Jalen Hurts will Start Against Saints, Carson Wentz Heads to Bench

Doug Pederson’s decision is in, and the Eagles coach has decided to start Jalen Hurts when the New Orleans Saints visit Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

Hurts will replace Carson Wentz, who has struggled mightily this season.

Wentz's 15 interceptions are a career-high and lead the NFL. He has been sacked 50 times, another number that leads the league, though some of that has to do with leaky pass protection from an injury-battered offensive line to suspect play-calling and play design from Pederson and his staff.

"I have come to a decision and I am going to go with Jalen Hurts this week against New Orleans," said Pederson on the Eagles’ website. "We're not where we want to be as an offense. I looked at the whole thing and decided that for this week to look for that spark again to try to get the team over the hump, to try to get everybody playing better."

It should be noted that Pederson said "for this week," which seems to indicate he could return to Wentz at some point over the final four games, which are back-to-back road games at the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys before the regular-season ender against the Washington Football Team.

The Eagles particularly need a spark to start games, an area they have struggled in all year long. In their last seven games, the offense has averaged just 4.1 points in the first half.

Hurts provided a spark when he entered last Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with 7:39 to play in the third quarter.

Now, Pederson will see if that spark can be ignited to start the game.

Wentz completed just 57.4 percent of his passes this season and has a passer rating of just 72.8. A season after becoming the first quarterback in team history to top 4,000 yards passing, he has just 2,620 this year.

Against the Packers, he was 5-for-12 for 79 yards before being replaced with Hurts, who ended with 109 yards passing and one touchdown.

"Carson is like all of us right now, he's disappointed,” Pederson told the team’s website. “He's frustrated. He's been a professional through it all. He supports his teammates and that's what you want to see from him, the leader of the team.

“I know sometimes the quarterback gets a lot of the blame like the head coach does. It's the good with the bad. It's not about Carson Wentz. It's not about one person. We know we have issues on offense, and it has been a struggle for us all season. That's where the frustration lies a little bit, but he's been a pro and would expect nothing less."

Hurts was the team’s surprise second-round draft pick last spring after a standout career first at Alabama then, last year, at Oklahoma, where he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy behind Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the top pick in the draft from LSU.

"I just want to see development,” said Pederson via the team’s site. “I think it's a great opportunity for him, a great opportunity for the team.”

The coach is expected to talk to beat writers on Wednesday morning.

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