Embattled Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Goes 'Back To Work'

PHILADELPHIA - Jalen Hurts’ five-turnover performance during Monday night’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers was poor enough that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked if he has considered benching the QB1 10 months after Hurts was the Super Bowl MVP during the coach's weekly contractually obligated radio appearance.

Predictably Sirianni scoffed at the idea and used the adjective “ridiculous” to describe the query.

Hurts has piloted the Eagles to four consecutive postseason appearances and is on the cusp of No. 5, despite a rare three-game losing streak. Add two Super Bowl appearances and a Lombardi Trophy to the resume and understand Hurts' backup, third-year pro Tanner McKee, has thrown 45 career passes and "ridiculous" might be too tame to describe the sentiment.

However, it is fair to point out that Hurts is no longer playing efficient football which only further highlights a series of poor passing performances dating back to last season.

The question that needs to be answered concerns Hurts' current play. Is it simply a slump or the decline of a player who often described himself as a triple-threat?

“I would say that for whatever reason, [slumps are] a part of the game. Success or greatness, those things aren’t linear,” Hurts said on Wednesday. “You have your ups, you have your downs, but it’s about how you respond to it. And I think about that. It’s nothing new that I haven’t faced before. It’s a matter of responding to it. And I got a lot of confidence how we will respond.

"I got a lot of confidence how it will go.”

Hurts has earned the right to play his way out of a slump and he has a month of football to do it. Anything less than a playoff berth and a win or two in the postseason will go over like a lead balloon in Philadelphia, ironically because of the standard Hurts had helped establish.

The confidence doesn't seem to be wavering after the uncharacteristic performance against the Chargers.

Creating Confidence

Dec 8, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes against the Los Angeles Chargers in the first half at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"The problem about the game was, as ugly as it was throughout, was we had an opportunity to win it in the end. That’s what I take a lot of pride in," Hurts said. "And I didn’t come (through) for my team."

So what's the next step when something like that happens?

"Wake up the next day and go back to work," the quarterback said.

The Eagles' results the rest of the way will always be a team picture but Hurts remains steadfast in a burning desire to do his part.

"It takes all 11. And everybody has to be on the same page," Hurts continued. "And everybody has to hold their end of the rope to go out there and have the outcome that we all desire. And so, I stand before you here today and say I take a lot of pride in the things that I can control, and at the end of the day, that’s where it’ll always begin and end in this game. And so, I gotta do it."

MORE NFL: Eagles May Face Former Backup Kenny Pickett This Weekend