Jalen Hurts has faced questions about his passing efficiency, willingness to run and leadership ability despite winning one Super Bowl MVP award and leading the Philadelphia Eagles to two NFC championships.
He faces a challenge bigger and more serious than silencing critics and quieting fickle fans.
Hurts has a blood clot
in his calf and has to miss at least one game. His health is the top priority now.But the NFL is a business and Hurts’ availability
for the remainder of the season is in doubt so it’s fair to wonder about his future in Philadelphia.
The 28-year-old quarterback is in the middle of a $255 million, five-year contract that runs through 2028. However, his guaranteed money drops from $51.5 million this season to $22 million next year to zero in 2028.
Because the Eagles didn’t restructure his contract to add more guaranteed money after this year, this was viewed as a make-or-break season for Hurts.
It seems unfair that a player with Hurts’ resume needed to prove himself again but that’s been the narrative surrounding him since his college days.
Hurts was famously benched by Nick Saban at halftime of the national championship game on Jan. 8, 2018. Alabama trailed Georgia 13-0 and Saban replaced Hurts with Tua Tagovailoa. The move worked, Alabama won and Hurts left for Oklahoma.
He had a prolific passing season with the Sooners, finished second to Joe Burrow for the Heisman Trophy and still wasn’t picked in the first round in the 2020 NFL draft.
The Eagles took him in the second round even though Carson Wentz had recently signed a long-term contract extension. Hurts entered the league playing a role similar to the way the Saints used Taysom Hill. He eventually replaced a struggling Wentz for the last four games in 2020 and has guided the Eagles to the playoffs each season since becoming the full-time starter in 2021. He's also started at least 15 games five straight seasons.
Hurts had a breakout year in 2022, finishing runner-up to Patrick Mahomes for the AP NFL MVP award and placing third in voting for the Offensive Player of the Year award. He even outplayed Mahomes in the Super Bowl but had a costly fumble that was returned for a score and Kansas City rallied late for a 38-35 victory.
Hurts and the Eagles won the rematch following the 2024 season when Philly’s defense dominated in a 40-22 rout.
But Hurts and the offense struggled in 2025, and the Eagles lost to San Francisco in a wild-card playoff game at home.
Under first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, the offense has been among the league’s worst through the first five games. Still, the Eagles (2-3) could have been 4-1 if they didn’t blow late leads against the Rams and Jaguars.
Hurts has never been considered an elite pocket quarterback even though he often throws an excellent deep ball. He’s completed 64% of his passes and has a passer rating of 93.8 in his career. This season, Hurts is down to a 57.8 completion percentage and 84.7 rating. Outside of 2023 when he had 15 interceptions, Hurts has always protected the ball well.
It hasn’t helped that the Eagles are on their sixth offensive coordinator in seven seasons. Still, there have been questions about Hurts’ ability to run different offensive schemes, operate under center, read defenses and handle blitzes.
Critics point out that Hurts has benefited from an all-star cast around him. The Eagles had one of the league’s best offensive line units that included center Jason Kelce until 2024 and right tackle Lane Johnson until he retired last week. Hurts had star wide receiver A.J. Brown for four seasons and Saquon Barkley had a historic year running the ball in 2024.
Without a talented supporting cast, the pressure is on Hurts to carry the team. This season would’ve been an opportunity to show he can elevate players around him. Now, his status is uncertain.
Hurts averaged 44.8 yards rushing per game from 2021-24 and twice averaged more than 50 yards per game. But he was down to 26.3 yards last season and 21.4 this season. Of course, his calf injury was a factor last week. But he hasn’t been running the ball as much for two seasons now. He’s been most effective when he’s improvising and using his legs to extend plays and keep drives going. His reluctance to run has been a mystery.
Hurts isn’t an outgoing person. He’s quiet, reserved, calculated. Hurts speaks in cliches and his comments to reporters are measured. Quarterbacks have to be natural leaders with an ability to relate to every guy in the locker room from offense to defense to special teams to practice squad. Hurts prefers to lead by example and that can come across in a negative way to some teammates.
His character, work ethic and inner drive have never been questioned. Hurts is determined to succeed. But his relationship with Brown deteriorated from a close friendship to Brown asking for a trade. Beyond that, there have been reports that the team wanted Hurts to work on his introverted personality.
Winning solves everything and Hurts has been a winner throughout his career. He’s 59-28 in the regular season and 6-4 in the playoffs.
That kind of success shouldn’t be overlooked.
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