Jason Kelce Takes Blame for OL Issues, Praises Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown
Jalen Hurts ran the ball 17 times in the Eagles’ win over Detroit on Sunday. Most were scrambles because the pocket collapsed much too quickly.
Jason Kelce, who will make his 124th straight start against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night, had some interesting things to say about Hurts, A.J. Brown, and how the offensive line played in Sunday’s 38-35 win over the Lions on the second episode of the ‘New Heights’ podcast he and younger brother Travis Kelce have started.
You're missing out if you haven’t listened to either of the first two episodes. The two brothers are entertaining and give good insights. It airs every Wednesday during the season and is already ranked the No. 14 top sports podcast on Spotify.
“I think if we don’t have Jalen Hurts in that game, they probably do beat us,” said Kelce. “Jalen’s faced a lot of criticism this offseason, really his whole career, and it’s going to continue. He’s still in his third year. He has a lot of football in him.
“This is the way the league works. It’s always coming after you, but if you look back at this week, we don’t win that game without Jalen Hurts.”
Kelce said Hurts was under pressure way too often.
“The protection broke down early with blitzes and different looks that we either didn’t communicate well or pick up well,” he said. “His ability to go off beat and make something happen, it saved us; multiple third downs, multiple drives that we kept going because of the type of player he is.
"And he didn’t disappoint in the air. He was on target in all phases, and we needed him to be to win that game with how the rest of the team played. I couldn’t be more happy with the way Jalen played to start the season off.”
Kelce took a lot of blame for protection breakdowns when talking to Travis, the fabulous tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs. He is the center and protections start with him.
“I don’t think that we got anything crazy different (from the Lions), but I think, you know, the (raucous Ford Field) environment we didn’t handle well. We didn’t do signals for the backs, so they didn’t know what was going on, it was too loud for them to hear.
“Guys next to us, I need to be louder to make sure that they’re getting the call. All things that for an older player, this is where I bring value. I’ve been in these situations, so I have to be much better in helping put us in the right situation, but it also just comes down, I can’t reiterate how much Jalen Hurts really made that day go, man, because in spite of all that, he was able to make multiple plays that would have been broken, into positive plays for our offense.”
Kelce also had high praise for A.J. Brown, who had 10 catches for 155 yards, which tied a career-high and broke the Eagles record for most yards receiving in a debut that had been held by Donte Stallworth at 141 set in 2006.
Travis asked his brother how Brown compares to some other Eagles WRs he’s had as teammates.
“I played with a lot of really, really good receivers and each one kind of has their own skill set,” he said. “DeSean Jackson was by the far best deep ball receiver I may have ever seen. The guy was so good at tracking the ball down the field and making big plays.
“Jeremy Maclin was like silky smooth in his routes and the way he moved. Alshon Jeffery…I can’t list everybody. I think A.J. is a very unique player. He’s so big and so physical as a receiver. You just don’t see guys that are that size with that strength.”
Kelce added that he loved Jeffery's motto – 'when I’m covered, I’m not.'
“It was basically just throw the ball up, I’m going to come down with it,” he said. “That’s the type of confidence you want to have in a guy and A.J. has that type of vibe.
"If you’re going to line up and play man on man and as a quarterback to have that comfort blanket to go to, know that you have a guy that’s going to win a lot of those 50-50 matchups, it’s huge.”
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.
