Jalen Hurts on Carson Wentz’s departure from the Eagles: ‘Ain’t too much of my business.’

Hurts is working hard to make the most of his opportunity with the Eagles.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, shown escaping a pass rusher last season, hopes to improve his consistency this year.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Published March 8, 2021, 2:42 p.m. ET

While nothing is etched in stone, Jalen Hurts is expected to be the Eagles’ starting quarterback next season, and the 22-year-old Texan is working hard to make sure he’s prepared for the opportunity.

Hurts, who started the final four games of his rookie season after Carson Wentz was benched, has been working with Patrick Mahomes’ performance coach, Bobby Stroupe, who is based in Tyler, Texas, as well as renowned Atlanta-based quarterback guru Quincy Avery.

Stroupe has been working with Mahomes since the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was in the fourth grade.

“I’m getting a lot of good work in with him,” Hurts told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday. “He has a lot of knowledge. I trust him. I’m also working with Quincy Avery. I’m excited. I’ve been getting a lot of productive work in.

“For me, it’s simply stroking it. Getting on the grass and getting the work in and just grinding. Grinding at it every day. It’s like Michael Jordan always said: ‘If you want to get your jump shot better, you shoot the ball.’ ”

The Feb. 18 trade of Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts cleared a path to the Eagles’ starting job for the 2020 second-round pick. While club sources told the Inquirer it’s still possible the Eagles could take a quarterback next month in the first round of the draft to challenge Hurts, it’s his job to lose.

An ESPN story Monday cited sources as saying that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has instructed the team to prioritize making Hurts successful in 2021. But he hasn’t ordered his general manager, Howie Roseman, not to select a quarterback in the first round if he thinks that person could be the long-term answer at the position. The Eagles currently have the No. 6 pick.

Asked for his reaction to Wentz’s departure, Hurts said, “My focus since I got [to Philadelphia] has been on controlling what I can control and trying to become the best player I can be. [His trade] ain’t too much of my business. I don’t get into that.”

Asked if he was surprised by the trade considering the investment the Eagles had made in Wentz, Hurts said, “It was an opportunity for me. It shows what they think I can be as a player. So I want to prove them right.”

Hurts said he’s had no communication with Wentz since the trade. The two didn’t really seem to have much of a relationship. “I send him my blessing,” Hurts said. “I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he takes off there. I hope he has a great remainder of his career.”

Wentz was the driving force behind his Philadelphia exit. His unceremonious benching and Roseman’s decision to draft Hurts months earlier apparently trumped the four-year, $128 extension the team had given him. He wanted out and the Eagles obliged him.

The Eagles still aren’t sure what they have in Hurts. His four uneven season-ending starts weren’t nearly enough to tell them whether he can be an elite NFL quarterback.

He led the Eagles to a 24-21 win over the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints in his first start, completing 17 of 30 passes and rushing for 106 yards on 18 carries.

He ended up completing just 52% of his passes and throwing six touchdown passes and four interceptions. But he also had 25 rushing first downs on just 63 carries.

“I’ll remember [his first season] as a true learning experience,” Hurts said. “I’m excited to improve and do some special things in Year 2.”

Hurts’ top priority is to become a more consistent player.

“I just want to be consistent in everything I do,” Hurts said. “There’s always room for improvement in every part of the game. Whether that’s on-the-field stuff, off-the-field stuff, how you lead. You lead different people differently. Everybody communicates differently, and it’s important to understand that as a leader of a football team, as a quarterback.”

Hurts is aware that the key to becoming a leader is building relationships with your teammates, and he’s been in contact with many of them since the season ended in January.

“You simply have to build relationships,” he said. “You have to check in with your teammates, shoot them a text, call them.”

Hurts could have some helpful intel for the Eagles heading into next month’s draft. Assuming they don’t take one of the draft’s top quarterbacks with the sixth overall pick, there’s a good chance they might select a wide receiver.

Hurts played with the two Alabama wideouts who could be available at No. 6: 5-foot-10, 183-pound Jaylen Waddle and 6-1, 174-pound DeVonta Smith.

Hurts said Waddle is a “great friend,” like a little brother to him.

“The things he can do with the ball in his hands — his speed, his ability to high-point the ball — there’s nothing he can’t do,” Hurts said.

“DeVonta Smith, he’s a smooth criminal. He’s such a smooth route runner. He attacks the ball. Has strong hands. Size isn’t an issue with him because he has such strong hands.”