Intangibly Great: Can Eagles' Jalen Hurts Adapt To Doing it Differently?

In five seasons as the starter under head coach Nick Sirianni, the results have been exceptional: five postseason appearances, two NFC Championships, and a Lombardi Trophy.

Jun 10, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and quarterback Tanner McKee (16) run passing drills during minicamp at Jefferson Health Training Complex. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

PHILADELPHIA — On the surface, it seems counterintuitive that the Philadelphia Eagles want to run a Shanahan/McVay-style offense with Jalen Hurts as their quarterback.

Hurts, one of the more polarizing players in football, has led the Eagles to their greatest success as an organization in the Super Bowl era. 

In five seasons as the starter under head coach Nick Sirianni, the results have been exceptional: five postseason appearances, two NFC Championships, and a Lombardi Trophy. Hurts has also won more than 68 percent of his starts.

Set to turn 28 in early August, Hurts has never operated as a traditional pocket-style quarterback. He has thrived as a dual-threat player who served as the plus-one in the running game and sent many opposing defensive coordinators scuttling for the Tylenol by extending plays and dismantling even the most disciplined and fundamentally sound stop units in the NFL.

Last season, things began to change as the running part of Hurts’ game was dramatically curtailed, which helped spawn a far less efficient passing attack.

In reaction to that, the Eagles began experimenting with the popular Shanahan-style offense in 2025 and plan to fully commit to it come September.

Longtime NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell shared the much of league’s perspective during an appearance on The Ross Tucker Podcast:

“This is not the way in which he's played,” Cosell said of Hurts. “…I'm not going to sit here and say as a veteran quarterback that he can’t do it, but it's totally different from the way in which he's played over his career, even going back to college.”

“This is NOT the way in which he's played…”

“I'm not going to sit here and say as a veteran quarterback that he CAN’T do it, but it's TOTALLY different from the way in which he's played over his career, even going back to college.”@GregCosell on if Jalen Hurts fits in the… https://t.co/8RY8OwSjkt pic.twitter.com/UKWPRn380p

— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) July 16, 2026

What stands out most about the Eagles wanting to change the offensive scheme is why the organization made the decision that the rest of the league had essentially figured out their successful, albeit less-than aesthetic offensive approach.

The move follows an 11-win season that included a lackluster Week 18 in which the starters sat and injuries to the team’s traditionally dominant offensive line. It's not a stretch to imagine 13 or 14 wins with a healthy O-Line so why the panic?

The worst-case scenario is that the decision-makers at the Jefferson Health Training Complex turning into disgruntled WIP callers and simply growing frustrated with an uninspiring and occasionally ugly brand of offensive football.

You’ll have a difficult time finding examples of any successful NFL team that built an offense around the perceived deficiencies of its most important player, however. 

As Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells once said, “Don’t tell me what they can’t do. Tell me what they can do.”

Common sense often remains uncommon in the shadow of stress the NFL can produce.

Shanahan’s offensive system revolves around the wide-zone run game and play-action passing. It typically features the quarterback under center more often than Hurts is used to, along with extensive pre-snap motion and a more balanced distribution of passes, frequently targeting the middle of the field.

Still Talking Intangibles

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts meets with reporters during the team's OTA on May 27, 2026. | John McMullen/ Eagles on SI

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about Hurts’ fit in a system that will require him to do things differently from his predominantly shotgun-based experience. 

As is typical, Sirianni leaned on Hurts’ intangibles:

“I’ve had so many good experiences with Jalen Hurts as our quarterback and a leader of this football team,” Sirianni told a small reporters this spring, including Eagles On SI, when discussing the 2026 season. “I know that he’s relentless in everything that he does. I just think that he can do so much because he’ll work his ass off at it.

“I’m always so impressed with Jalen. He’s a guy who has accomplished so much, done so many good things, and played so much winning football, yet he maintains this relentless approach to continue getting better and doing whatever it takes to help his game and, ultimately, his team.”

Even Hurts’ harshest critics find it difficult to question the QB1’s work ethic and competitive drive. Still, it would be reassuring to hear more concrete details about how Hurts’ traits fit into this new offense. 

All Sirianni could muster off the cuff is to point to a small sample size of play-action success:

“I know we talk about some of the play-action,” Sirianni said. “I think what you’ve seen is Jalen has been really successful with the play-action that we’ve been able to do. I think he sees the field well with the separation created between the offensive line and the quarterback off of a fake.

“I’m excited about that and how he’s performed with it in the past.”

All of Sirianni’s hints about “fixing” the offense to date have centered on the ground game and the trickle-down effect of improvement there helping the passing part by putting Hurts in more manageable situations on critical downs.

“We’ve always done what we thought we could do to marry the run game with the pass game. That’s Football 101,” the coach said. “That’s what we’ve always thought about. But I think that with some of the schemes that we’ll be introducing — we’ve always run outside zone and gap-scheme runs — maybe it’s going to be a little bit more.

“And with that, your play-action game will have even more opportunities. I’m excited about that and how he’ll perform there. What we’ve done with him on play-action has always been a strength of his, and I’m looking forward to him doing even more of it.”

Ostensibly, the Eagles’ core philosophy appears unchanged. It has simply been repackaged with a different offensive style that will continue to rely on the same Hurts intangibles: his work ethic, will to win, and the so-called clutch gene, an ability to perform in big moments on the biggest stages.