It's still early in the 2026 NFL season, as Week 2 continues amidst a mid-September Sunday. The long grind of a football season looms ahead for every team, but especially for a Super Bowl hopeful like the Philadelphia Eagles.
On the first offensive play of the Eagles' Week 2 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, a key piece of Philadelphia's attack in Saquon Barkley left the game with a stinger and was off and on throughout the game. Add in tight end Dallas Goedert's knee injury sustained early on against the Titans and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was a bit shorthanded in Tennessee.
In the second quarter, Hurts took off on a third down scramble run and slid down a few yards shy of the first down. Fox analyst Drew Brees, however, wasn't a fan
of Hurts' slide, stating that the quarterback should have lowered his shoulder and fought for the extra yards to pick up the down.
"Lower your shoulder and go get the first down" – Drew Brees did NOT like Jalen Hurts protecting himself with a slide in the second quarter of Week 2 against the Titans pic.twitter.com/q8nePomNdP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2026
"I was hyping up Jalen Hurts so now I'm gonna get on him. Lower your shoulder and go get the first down. You slide they're gonna mark the ball where you started the slide, not where you end the slide. So, it's not a Tush Push situation. It's not 4th and 1, it's 4th and 3."
The Eagles did end up converting the fourth down and later scored a touchdown on the drive.
Brees' comments were especially head-scratching, however, given that it's Week 2 against the Titans. Having Hurts lower his shoulder for extra yards and possibly injure himself taking a second quarter tackle would be a baffling decision on his part. If it was a key situation or a significant game, sure you'd like to see Hurts go forward and fight for yards instead of protecting himself with a slide, but wasn't.
Definitely a strange criticism on Brees' part, that's for sure.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Drew Brees’ criticism of Jalen Hurts’ slide against Titans was a head-scratcher
