Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are winning games, but they’re most often not doing so because of their offense. They’ve won a lot of close games without much offensive production, and Hurts admitted that it all starts with him in his most recent press conference.
Jalen Hurts knows he and Eagles must be better on offense
Quarterbacks are the face of NFL teams, especially their offenses, no matter what. A good quarterback should, in the eyes of many, elevate any offense, and bad ones can’t do that. That’s not necessarily accurate, but the idea isn’t shocking to Hurts.
“I’m not surprised by anything. This is kind of the nature of the position,” Hurts said Wednesday per ESPN. “But I put my energy and my focus on trying to go out there and do my best and trying to learn, trying to build, trying to take in the things that I can to try and improve.”
As a quarterback, Hurts knows it’s on him, right or wrong, when things go awry. “I guess I get a lot of attention when things are going well and when things are not going so well,” the QB said. “I never run away from holding myself accountable, and I think that’s exactly what I’ve taken the approach of doing.” In answering these questions, Hurts did hold himself accountable, and he admitted that it all starts with him.
“I take great pride in what we do on offense. I take great pride in how we go out there and play as a team and what our flow is. I think we’ve got work to do, and that obviously starts with me. That’s always my approach. That’s always me looking internally first in everything that we do and then in due time rising above,” he said.
It’s totally understandable that there are reports of frustration with Hurts. For someone making as much money as he is ($225 million over five years), the production hasn’t quite matched up. The wins have certainly matched up, but the Eagles do not look even close to as good as they were last season, and Hurts’ performance, fairly or unfairly, lies in the middle of that.
There were reports that AJ Brown was unhappy with the passing offense, which has been fifth-worst in terms of passing yards per game (worse than the Carolina Panthers Las Vegas Raiders, and Miami Dolphins, for example), and even told fantasy managers to get rid of him on a live stream. This would ordinarily be fine if they were a dominant rushing team, but they’re just middle of the road there. That leaves them with, in terms of total yardage per game, with the eighth-worst offense in the NFL. That sort of thing isn’t going to win them another Super Bowl, and it starts with the quarterback.
It’s probably not fair to put everything on the quarterback. Hurts is one piece of the puzzle. He has an offensive coordinator that no Eagles fan likes. His offensive line is not as good this year, and he doesn’t have the help of Saquon Barkley running wild again this year. All of that is not on him, but it hurts his performance and thus, the perception of him. But as Hurts says, it’s all par for the course. But that also doesn’t matter as much as how you respond, Hurts believes. “Ultimately, it’s about how you navigate what’s in front of you and how you respond to these things,” Hurts said. “I think the response is more important than anything. It’s about pushing forward; it’s about finding ways to grow.
In the NFL, things will never go right for an entire season. In fact, most of the time, something is wrong, and teams have to adjust. The Eagles have done that because, despite this lackluster offense, they’re running away with the division and are in play for the NFC’s top seed.
“There’s always going to be something. There’s always unknown. There’s always another dynamic to a situation. Ultimately, it’s about growth,” Hurts said. The Eagles have a few games left to grow before their offense will need to be better in order for them to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
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