It Was In Lambeau Where Jalen Hurts' Career Took A Leap

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was a rookie when he last went to Green Bay, but there was a changing of the QB guard that night when Carson Wentz was benched for good.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talked about returning to Lambeau Field for the first time since his rookie season during his Thursday press conference with reporters. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – This is where his NFL career took off, where his two standout Super Bowl trips, his one Super Bowl MVP, and his one regular-season MVP runner-up campaign took flight. It’s not quite Jalen Hurts’ origin story, because you’d have to go all the way back to Houston where he was born and learned the game from his father and to Alabama and then Oklahoma.

That’s too far. For now, it’s about Lambeau Field, site of the Eagles’ Monday night heavyweight matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

The changing of Philadelphia's quarterback guard came on Dec. 6, 2020, with 7:39 left in the third quarter. It was when Doug Pederson yanked Carson Wentz and inserted Hurts. Neither the Eagles nor Hurts have looked back since. He has won 52 regular-season games and has gone 6-3 in the postseason, better than any quarterback over that span except Patrick Mahomes.

Hurts' first thought when he was asked for his recollection of that game in Green Bay.

"No one was there,” he said.

Yes, it came during the Covid pandemic when fans weren’t allowed to attend games.

“We haven't played at Lambeau Field since then, and I think ... it could be a little nostalgic,” Hurts added. “But I remember not winning the game, and we should have won the game coming back, a holding call held us back a bit so hopefully it can be different this time.”

Hurts Should Be In MVP Conversation

Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) runs off the field after win against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

When Hurts came in the Eagles were trailing 20-3. The game ended 30-16.

Until his 26 snaps that night in Northern Wisconsin, he had played just 33 snaps in the previous 11 games. Hurts didn’t particularly wow anyone the rest of the season, going just 1-3 over his final four starts, but the Eagles stuck with him, and they have been rewarded.

He isn’t getting as much attention for the league MVP this season, but he should be. Hurts leads the league in touchdowns to turnover ratio, with 20 TDs to just two turnovers, and only one interception, yards on third/fourth downs with 10.1, his 70 percent completion percentage puts him on a career-best path, and he is the only QB this season to record a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Only three quarterbacks in the game have ever carried a 110-plus passer rating and 70 percent-plus completion percentage into their team's ninth game – Hurts, Drew Brees and Tom Brady.

When he took the baton from Wentz against the Packers, Hurts knew he was ready.

“I knew that from practice,” he said. “I definitely knew that from practice, but I think just really putting the work in, and staying patient when my opportunity came, and it came, and when you get an opportunity like that, you don't want to look back.

"I'm fortunate and we are all fortunate to have done a lot of winning since that point, so I think that it was a key point for my career as it's gone, you know, appreciative of that, and the opportunity Coach Doug and that staff gave me to go out there and kind of start to move up.”

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