Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni doesn’t plan on considering a quarterback change after watching Jalen Hurts commit five turnovers in Monday’s Week 14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
“No, I think that’s ridiculous,” Sirianni said when asked on Philadelphia sports radio station WIP if he might bench Hurts should the quarterback continue struggling down the stretch.
Sirianni continued, “I know every time I go out on that field with Jalen Hurts as our quarterback, we have a chance to win the game. And that’s something that’s been proven. We’ve won a lot, a lot of football games.”
Hurts had his worst performance since leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl LIX victory in Monday’s 22-19 loss, during which he threw four interceptions and lost a fumble.
Sirianni compared his defense of Hurts to his support of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
“This is a team game. This is the most ultimate team game. You win together as a team, you lose together as a team, it’s never just one thing,” Sirianni said. “I kind of said that last week, or the week before, with Kevin. The same deal.”
Sirianni had previously backed Patullo the team’s play-caller going forward earlier in the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, back after a Week 12 defeat by the Chicago Bears.
“If I thought it was one thing, I’d make those changes,” Sirianni said at the time. “Obviously, it’s a lot of different things. I don’t think it’s Kevin.”
Those issues didn’t seem to get resolved in Los Angeles, where the Eagles’ offense went a fifth straight week without scoring more than 21 points.
Outside of a 122 rushing-yard performance from Saquon Barkley, the Eagles offense struggled with cohesion against the Chargers.
Particularly discombobulated was Hurts, who at one point in the second quarter threw an interception, grabbed the ball back on a Chargers drop, then fumbled it away again.
That marked the first time since at least 1978 that a player has committed two turnovers on the same play, per Elias Sports Bureau.
ESPN’s Tim McManus reported last week Sirianni had “been more involved in the offensive preparations” during the lead-up to Week 14.
When asked about the report following the Eagles’ third straight loss, Sirianni said Monday, “I’m the head coach, so my attention goes to places that I feel like it needs to go. This week it was with the offense, and I’ll continue to go in there with those guys, and grind it out through the weeds with them.”
The Eagles need Sirianni, Patullo and Hurts to solve their offensive struggles quickly. Philadelphia still sits atop the NFC East with an 8-5-0 record, but a continuation of the team’s current losing streak could give the Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1) a chance to steal away the division lead.
Hurts will be looking for a bounce-back performance when he and the Eagles return to action with a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday.
