For Jalen Hurts, 'The Rent is Due Every Day'
PHILADELPHIA - If you were expecting any primadonna behavior with Jalen Hurts you can forget that.
The second-year Eagles quarterback has all the trappings of a QB1 in the NFL, starting with the fact he was the main event of the Phase II OTA Zoom get-together on Wednesday, something which included entrenched veterans Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham.
To date, however, rookie head coach Nick Sirianni has yet to name Hurts his starter, instead defaulting to a mantra of competition, something that hasn’t rattled a young player who once lost a high-profile duel on the college level with Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama.
“I value everything coach [Sirianni] has brought here,” Hurts told SI.com’s Eagle Maven.
In fact, the Eagles’ de facto No. 1, who is atop a depth chart that also includes veteran backup Joe Flacco, a one-time Super Bowl-winner in Baltimore, and undrafted rookie Jamie Newman, went back to his time in Tuscaloosa under legendary coach Nick Saban to explain why.
“I remember back in my days at Alabama with Coach Saban hearing him talk about discipline, commitment, effort, toughness, and pride,” Hurts explained. “Having these core values he is trying to instill in the team.
"In the end, it all worked out for the team.“
That’s an extremely mature position to take for Hurts after losing his job to Tua, ultimately transferring to Oklahoma, and flourishing under Lincoln Riley, turning into the Heisman runner-up in 2019 before being drafted No. 53 overall by the Eagles in the spring of 2020.
Hurts sees Sirianni taking a similar path in Philadelphia to what Saban did with the Crimson Tide and sees nothing wrong with the process, perhaps the antithesis of the modern NFL signal-caller.
“Coach Nick Sirianni is coming in and preaching connection, preaching accountability, competition, fundamentals, and football IQ,” said Hurts. “Preaching all these things and I know in all of those different avenues and principles that we are trying to instill here in Philly.
"Nobody is above that.”
Not even the starting QB.
Maybe the most impressive part of Hurts’ makeup is his unwavering approach to the job at hand, something that stays consistent whether he’s a backup to Tagovailoa or Carson Wentz, or the guy in the building for some of the most football-crazy cities in the country.
“Everybody’s got to go to work,” Hurts said. “For me, I know rent is due every day. It has always been that way for me.”
And now that Hurts is in his dream space as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, he plans on making sure the rent is paid on time, every time.
“I’ve always had a get-better mentality every day, grow every day, be a better leader every day, be a better quarterback every day,” said Hurts. “ And when that rent is due, I don’t plan on missing any payments.”
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
