Somehow, even after championships and being a Heisman Trophy finalist, and even winning a Super Bowl, there's still disrespect being thrown at Jalen Hurts, who spent one season with the Oklahoma Sooners before heading to the NFL. And his coach is just as tired as the rest of us of hearing it all.
Even after leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl title last season and being Super Bowl MVP after out-dueling Patrick Mahomes, Hurts still hasn't been considered a top NFL quarterback this offseason. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was recently asked about the narrative surrounding Hurts.
“Yeah,” Sirianni responded. “That’s bullsh--.”
Nick Sirianni defends QB Jalen Hurts
The argument against Hurts is that he's just a system QB protected by a great offensive line that also paves the way for running back Saquon Barkley. He's even been called a glorified running back who just hands the ball off and couldn't succeed somewhere else.
“I mean, he plays the most important position in all sports,” Sirianni said. “And it's the most ultimate team game there is. And what I admire about him is his selflessness of doing anything we need to do to win.
"I mean, obviously, anybody who plays quarterback is going to want to throw it 50 times a game. But he'll do anything. If he has to throw 50 times a game, he's ready to do that. If he has to hand it off 50 times a game, he's ready to do that.”
But Hurts has won and put up numbers his entire NFL career. He's already reached two Super Bowls and won one. Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Mahomes are the only other quarterbacks in NFL history to appear in two Super Bowls before their 27th birthday.
And Hurts' team has won because of him, not in spite of. He won the starting job as a rookie. He's a two-time Pro Bowler. He was second-team All-Pro and NFL MVP runner-up in 2022. He accounted for three total touchdowns and 293 total yards in the Eagles' Super Bowl victory.
Yet, the main knock on Hurts seems to be that he's on really good teams. But if you're a coach like Sirianni, that's a good problem to have.
“Anytime, I hear that, it's cool, it’s like a nice debate thing that people like to have,” Sirianni said. “And I get it, there's a lot of hours that TV shows and radio stations have to fill to be able to fill that debate. I understand that, but we're talking about the ultimate team game there is and he does whatever he needs to do to win each and every game.
“You name me a team that wins and wins consistently that doesn't have good players around you. Like, you name me a coach that doesn't have good players around him that wins. Like, you don't win with bad players, and it's the same thing you don't win with bad players as you're a quarterback either. It's a team game. Yeah, that always bothers me to be honest with you when it's talked about because it's football."
Sirianni's blunt comments drew attention and made headlines. But he was just honest and spot on.
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