Jalen Hurts Processing What a Successful Offseason Looks Like for Him
PHILADELPHIA – Howie Roseman and his staff have done just about everything they could to raise the expectations for this Eagles season with additions in free agency, the draft, and the trade market.
There wasn’t an unexplored avenue to try to make this team better.
Even with all that was done, the season will come down to one player.
That, of course, is Jalen Hurts.
Assuming Nick Sirianni is designing schemes to help, and Shane Steichen is calling the right plays, it will be up to Hurts to steer this team in the right direction.
The good news is, Hurts seems to be up to the task, following an offseason of working out in California with Tom House and his group of QB whisperers and a spring that opened not only his teammates’ eyes but the coaching staff as well.
“Just him going through his reads, his progressions, I feel like the ball has got a little more zip on it,” said tight end Dallas Goedert. “He’s getting it out a little bit quicker. You see kind of a 1-2-3-throw. He doesn’t have as many hitches. He’s seeing the game faster, which is really promising.”
That would seem a natural progression, especially for a quarterback who is returning to the same system.
“This is my first time having the same coach consecutively calling plays, being in the same system, so I think that’s been very pivotal going into the offseason,” said Hurts.
“As we go throughout the plays and run the plays against our defense, just be decisive out there on the field, knowing pretty much where I’m going to go with the ball, based on the looks that they give me. There’s a natural maturation there.”
Hurts said he is still experimenting with what he needs to do to get better in the offseason.
“I think simply this offseason, I did something I’ve never done before,” he said. “I went to Cali and I worked out there. I got some good work out there. I talked about how I was still in the front part of my career, so I’m still trying to figure out what my offseason looks like.
“Where do I want to train? What does that look like? Where am I going to be? I think that’s something over time that I’ll find out on my own. As the years go on, I’ll just simply figure that out myself. So, every offseason has looked different thus far. So hopefully, as time goes on, I’ll continue to find something consistent in the offseason.”
Whatever was done those past few months seemed to show on the field.
First, he looked stronger than last year, though Hurts said he still weighs the same 222 pounds.
Second, Sirianni said his QB simply looked more comfortable this spring.
“That's just the part of the process the second year,” said the coach. “He knows where the receivers are going to be versus different looks. He knows where to go with the football a little bit quicker.
“The reason we know Jalen is going to continue to get better is because of the character, the football character, and the personal character that he has. He's just the type of guy that's going to reach his maximum potential because of all the off-the-field qualities he has.
"I've also noticed just the crispness of the drop. It's been the fundamentals - his fundamentals have improved, and he's really worked hard at that.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
