Eagles QB Hurts sets his focus on consistency
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That’s the attitude Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is taking as he approaches his Super Bowl LVII clash with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.
Despite being just days away from the biggest game of his career, Hurts is focused on maintaining the same routine that helped him post a 14-1 record as a starter in the 2022 regular season and then earn a playoff wins over the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers.
“I’ve been doing the same things that I’ve done all year,” Hurts said Wednesday regarding his work ahead of the Super Bowl. “My preparation hasn’t changed, this team’s preparation hasn’t changed. We’ve kind of gone into it with a dayto-day mentality. Taking it day by day. Trying to master the day, win the day and doing it that way.”
Much of that preparation came well before the regular season started.
“I think the important thing is to always fall back on your work,” Hurts said. “I was telling A.J. (Brown) today, I said it’s no different than us being at FAU getting our work in there in the offseason . ... We prepared really well all offseason, had really good time with each other, got on the same page with the coaches in terms of how we wanted this offense to look.
“I don’t think anything is going to change in terms of our planning going into the game.”
A lot of the game-planning has centered around Philadelphia’s receiving core, a dangerous unit led by Devonta Smith (95 receptions, 1,196 yards, seven touchdowns), Brown (88 receptions, 1,496 yards, 11 TDS) and tight end Dallas Goedert (55 receptions, 702 yards, three TDS).
Hurts has come to rely upon that group, specifically Smith and Brown, and will be leaning on them heavily when the Eagles take on Kansas City.
“Birds of a feather flock together. And I think those are guys that I call true
friends, and not only because the men that they are, but the friends that they are, the competitors they are, what drives them, what motivates them to be great,” Hurts said. “We come in every day eager to take another step.
“No one is independent in this thing. We’re all dependent off of one another. So we challenge each other, we encourage each other and we push each other.”
Regardless of the result on Sunday, Hurts is honored that he has the chance to represent those who got him to where he is today as well as those who are currently looking up to him.
“It’s a ton of pride in everything that’s going on right now,” Hurts said. “When you’re (thrust) into these situations, you’re (given) these opportunities at hand, you don’t really realize the impact you’re doing until you reflect on it.
“To have these opportunities and be able to represent so many different people ... people back home in Texas, quarterbacks that maybe they said they couldn’t do something or whatever it is, just believers — it’s something I definitely have on my heart when I’m out there playing.
“I heard someone say it — I don’t know if it was Michael Jordan or Kobe (Bryant) — but sometimes you get families and kids that save up all their money just to go to that one game. Just to go to that one game. They might not ever get to see you play in person again. So, you definitely want to put on a show for them when they’re coming.”