There have been reports this season that a number of offensive players on the Philadelphia Eagles have been frustrated with quarterback Jalen Hurts amidst the team’s struggles on that side of the ball.
Hurts told reporters on Wednesday that none of his teammates or coaches have come to him directly with any of that talk, however, though he said he wouldn’t be surprised if there were some frustrations.
“It comes with the nature of it,” he noted. “Everyone’s going to have an opinion. I give a lot of respect to those things. We’re all here to do the do the same things. It’s in pursuit of that.”
“I get a lot of attention when things are going well and when things are not going so well,” Hurts continued. “I never run away from holding myself accountable and I think that’s exactly what I’ve taken the approach of doing. Even when I look at this last game, I take great pride in what we do on offense, I take great pride in how we go out there and play as a team and what our flow it. We obviously have work to do and that obviously starts with me. That’s always my approach. That’s always me looking internally first in everything that we do. And then in due time, rising above.”
The defending champions are 8-2 on the year and loaded with individual talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the actual results from that unit have offered far less than the sum of its parts.
The Eagles rank 28th in passing (184.9 YPG), 17th in rushing (115.2 YPG) and 16th in scoring (23.4 PPG). They’ve scored just 26 points in their last two games combined, though won both matchups due to dominant performances from the defense.
There have been a number of theories for those struggles, from a new offensive coordinator in Kevin Patullo perhaps installing a predictable system to Hurts being hesitant to push the ball downfield to avoid turnovers. Injuries on the offensive line have also assuredly played a part, impacting what was a dominant rushing attack just last season.
It hasn’t been all bad. Hurts has indeed protected the ball (just two turnovers on the season and only four from the team in total) and despite the angst surrounding the offense, the team remains atop the NFC. There is plenty of season for the Eagles to round into form on offense, and enough talent to suggest they will.
Until that happens, however, there will be plenty of questions about what is stalling out the defending champions, and Hurts will remain at the center of that conversation.
