Stream Of Consciousness: With The Pause Button Pressed, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Opens Up

PHILADELPHIA - Jalen Hurts isn’t playing this week, a welcome respite for the Eagles' quarterback on the eve of Philadelphia’s fifth consecutive postseason berth.

The pause button is pressed with backup Tanner McKee set to take over for Week 18 against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field.

Despite that Hurts was front and center at his weekly press conference, reflecting on what has been an uneven season offensively for Philadelphia, with significant pockets of poor play often overshadowing stretches of great efficiency, all wrapped around the theme of opportunity and the quarterback’s own measuring stick of winning.

"I think anything beyond what we've done becomes not important,” Hurts said during a 12-minute session filled with Easter eggs perhaps overlooked amid the holidays and the downshift before the postseason. “It's about what we do with the opportunities we have [now].”

Winning is the Eagles’ disinfectant.

Lost in last season was that there were plenty of hiccups in the passing game during the regular season and even earlier in the playoffs against Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams, all wiped away by efficient offense when it counted most en route to a Super Bowl LIX championship.

That success spawned another change at offensive coordinator and play-caller for Hurts with Kevin Patullo taking over for Kellen Moore.

“I think the reality is I've had a different coordinator every year so I'm very rational with everything as it is and also I'm not gonna use anything to be an excuse of not winning because that's the only thing that matters to me," said Hurts.

When pressed further, Hurts bandied back.

'I'm More Equipped To Handle It'

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts speaks after the team's final training camp practice on Aug. 20, 2025. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

"I don't think it's too hard of a concept to grasp,” the QB1 noted. “You got a lot of people moving in and out, you're resetting every time and so it's something that you build but also when we talk about patience, you talk about diligence and you talk about those things, I'm more equipped to handle it every time a change happens so I'm always better for it and I'm confident to adapt and I can find a way to navigate to success, given the opportunity to go out there and try to win championships.”

Hence, five consecutive playoff berths with five different play-callers.

“It's something I'm able to grow from each time,” Hurts said. “That doesn't make it easy, but it's something I can definitely navigate."

That navigation comes inside the structure of what the coaching staff requires.

The Navigation

“I think my opinion is a bit out of place when it comes to talking about sequencing and calling plays and doing all those things,” he said. “As a quarterback, you want to go out there and purely focus on executing what's called and doing that.”

At times, it feels like head coach Nick Sirianni and Patullo are too risk-averse, or Hurts seems more comfortable as a passer with tempo or in spread concepts.

The quarterback didn’t shy away from those perceptions or sentiments but acknowledged their shortcomings.

“We all have a feel for the rhythm of a game and how it flows and I think as a unit I don't want to speak from a place of divisiveness toward anything but we are where we are, we have what we have,” he admitted. “And we've got a great opportunity in front of us and so everybody is working together to trying to figure those things.”

Trusting Each Other

In the ultimate team game, all you can do know is trust each other.

“I trust my teammates to go out there and make plays,” Hurts said. “We gotta master the material, we gotta know what to do, we gotta know where to line up and operate efficiently and control the things we can, and then from a coaching standpoint, I trust our coaches to go out there and put us in good positions.

“You don't want to be in a position where you're overthinking. You don't want to be in a position where you are questioning something.”

Questions Have To Wait

When the calendar turns to January, questions have to wait for the offseason.

“[When] I look in the mirror, it comes down to how's my preparation? How's my detail? How am I seeing things that maybe not everyone sees? And am I acting on that if I feel so?" Hurts explained.

“How am I communicating? How's the dialogue? Are we on the same page? What are my guys on the front see? Are they functioning? Are we communicating? Are they hearing the call? Are they hearing me?

“It's a whole chain that has to be on one head.”

Hurts is that on-field head for the Eagles and his demonstrated performance resulting in two Super Bowl berths and a Lombardi Trophy over the last four seasons foreshadow that the Eagles have a leg up on the rest of the field.

“For how everything has been this year we've got a great opportunity here in front of us and I'm not saying that in a bad way,” Hurts said. “We've done a lot of special things this year. We've set a high standard for ourself and when you have the level of success you have that comes with it.

“Ultimately, nothing else matters. As we play through this week and prepare through this week and then enter the tournament at zero and zero for everyone, so the mentality is just go find a way to win."

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