Eagles center Cam Jurgens details extent of past back injuries: ‘I don’t know how I was playing’
Jurgens went public with details of the injuries that afflicted him in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
This offseason and last, Eagles center Cam Jurgens has used the time to work on his ailing back.
Last year, Jurgens underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk. This year, after somewhat struggling to return to form during the 2025 season, Jurgens flew to Colombia to go through a stem cell treatment to help with his recovery.
Jurgens, via his agent, declined an interview request from The Inquirer in February after posting about his trip to Colombia on social media. But Jurgens appeared this week on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast with former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan in a wide-ranging appearance that also included some time spent talking about his injuries and recovery.
“It’s getting better every day,” Jurgens said when asked how his back feels.
Jurgens was not asked to go into detail about why he chose that treatment route and what he was hoping to accomplish, but he did say he is “noticing a difference” since returning home.
“It takes a little bit for the stem cells to kick in,” Jurgens said.
Jurgens, a second-round pick in 2022, replaced Jason Kelce as the starting center in 2024 and the Eagles didn’t seem to miss a beat. He earned a Pro Bowl selection and helped the offensive line dominate its way to a historic rushing performance blocking for Saquon Barkley. But Jurgens suffered an injury toward the end of the 2024 season that is still seemingly impacting him.
Jurgens said on the podcast that his disk “broke off” before the playoffs and “wrapped around” his sciatic nerve.
“It was hard to walk,” Jurgens said. “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.”
Jurgens required an epidural to dress for the Super Bowl, he said. He didn’t start in the NFC championship game after going through warmups but was forced into action after Landon Dickerson went down with an injury.
Jurgens then had surgery after the Super Bowl and worked his way back onto the field. But he dealt with pain and wasn’t fully rehabbed, he said, during the 2025 season. Jurgens was still selected for a Pro Bowl, but his play on the field declined as the Eagles offensive line was not as impactful while dealing with multiple injuries.
“It takes a good year to come back from that,” Jurgens said of his 2025 surgery. “I’m starting to feel really good.”
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Jurgens is just one member of the offensive line whose long-term future has come into question because of injuries. Lane Johnson will turn 36 in May and missed most of last season with a foot injury before contemplating retirement. Dickerson, too, spent some of the offseason wondering about his future after multiple injuries slowed him in 2025. He reworked his contract with the Eagles this offseason and is signed through 2027 rather than 2028.
Jurgens, who is signed through the 2029 season, said the injuries make you reevaluate your expected career timeline “a little bit,” but he also didn’t sound like someone who plans on retiring anytime soon.
“I love football and I want to play as long as I can and hopefully just keep playing in Philly,” said Jurgens, 26. “There aren’t too many better places to play football than with the Eagles.
“It would just be nice to get through a few contracts. 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.”