Eagles' Premise With Jalen Hurts Is Faulty

The Eagles are entering a new phase with quarterback Jalen Hurts and the plan doesn't make much sense.

Jan 11, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) calls a play at the line of scrimmage against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter in an NFC Wild Card Round game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Less than a day after receiving effusive praise from owner Jeffrey Lurie at the NFL's annual meeting,
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was put through the wringer in an ESPN piece examining his role in the team’s stagnant offense last season.

“There’s no bigger fan of Jalen than me,” Lurie said Tuesday after the meeting closed. “The guy was MVP of the Super Bowl 13 months ago. He should have been MVP of the Super Bowl in February 2023.

“Exceptional and incredibly dedicated. I spend a lot of time with Jalen, as I do with most quarterbacks. He’s incredibly dedicated to the game, to winning, and to being a huge winner. I love everything about him.”

Hours later, the narrative flipped when Hurts faced fresh scrutiny for his personal responsibility in the much-maligned “four verts” play call that ended the Eagles’ season against San Francisco in January, along with his role in an offense that had become “calcified.”

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are at a crossroads entering the 2026 season.

A deep dive with @JFowlerESPN: https://t.co/oUUa32W74z

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) April 1, 2026

Despite the disappointing endgame, though, the Eagles still won 11 games and were the only NFL team to repeat as division champions last season. 

In a vacuum, that’s a success. But when you’re the reigning Super Bowl champions and widely viewed as the most talented team in football, it’s apparently only enough to have half of your offensive coaching staff filing change of address forms.

“The more you succeed, the higher your own expectations are—and the higher the fans’ expectations become,” Lurie acknowledged.

To be fair, Lurie struck the right tone for an NFL owner.

“The way I manage it is, like our fans, I’m hell-bent on getting another championship,” Lurie said. “Expectations are high. It’s not going to happen every year. It’s damn tough to repeat. But why not try to do everything possible?”

The Heavy Weight Of Expectation

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie looks on before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Lurie admitted the obvious, that the offense “was not what we were either accustomed to or expectant of” last season. He also expressed confidence that first-time offensive coordinator Sean Mannion can fix it, pointing to the team’s history of “finding young coaching gems.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles are back in that “try to do everything possible” mode.

Except to exercise patience, it seems.

The player Lurie claims to love everything about is now being asked to become a different style of quarterback—embracing concepts he’s historically been uncomfortable with in a projected move to Kyle Shanahan- or Sean McVay-like schemes littered with pre-snap motion and under center looks to better marry the running and passing games with play-action looks.

And remember this is coming off those 11 wins, the division title and a fifth consecutive postseason berth.

The schemes the Eagles covet could only hope for that kind success, forget about the two Super Bowl appearances and the Lombardi Trophy Hurts has helped generate as the on-field leader of an antiquated offense the league evidently caught up to last season.

The premise here is what's faulty and forget about the fans or pundits who have turned downplaying Hurts' unique skillset into a cottage industry because, despite Lurie's praise of his QB1, his organization is operating with that same belief.

Those around the league will recognize the thoughts of Bill Parcells when frustrated by his staff focusing on the negative. The Hall of Fame Coach erupted with the ethos of coaching: 'Tell me what [the player] can do, not what he can't."

From a coaching perspective, the whole idea with every player from one through 53 on the roster should be to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

The Eagles seem to be entering a tough love phase with Hurts in 2026, essentially throwing him into the deep end of pool. Maybe the veteran QB swims and maybe he doesn't but building an offense around concepts the quarterback is uncomfortable sure doesn't sound like a recipe for success.