Former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts threw touchdown passes to former Crimson Tide wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Julio Jones in the fourth quarter to send the Philadelphia Eagles to a 38-31 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Hurts threw four touchdown passes for the second game in his NFL career on Sunday, with the other also coming during Week 8 of the season in a 35-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.

Washington quarterback Sam Howell threw the third of his four touchdown passes in Sunday’s game as the Commanders took a 24-17 lead with 12:03 left to play.

Hurts responded by completing 3-of-4 passes for 71 yards in a seven-play, 75-yard drive as the Eagles tied the game on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 8:47 remaining.

Hurts and Smith have connected for 13 TDs with the Eagles. But Hurts’ next touchdown throw wasn’t something he ever thought he’d do – an 8-yard scoring pass to Jones.

“He made a big-time play in a big-time moment,” Hurts said. “I know he’s not afraid of those. He’s been in those moments a lot of times in his career. And it was cool to see. It was cool to see, cool to do. Cool to see him making a play for you. Out of all my years, I wouldn’t say I’d be throwing a touchdown pass to Julio Jones, but there it is.”

Jones entered the NFL as the sixth pick in the 2011 NFL Draft – nine years before Hurts got to the league. A seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro, Jones practiced for the first time with Philadelphia 12 days ago.

After Eagles safety Reed Blankenship, a former West Limestone High School star, returned an interception 17 yards and an unnecessary-roughness penalty was added on, Philadelphia had the football at the Washington 7-yard line. Two snaps later, Hurts hit Jones in the end zone as the Eagles took a 31-24 lead with 7:17 to play.

“A lot of credit to Julio and Jalen,” Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said. “That play went in on Friday. Some red-zone plays go in on Thursday; some red-zone plays go in on Friday. You kind of do a little bit of both. And when that play went in on Friday, we had so much conviction in it because Julio and Jalen had so much conviction in it. And they worked the crap out of it, so I think we ran it twice in practice. The first one we missed; the second one we hit. And in between us missing it, they must have thrown it 15 times.”

Washington lost a fumble at its 16-yard line later in the fourth quarter, allowing Philadelphia to take a 14-point lead with 1:50 remaining. But the Eagles couldn’t move their record to 7-1 for the 2023 season until Smith recovered an onside kick with 61 seconds left.

Hurts completed 29-of-38 passes for 319 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 6 yards on four carries. He lost a fumble on the Eagles’ Brotherly Shove quarterback sneak on the Washington 1-yard line to end Philadelphia’s opening possession of the second half.

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“I think obviously there were some circumstances in the game that were not favorable for us,” Hurts said. “We would not have liked for it to happen. But I think we overcame it. It’s just about the mentality that we have. …

“Much credit to the Washington Commanders because they always give us a good fight. They always come out there and play hard. I know the front seven very well. That’s a great team over there, and Sam Howell had a hell of a game as well.”

Hurts played amid reports that he’s been nursing a bruised knee for a month.

“I know he’s tough,” Sirianni said when asked about Hurts’ condition, “and I’m not going to always know how he feels because he always wants it on him. And that’s what you want from your quarterback, your leader. He played outstanding, completely outstanding. I think what you’re seeing is how good he’s playing within the pocket when maybe he’s not feeling the best that he can feel and he can’t run or isn’t running as much.

“He’s playing outstanding football. I thought he played lights out.”

Hurts preferred not to talk about his health after the game.

“I’m here,” Hurts said. “I’m really happy with how we persevered and how resilient we were today. I’m happy we won.”

Hurts’ other touchdown passes on Sunday went to wide receiver AJ Brown. Their 16-yard connection with 34 seconds left in the first half cut the Commanders’ lead to 14-10 and their 25-yard connection with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter tied the score at 17-17.

The Eagles have another NFC East rivalry game their next out when they face the Dallas Cowboys at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.