said. We knew that from the get-go, it would take everybody. Cam battled his ass off. I think he did a great job. It takes everybody on this team. It doesn’t matter who it is. I’m proud of everybody out here. …

“Everybody knows their role, everything is battling. Everybody’s going to do everything they can to win this game.”

Added Jurgens: “That’s just what postseason play is about. Next man up. I did what’s best for the team.”

Dickerson and Jurgens didn’t need to play hurt to earn the respect of all their teammates and coaches. 

They already had it.

Dickerson is already the only Eagles offensive lineman to make three Pro Bowls before turning 27, and he’s just a hard-nosed, tough, physical player, one of the best guards in football. And the way Jurgens has handled the pressure of replacing a Hall of Famer and making a Pro Bowl in his first year at center has been remarkable.

But whatever anybody thought of them before Sunday, their respect and admiration multiplied after watching them buckle it up and gut it out vs. the Commanders despite debilitating injuries.

“I think you saw the plan,” Sirianni said. “(Jurgens) had to step in and play. He did a phenomenal job. Yeah, these guys are playing through pain. I just can't say enough about how much I respect these guys for what they have to do with their bodies. I don't think anyone knows the half of it, what they have to do to play the long season.”

Jurgens was clearly not at his best, but he just went out and battled despite an injury that should have sidelined him for the game.

“That was really, that was gritty of him,” Jalen Hurts said. “He hadn’t practiced all week, really pushing through, and the resilience he showed coming in and being able to see the defense the way he was. We loved how he prepared, obviously, the preparation showed, and he’s been great all year. 

“I will add a reflective moment on myself, but I had a reflective moment on Cam. He had one bad snap to start the season off (in São Paulo), and all the questioning and all the things that were thrown his way and ended up being a Pro Bowler. He’s done a great job.”

Hurts also praised Dickerson for selflessly moving from left guard to center with Jurgens hurt.

“You have the Alabama crossover, and I missed (playing with) him by a year, so now we have a chance to do what we could have done in those times,” Hurts said. 

“But Landon was an all-American center in college. He’s a heck of a player. He’s very versatile, and when he came here to be an Eagle, everyone knew that, and so that’s a tough guy there. Tough guy deserves a lot of credit for our success today, his willingness to step in and take that role.”

Tune in to Mission 59 specials leading up to Super Bowl LIX on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.

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