Cam Jurgens
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Cam Jurgens struggled through a devastating back injury last season.
Cam Jurgens was willing to do whatever it took to win the Super Bowl.
The Philadelphia Eagles center opened up about his back injury sustained on their run to the championship last February and that he didn’t how how he played during that stretch.
Jurgens, of course, took over for Jason Kelce at starting center after the popular former Eagles center retired following the Eagles’ 2023 season. He sustained a herniated sciatic disk during his first full season as the starter.
He played 16 games, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2024 despite his back injury, and started three of Philadelphia’s four playoff games. He also played 14 games in 2025.
Cam Jurgens: ‘It Was Hard to Walk’ During the 2024 Playoffs
The Eagles ran roughshod over the NFC playoffs during their 2024 postseason run, which was good since their starting center was ailing.
“It was hard to walk,” Jurgens said on a recent “Bussin’ With the Boys’ podcast with Taylor Lewan and Will Compton. “I don’t know how I was playing. It was easily the worst month of my life, but also the best month of my life because we won the Super Bowl.”
Despite the injury, Jurgens played 100% of the Eagles’ postseason snaps in each of their first two playoff games against the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams.
He did not start the NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders but did play briefly. He then rebounded with an extra week off to suit up for 90.5% of the offensive snaps in Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, which brought the Lombardi Trophy back to Philadelphia.
Jurgens had surgery to fix the sciatic nerve in his back after the season and admitted it affected his play during the 2025 season. But he is finally starting to feel like himself and is excited about the upcoming season.
“It takes a good year to come back from that,” Jurgens said. “I’m starting to feel really good.”
Cam Jurgens’ Injury Nearly Made Him Think About Retiring
Kelce got to play 13 seasons and retired on his own terms to pursue a media and podcasting career.
But Jurgens’ injury was so severe, and the pain so devastating, that he considered retirement after just three seasons. But after surgery, and the Eagles locked in the 2022 second-round draft pick to a four-year contract worth an annual average value of $17 million per season, he has come off that for now.
“It would just be nice to get through a few contracts,” Jurgens said. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out year by year. Right now, I’m playing, and I’m going to play as long as I can.”
But Jurgens was clear that his waning interest in playing was only due to the injury, and he is excited to play in Philadelphia. His contract will keep him in Philadelphia through the 2029 NFL season.
“I love football, and I want to play as long as I can and hopefully just keep playing in Philly,” Jurgens said. “There aren’t too many better places to play football than with the Eagles.”