Former Eagles disagree on Jalen Hurts’ wild-card performance: ‘I don’t need my quarterback to throw for 300 yards’
Hurts finished the game with 131 yards, two touchdowns, and, most importantly of all, a win.
From opening kickoff to the final play of the Eagles’ 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, fans in South Philly were fired up for the playoffs. At Lincoln Financial Field, former Eagles players — including Chris Long, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Beau Allen — made a return to join in on the game-day festivities.
Sunday’s wild-card game also marked the return of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after he suffered a concussion against the Washington Commanders on Dec. 22. After a hot start — he completed his first six passes, including a touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson — Hurts went on to throw seven consecutive incompletions in the second quarter as the offense stalled.
Hurts finished the night 13-for-21 for 131 yards and two touchdowns. It’s not the flashiest stat line, but former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner believes Hurts did exactly what he needed to do to get the Birds a win.
“I don’t need my quarterback to throw for 300 yards; I don’t need that,” Joyner said. “I mean, not the way that this team is constructed. Maybe last year. Maybe, you know, the year before. Maybe when they go to the Super Bowl, they need Jalen Hurts to do that. But when you have a dominant defense and you have a dominant offensive line and you have the ability to run the football the way that this team needs to run it, you don’t need your quarterback to go out there and throw it 30 times a game.”
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Fellow ex-Eagle Emmanual Acho on FS1′s The Facility gave Hurts a passing grade, suggesting that the QB has come to the realization that he doesn’t need to play well because the defense is so good: “If my defense is going to play like the 2000 Ravens, then I can play like Trent Dilfer,” Acho said.
McCoy, the six-time Pro Bowl running back, took offense to that. He went so far as to say that the backup quarterbacks Tanner McKee, could have put up better numbers against the Packers.
“You’re letting him off the hook,” McCoy said of Hurts. “We all have a job to do. Think about what you’re saying. You’re telling me if Jalen Carter doesn’t want to give you everything because he doesn’t have to because his offense is playing well — what are we talking about? If Jalen Carter had that attitude, if Darius Slay had that attitude, we don’t win that game.
“Think about it, though. So, we all got to do our job but you don’t?” McCoy said, fighting off an interruption from his cohosts, including former Eagles backup QB Chase Daniel. “Let me go for a second, because when you said it it hit me like, I used to think like that, and I used to give in like, ‘Hey, we won the game, why you care about ... ?’ No!
“If the backup quarterbacks from my team — from my Eagles — played, then we smoke the Packers! Let me say that again, if the backup quarterbacks — because we’re going to talk about rust, them dudes don’t even play, backups don’t get a chance to knock the rust off, do y’all? They got to go out there and play. Tanner [McKee] goes out there and puts up — come on.”
The debate over Hurts’ performance continued on ESPN’s First Take between Stephen A. Smith and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky.
“I thought Jalen Hurts played as well as he possibly could and as well as what was asked of him to play yesterday,” Orlovsky said. “I do not think that Jalen Hurts struggled yesterday. I do not think that Jalen Hurts was rusty yesterday … My takeaway is not Jalen Hurts struggled. I thought Jalen was fine. My takeaway is nobody was open and that’s where my attention goes to.”
Smith responded, “Jalen Hurts did complete his first six passes of the game. Here’s what I’m concerned about … You go damn near two straight quarters without a completion? You trying to tell me nobody was open for two straight quarters?”
While the debate over Hurts will continue, someone fans don’t need to be concerned about is Nolan Smith. The linebacker earned the game ball with his performance on Sunday, tallying eight tackles, including two tackles for loss and two sacks.
“I’m impressed by these young players that have grown up right before our eyes in a short period of time — Nolan Smith being one of them,” Joyner said. “You’re talking about a guy last year who wasn’t even sure whether his shoulder was operational. … The Eagles needed this.”
More than anything, the Eagles needed a win — and they got exactly that. Next Sunday the Birds will host the Los Angeles Rams at 3 p.m. in a divisional-round playoff game.