The Eagles QB plans to address his production, ball security, and efficiency during the upcoming bye week.
The Eagles played one of their worst games in years on Sunday in Tampa Bay, but quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to reporters afterward and took responsibility for the offensive struggles.
“I think overall, I just have to play better. I gotta play better. I have a ton of opportunities to lead the offense, and really play complimentary ball, and that starts with me on that side of the ball. I would get down, like we did, I have to help the defense out — executing, communicating, you know, the things I’m seeing on the field, and just trying to really create the momentum that we need to get in the endzone.
It starts with me, in terms of getting in the endzone, and leading drives, and I didn’t do a good enough job with that.”
Hurts was asked how not having guys like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith affected things, but the QB simply reiterated that he didn’t play good enough. He explained that they put a lot of time and work into preparing during the week with the guys that they had, and they had a lot of trust in that.
He talked a little bit about the strip sack, saying that if they get the ball off, they had an opportunity for a big play to Grant Calcaterra down the middle of the field, but they didn’t end up having enough time in that situation.
The QB was asked about the lack of first quarter points this season, and he simply said, “I gotta start fast. I gotta play better.”
As he approaches the bye week, Hurts said he plans to evaluate the first four games of the season and work on areas of his game. Specifically, he said that includes improving his production, taking care of the ball, and being efficient to put points on the board.
On his message to the team right now, Hurts said, they’ve just got to keep pushing. They’ve faced different adversities, and they just have to continue to learn from these moments. He noted that’s been the message after every game, but they’ve grown together as a team and they just have to continue to learn from everything they experience.
Hurts spoke about how a lot of teams up to this point don’t know what their identities are yet, and the Eagles are still trying to figure that out.
“I think it’s challenging when you’ve had different moving pieces, throughout in that. And so, given the opportunities you have, it’s truly a ‘so what, now what’ mentality, and that’s the approach that I’ve had. I just don’t think I’ve been good enough in those areas — there isn’t a doubt of anyone that steps on that field in terms of opportunity. Gotta give guys opportunities and put guys in position to be successful, and I have to play point out there and distribute it.”
The ‘so what, now what’ mentality is something head coach Nick Sirianni mentioned earlier in the week, citing something his son’s baseball coach approaches adversity. Hurts and Sirianni’s working relationship continues to face speculation, but this shows that the head coach’s message is at least resonating with the QB.
One of the last questions Hurts was asked was about whether he and Sirianni would ever get together to discuss the message during the bye week, or how they want to handle things as they go into the second part of the year. His four-word answer:
“We have our moments.”
