Jalen Hurts Was NEVER the Eagles' Problem | The Story with Rachel Nichols

The headlines tell you what happened.

We're here to talk about why it matters, what you might have missed, and everything in between.

Hey everyone, I'm Rachel Nichol.

Welcome to the story.

You guys remember in the offseason when the big debate around the Philadelphia Eagles was whether this was a prove it season for Jalen Hurts?

You know, the stories with truckloads of unnamed team sources saying Hurts was too rigid, not coachable, too much of the problem.

Well, guess what everyone can say for certain now.

The problem It was definitely, definitely not Jalen Hurts.

That and so much more was obvious in Philadelphia's lifeless loss to Carolina yesterday, a game led by backup Tanner McKee after the Eagles officially put Hurts on the IR with a blood clot.

Things started ugly for McKee, who was sacked on a bootleg on the first play of the game.

Then on his next play, very nearly threw an interception.

In fact, the Eagles punted on 5 straight possessions from the start of the 1st quarter until late in the 2nd, and it only got marginally and really only very briefly better from there.

In fact, it might not be better for quite a while.

Just ask any Eagles fan who must feel in the past 2 days they've gone to blood clot medical school.

The IR means that Hurts is out for at least a month, but the standard treatment for this sort The thing is actually 6 weeks, and we've certainly seen this sort of health problem deteriorate further.

Just 2 years ago, Victor Wapanyama had to be ruled out for the rest of his season due to a blood clot issue.

And of course, one of the mainstays of the Miami Heat's championship teams, Chris Bosh, saw blood clots and his career.

But don't worry, the Eagles have a really good backup plan for all this.

I think, maybe, or actually, no.

Quite the opposite.

In fact, a little over a week ago, Philadelphia cut the guy who'd entered the season as their number 2, former Bengals Pro Bowl QB Andy Dalton.

The cut wasn't totally unwarranted, but the timing was sure unfortunate.

The Eagles cut Dalton on October 9th.

Jalen's blood clot showed up on an ultrasound.

On October 10th.

Then October 11th, team doctors cleared Jalen to play in the Eagles London game, a decision that may be worth some questions now, as might the NFL's decision to play so many games overseas this year.

Poor field conditions in a lot of those games have grabbed the headlines.

But you know what's particularly bad for blood clots?

Yeah, long flights.

Anyway, we're here now.

The Eagles' next hope might be big gun quarterback Joe Milton, who they've signed off the Cowboys' practice squad.

But honestly, at this point, it's less about the quarterback and a lot more about whether offensive coordinator Sewn Mannion can make something work to hold things together.

And from at least what we have seen so far, that does not feel super likely.

Remember, Philadelphia.

brought Mignon in this offseason.

The idea was that he would modernize the offense.

Mignon obviously knows the quarterback position.

He played it in the NFL for 9 years, but this season is his first ever as a play caller, first ever as an offensive coordinator.

And in fact, it's only his 3rd year as an NFL coach at all, and it's not been going well.

The Eagles went into this weekend's games ranked 29th and Scoring 31st in yards, 30th in yards per play.

They went 3 and out on 52% of their second half drives, which is the worst for any team in 20 years, which is all extra notable, because the quiet part that one of those team sources said out loud to ESPN was that Manion was also brought in to make Jalen Hurts, quote, adapt.

So Hurts could strengthen.

Future in Philadelphia.

Now, I'd say it's glaringly obvious that the player who has been to 2 Super Bowls, 11 of them, nabbed the Super Bowl MVP, and was working with his 6th play caller in 7 years, is not the one whose future Philadelphia should be contemplating.

That distinction should go to Eagles coach Nick Siriani and Mannion along with him.

After all, Jalen can't be the problem from the sideline.

Turns out this was a proven season after all, just not for him.

All right, let's get to baseball, where pitcher Drew Rasmussen walked into Cleveland yesterday with the ALCS tied at 2 games apiece and walked out with the Rays 1 game away from the World Series.

You know, he hasn't lost a game since the All-Star break.

Earlier this month, he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Yankees, and the Rays, of course, went on to sweep them.

Yesterday, it was Cleveland's turn.

But even more than his prowess on the mound, Drew's story is also a pretty good picture of how a team like the Rays wins without spending big.

You know, they can't just go out and buy an ace.

So they build one.

When Tampa Bay got Drew 5 years ago, he was a relief pitcher who'd already had 2 Tommy John surgeries.

The made him a starter.

Then his elbow needed a third surgery, and instead of moving on, they signed him to an extension a few months after he came back.

This year, they're paying him $5.5 million for a two-time All-Star.

And if the Rays win one more game, he will get to pitch in the World Series against the team that traded him away.

And even if he doesn't, even if the Guardians storm back, they take the series, the American League will be sending one of the smallest payrolls in baseball to the World Series.

Waiting for them, Milwaukee, another team in the bottom half of the league's payroll list, and the ones who just swept the mega spending two-time defending champs.

In fact, if you put the Brewers and the Rays and the Guardians all together, they still spend less on players than the Dodgers do all by themselves.

Brewers manager.

Murphy put it like this.

He said, they may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we've got a bunch of gamers, and the gamers won this week.

I know it's a little goofy, happy, happy , but to me, that's the best thing about this sport.

Payrolls don't come up to bat.

A pitcher on a great night can beat anyone, and a city that's waited since 1982 can get a World Series.

It's really all something to celebrate.

We all love the little guy in this country.

But here is the next layer to this story.

This is all landing at a pretty awkward time for baseball's owners.

Baseball's labor deal runs out December 1st, and the owners have put a salary cap on the table.

The players' union, of course, hates it, and a lockout is frankly all but assured.

A big part of the owners's case for a cap is that the richest teams win too much.

And there's no question payroll does matter.

The Yankees and the Dodgers, they both made the playoffs.

Money still buys you a seat, but this season, it is not buying anyone the trophy.

This October, every one of the big spenders is already at home.

So the owner's salary cap pitch just lost its best exhibit, and you know, they can bring all the spreadsheets they want to the bargaining table in December.

In October, someone still has to throw the strikes, and yesterday, that someone was Drew Rasmussen.

Now let's return to the NFL because I want to time travel you back to 1996 when the Cowboys lost Michael Irvin to a five game suspension.

And their idea for his replacement, well, they're all pro corner, Deion Sanders, and we all know how that worked out.

Still, what's most important to remember is not Dion's successes at the position.

It's that Dallas didn't make the move because two-way football was such a cool idea.

They didn't do it because of media pressure.

Dallas did it because they had a hole, and it had the one guy in the building who could fill it.

Now flash forward to 2026 and this weekend when the Jacksonville Jaguars proved that's exactly how they should be handling Travis Hunter, and that they should stop apologizing for it, because in the game against the Texans played over in London, the Jaguars finally found the good place.

Travis started a cornerback and picked off CJ Stroud in the end zone.

On offense, he got a season high 9 snaps, and yes, he caught a touchdown on one of them.

That makes him the first player since Brian Dawkins in 2002 to catch a touchdown pass and intercept a pass in the same game.

Now look, I must note the Jaguars lost to Houston 34 to 31 on a field goal with the gun.

But as far as Hunter goes, that day was a success and something Jacksonville needs to lean into, not grading Hunter on snap counts on either side of the ball, not constantly evaluating whether he's played enough both ways to justify his number 2 pick.

And please, no more headlines, and quote, second guessing the Jaguars on this at every turn, because in truth, the Jags have been moving toward this moment ever since they targeted Hunter in the draft.

Whether they planned for it this way or not.

Last October, with the receiver's room struggling, Liam Coe made Hunter his top target.

This year, it was the corner room that changed, so they leaned on him at defense.

Now that hole is moving around again after receiver Brian Thomas dropped another pass and sat the entire second half.

So Travis moved along with it.

That's not indecision.

That's the.

Plan, because while every snap on both sides of the ball sounds heroic, it's also, of course, the fastest way to turn the most versatile player in football into an injured one.

And regardless, Travis doesn't have to prove he can do everything all at once.

He already did that in college, where he won the Heisman playing both ways.

Now, his job is harder and more valuable, be whatever Jacksonville is missing.

Let's talk a little college ball now because the Miami Hurricanes woke up yesterday as the number one overall team in the country for the first time in nearly 25 years.

The honor was in part due to a thrilling and controversial double overtime win over Florida State, in part because of a collapse at the top of the poll.

Georgia lost at home to unranked Auburn on a field goal as time ran out.

BYU beat Notre Dame.

Ohio State beat.

Indiana, Tennessee beat Alabama, and Florida beat Texas.

According to the AP, it's the first time in the poll's 90-year history that 5 of the top 7 lost on the same day.

Now, I'm not a Hurricanes fan, but I will always hold some affection for them.

My first job out of college was covering Kane's football, and that was back in the tail end of the you days.

It was Ray Lewis's final season.

There was a ton of drama off the field, and some tremendous.

play on it.

So seeing a Miami FSU game that feels big is always going to personally feel to me like a lot of fun.

But I will also say this to all college football fans.

Enjoy Saturdays like this past one while you still can.

The sport is about to make the matter a whole lot less.

Yep, the college football playoff is close to a deal to double the field from 12 teams to 24 starting next season.

That deal is being built alongside a new TV contract with ESPN because of course it is.

Just say the words college athletics and you know that dollar bills can't be far behind.

The sad part about this is that every time college football grabs for more money, it loses something.

There are roughly 2,004 examples of this, but take the small one.

Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC and Bedlam went with it.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played each other for more than 100 years, but that's all done now.

Now, this deal is expected to wipe out the Power Four conference championship games.

Look at Saturday.

The #1 and #2 teams lost on the same day, and both are still in the top 5.

Now that's with a 12 team playoff.

Under the plan currently proposed, though, the top 8 seeds get a bye and a home game.

So in a 2014 field, a team like Georgia could lose twice and still land a bye and a home game.

The Big 10 has pushed the hardest for this, and its commissioner Tony Pettitti says the regular season won't lose value because the format has tiered incentives.

That's not a reason to watch college football.

That's an airline rewards program.

In this sport, the regular season used to be the playoffs.

For the best team, every Saturday was an elimination game.

College football has been trading that feeling away piece by piece, and they're about to do it again for an even bigger check.

Now, before we go, I just want to acknowledge the tough news that came down last night about Ben Simmons, who looked like he was going to make the starting lineup for the Sacramento Kings, only to have his season taken away by a torn Achilles before it even started.

It's another setback in a career that's already had its share.

But while this season will clearly not go the way that he hoped, there is still plenty more to his story, and we will be here to keep telling it.

I'm Rachel Nichols.

Thanks for watching the story.

See you next time.