'Internal Concerns': Eagles Worried About Jalen Hurts' Leadership
We will be frank but respectful of the report that insists that the Philadelphia Eagles are somehow growing "impatient'' with the leadership style of "stoic'' quarterback Jalen Hurts and now harbor "internal concerns'' about their $225 million centerpiece.
We will be frank but respectful of the report in three areas. ...
1 - It's not the The Philadelphia Inquirer's report that we question as much as it is the counterintuitive nature of Hurts being ripped for being "stoic.''
We always thought the QB's cool and steady demeanor was one of the Eagles' greatest strengths.
2 - Attempting to "remake'' the personality of Jalen Hurts, we contend, is a mistake. In our 40-year experience covering the NFL, players can mature. But they are not "remade.''
And besides, are we saying that the third-year star Hurts, 25, needs to "mature''?
3 - The most troubling sign of the maybe-temporary crumbling of the Super Bowl team from a year ago - the Eagles are after all 10-4 and likely to win the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs - isn't that Hurts talks too little ...
It's that his teammates have opted to discuss private details with the fine reporter Jeff McLane that actually means ...
His teammates talk too much.
© Bill Streicher, USA TODAY
“The Eagles,'' McLane writes, "want their franchise quarterback to be authentic, but some team leaders also want him to open himself up a little more in the locker room and have a more outward leadership style when it’s needed during difficult stretches, several team sources close to the situation said.”
"Team leaders''? Taking a collective poke at their MVP quarterback is "leadership''?
The Eagles are struggling through weird sideline antics (from "Big Dom'' to A.J. Brown), seem to have panicked by making an unorthodox December change at defensive coordinator, and may be a tight bundle of emotions both because of high expectations and because of the leadership of head coach Nick Sirianni, who is by nature ... well, a tight bundle of emotions.
Add it all up?
"We (were),'' one Eagles source said to McLane before this three-game losing streak, "the most miserable 10-1 team ... Imagine now.”
Again - and we say this knowing well that as with The Inquirer, part of our job is to dig deep for meaningful and quotable revelations - why is an "Eagles source'' revealing that?
And, to the central point: The Eagles are slumping, frantic, tight, and miserable. And that's all the fault of Jalen Hurts failing to completely revamp his classy personality and to wave some mythical magical "leadership wand''?
We will be frank but respectful, but ... "Eagles leaders'' who believe that are the ones not leading.
