Backup QB Sudfeld sees writing on wall
PHILADELPHIA » Any week now, backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld can expect to receive word that the Eagles want to see more of Jalen Hurts.
The change is inevitable.
Though Sudfeld offers the club experience and security, Hurts has a skillset that eventually could turn Carson Wentz into a dinosaur. You can see it when Hurts practices. “Everyone thinks he’s an athletic guy, which obviously he is,” Sudfeld said on Zoom Friday. “But he can really spin it and he’s really smart in the room. He’s got a ton of talent.
“I think he’s going to have a great career.” Sudfeld is approaching his fifth season in the NFL, a career that began as a sixthround pick of Washington in 2016. That was the year the Eagles took Wentz off the board with the second overall pick.
Sudfeld has played in just three games in two seasons — 2017-18 — basically because the Eagles had more confidence in established veterans Chase Daniel, Nick Foles and Josh McCown. The latter was coaxed out of retirement late last August when Sudfeld broke his wrist in the preseason.
Had Sudfeld been active for the 2019 playoffs, rather than the 40-year-old McCown, the Eagles would have had a better chance of competing with the weary Seattle Seahawks in the wild card round. Though McCown played hard, his 40-year-old body began falling apart in the second quarter.
The Eagles quietly signed Sudfeld to a $2 million contract before the recent draft. It was a $1 million pay cut from last season.
That positioned the Birds for the shocking selection of Hurts in the second round of the NFL draft.
While Sudfeld said he doesn’t watch drafts, he and the rest of the football world knew about the decision in minutes, the groans heard from Delaware County to Manayunk.
Subsequently the 26-year-old Sudfeld is biding his time at training camp while helping groom his successor.
Sudfeld thinks the popular criticisms of Hurts, the alleged faults that dropped him into the second round are a figment of someone’s imagination.
“He can spin it,” Sudfeld said. “He throws it better than I think people give him credit for.”
Hurts wasn’t spinning it great during a controlled scrimmage with contact Friday at the NovaCare Complex.
Hurts’ throws over the middle were batted down, including one linebacker T.J. Edwards read all the way before leaping.
At one point an Eagles’ defensive player kidded Hurts that he’s got to throw the ball and can’t scramble so much.
Sudfeld had a solid outing although with mistakes of his own. His deep ball to rookie receiver John Hightower was perfect, the pass going up as soon as he realized his guy would defeat the man-to-man coverage.
To stick around, Sudfeld might have to be perfect. While head coach Doug Pederson declared him the backup “right now,” those fleetint words tell you it’s subject to change.
“You learn in this league never to assume anything,” Sudfeld said. “Rent is due every day. You’ve got to make sure that you bring it.”
No matter what happens, Sudfeld has proven he can fit into quarterback rooms full of love, competition and ego. He’s also shown he can make plays off the bench.
Sudfeld threw his first and only NFL touchdown pass in relief of Foles in December of 2018 to — get this — Nelson Agholor. It was a simple dump-off with a stellar finish by Agholor, who tight-roped down the sideline.
Agholor, as only he can do, handed the keepsake to Eagles fans in the stands at FedEx Field. Sudfeld rushed over, convinced all that the ball was a memento, and cruised away with it.
That could be the last such celebration for Sudfeld with the Eagles. Until then, he’ll do what he’s always done.
“I want to stay ready whether I was the No. 3 before, the No. 2 before, be ready to play,” Sudfeld said. “COVID changes a lot of things but I don’t think it changes that approach or mentality at all.”