The Eagles beat the Lions on Sunday night, but the offense struggled despite a lights-out defensive performance. Quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to reporters after the game, and talked about how well the defense played, why Nick Sirianni’s philosophy on turnovers checks out, and how the offense really needs to score more points.
Hurts deferred to OC Kevin Patullo when asked if there was a concerted effort to target A.J. Brown more in Sunday’s game. To him, he was just going with the flow of the game,
but in terms of intention, that was a coaches question to answer.
Here’s what else the QB had to say:
On the Eagles defensive performance
Hurts gave a lot of credit to the defense, and notably the Georgia guys who are so familiar with playing together, and who bring a special energy.
“You see it out there today with all those guys making plays. The defense was playing lights out, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. So a really, really big time game on that side of the ball and to be able to do what they did on fourth down against a really good offense or a potent offense that’s capable of doing really, really special things and I have a lot of respect for that.”
The quarterback later talked about the defensive line being able to deflect so many passes, and explained that they do it all the time in practice, too. Hurts said that the guys up front have a great feeling for when the rush comes to a halt and are able to time their jump to get in the way. He also predicted Jalen Carter is going to end up catching one of those batted passes soon.
“In a game like tonight, I mean they played lights out and they held things down, they held things down. So, we just have to continue to improve so we can elevate the level of complimentary football we play. When I look at five stops on 4th-down, as an offense, we have to be able to capitalize on all of those opportunities in short fields and when the defense is playing like that. So that’s an area of growth for us.”
On Nick Sirianni’s turnover philosophy
Hurts was asked if the message from the Eagles head coach is to win the turnover battle above all else, and to not do too much outside of their jobs.
“That’s always a philosophical staple and what he believes. It’s always been that. It’s been that over the years, and we’ve lost some games when we’ve lost the turnover battle. Some games have been closer than what they’ve needed to be because of that. Usually, you look at that as one of the key factors and it has held true.”
On the offensive performance
“My main takeaway is that we have to score points. We have to be more efficient. We have to take advantage of opportunities when they are there and we have to control the things that we can control. It’s the same in M.O. it’s been this whole entire time.”
As for whether some of the offensive struggles were self-inflicted or more of a result of the defenses they were facing, Hurts said he always respects his opponent, but it always comes down to the Eagles and what they do as a group.
“So we have to do a bit of identifying who we are, so we can find consistency in something and go out there and execute at a high level. I think there’s a lot of encouragement coming into the bye-week, where we were still with a ton of room to improve.”
The QB reminded folks about his feelings on momentum, pointing out that it can begin and end at any moment. It needs to be all hands on deck to continue to improve, noting that nothing takes over the precedent of winning.
“That’s what it’s all about. With winning in mind and with winning being the number one thing – that doesn’t dismiss, we got some work to do. Work to do and we need to improve. So it’s a collective takes everybody being on the same page, takes everybody being truly committed to winning and winning itself and not being any buts behind it.”
Other notables
- Hurts agreed that teams are bringing their best when facing the reigning Super Bowl champions this year, but the QB said it’s to be expected given their level of success. He noted that it’s on this team to continue to improve so they can stay among the best.
- On running the tush push, Hurts said he has to get a good push off the ball and drive it a bit. He noted that the officials are honing in on it and are being very strict on the guard and center, and how they operate. They have to be as clean as possible, and then find ways to go out there and convert.
- The QB agreed that there’s a lot of learning they can do when they go against top defenses, and said they can feel when they’re being tested.
