It’s time for Eagles to trust Hurts as QB
Eagles need to show they are truly sold on second-year signalcaller
Someday, should Jalen Hurts lead them to the playoffs or beyond, the Eagles will wonder.
Someday, should he be in a Pro Bowl, the Eagles will reflect.
Someday, should Hurts become the quarterback they hope he can be, the Eagles might just regret that they took so long to trust their eyes.
In a few weeks, they will open another season, and they will use Hurts as their quarterback. That is different from trusting Hurts as their quarterback.
If they trusted him, they would not have made him sit for so long last season as the spent, brittle and stressspreading Carson Wentz helped allow a season to spin out of control.
If they really wanted the best from Hurts, Doug Pederson would not have removed him from a nationally telecast Week 17 with a quarter still to play against Washington, a move that brought shame to the organization and disappointment to the
room.
If he was their guy, they would have told Nick Sirianni that on the day he was hired, rather than allowing the new coach to babble nervously in his first zoomconference about the quarterback depth chart.
Even when they eventually traded Wentz, the Eagles could have shown more of a commitment to their 2020 second-round pick, a Heisman Trophy runner-up, a mobile and motivated 22-yearold ideal for a developing program. Instead, they barely marketed him in the offseason, failing in some cases to include his likeness on some advertising literature.
And if they were truly sold on him as the quarterback for 2021, they would have shouted down months of rumors, including plenty from credible corners, that they were interested in trading for Deshaun Watson, a stellar quarterback with multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior around massage therapists.
Going a little too long with Wentz last season was at least understandable, considering how much the Eagles overpaid for his rights.
Neglecting to heavily promote Hurts after he’d played four NFL games, including three losses could have been a hedge against the egos of more decorated franchise legends.
But the Watson carryon, which really hasn’t been smothered, was as ridiculous as it was counter-productive. Why would the Eagles have tormented their No. 1 quarterback like that, unless they were honestly considering making the trade? And how could they have expected Hurts to ignore it all?
“I’m above it,” Hurts said. “I’m above it all. I’m above it. I can control what I can. I’m here. So that’s what I’m doing: Going out there and being the quarterback for this team.”
It has hit that point, even if almost by accident. Hurts is the quarterback, and his new uniform, No. 1, sort of proves it. Joe Flacco, who has won a Super Bowl, is around, but he’s 36 and skidding toward the end. Nick Mullens, who has made 16 NFL starts, is on staff, but has never been anything special. So until someone starts a (wait for it) Bring Back Nick Foles campaign, it’s Hurts’ turn.
Like it or not? “You know what?” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said. “I’ve been really impressed with him. We all know this about him: This guy loves football. Like, he loves football. And he’s a tireless worker and he wants to be the best he can be. You see the plays he makes in practice. As we know, he has big scrambling ability. But he has really impressed with how he throws the deep ball right now.”
If the Eagles were cautious about Hurts, it’s because he really wasn’t much better than Wentz during his four-game audition late last year, throwing for six touchdowns, being intercepted four times and taking 13 sacks. But by then, the Eagles, who would use 14 different offensiveline combinations during the regular season, effectively were defeated.
Soon, though, Hurts will start with a 0-0 record, with that line presumably at reasonable NFL health, and with some interesting if largely unproven skill players, including firstround pick DeVonta Smith, should he quickly recover from a trainingcamp knee injury.
It’s his time. “We’re taking steps every day,” Hurts said. “We are getting comfortable in the offense and getting a feel for everything, and more important, getting a feel for what the coaches want me to do and how they want me to do it.
“We’re just playing ball, trying to execute and be efficient in what we’re doing.”
It’s not going to happen at once. Even Jeffrey Lurie has characterized 2021 as a transitional period for his franchise, citing that high among his reasons for moving on from Pederson.
“I love the coaches and love how hard they are on me,” Hurts said. “They are challenging me to be the best player I can be.”
It’s past time for the organization to trust that to happen.