The relationship between Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni was already a hot topic before last week’s report from The Athletic, which classified it as “a work in progress.”
So on Day 1 of their fourth training camp together, both Hurts and Sirianni were asked for their perspective on that report and on their relationship as it stands today after the collapse of 2023.
“I think we’re in a great place,” Hurts said after Wednesday’s practice. “I think anytime you have any frustration, anytime you have any adversity that you have to overcome, it’s supposed to test you. I think it’s a matter of being on the same page. I think if we were maybe on the same page, we maybe would have accomplished the things we would have and we didn’t. But that’s a learning experience.
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“I think it’s as simple as if I made it happen, I can make it happen. And this team has made it happen before. There’s no doubt that we can make it happen again. But it takes what it takes and it takes being together.”
This is already Hurts’ fourth season playing under Sirianni and the two have won a lot of football games together — they’ve been to the playoffs in each of the last three years. But even Hurts admitted the adversity they faced last year — losing six of their final seven games — tested that relationship.
As Hurts sat behind the microphone on Wednesday in a white Jordan brand tank top, the first question lobbed his way was about his relationship with Sirianni and he cut off the question.
“Let me say this first,” Hurts said. “You go through an offseason, you put a lot of work in, I think all the things we’ve been through last year, all the opportunity we had last year, I know everybody is hungry. Everybody is hungry. There’s a ton of opportunity in front of us this year. I’m excited to be back, excited to go through this journey and go through this season with everyone here. Everyone. I truly trust Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie, I trust Howie (Roseman), I trust Coach Sirianni to lead us in that right direction.”
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There were a couple of reasons why the relationship between Hurts and Sirianni has been a big topic of conversation this summer and it extends beyond their obvious personality differences.
There was the moment just after the 2023 season ended when Hurts failed to give Sirianni a strong vote of confidence, instead claiming he didn’t know there was even a discussion about the coach being on the hot seat. And then there was the moment in the spring when Hurts was asked about Sirianni’s acceptance of a different role in 2024, one with less say on offense, and Hurts stumbled his way through an answer.
While neither was damning, both of those instances didn’t do much to quell anyone’s fears that the relationship between QB and head coach was strained. And then came that report from The Athletic last week.
“The only thing you can judge your relationships on is your personal interactions with people, not any report that comes out,” Sirianni said. “Jalen and I’s relationship is good. Again, you can just judge it on what your personal interactions are. And so when you hear a report like that, you don’t put much stock into it because, quite frankly, not everybody sees that. I’m so excited for him and I to get into our fourth year together. We’ve done some pretty special things and I’m really excited for him.
“He’s worked really hard on his game. I’m excited for him to be able to get back out here today and have a good practice today and just looking forward to continuing to work with him and continuing to build on the special things we’ve done.”
As Hurts and Sirianni prepare to enter their fourth season together, the dynamic between them is going to be a little bit different simply because of Sirianni’s new role. The Eagles this offseason hired Kellen Moore to be their offensive coordinator and have handed over control to him of that side of the football.
That means that Sirianni is now taking over a role as a CEO head coach and will be splitting up his time a little differently in 2024. He’ll be more hands-off on offense. That also means he’ll need to work at his relationship with Hurts more than he’s had to previously.
“You know what, that’s a good question because I’m not in that quarterback room all the time anymore,” Sirianni said. “Some of those times, you’d have that natural relationship because you’re always in there. But what I think is beneficial with that is that everybody needs that time with me, not just me being in the quarterback room. Me being in the defensive end room, me being able to go into the linebacker room.
“So naturally when you’re not just with the quarterbacks, you have to carve out a little bit more time to talk to them, that you wouldn’t get when you’re in there all the time. I do that for every position and now I just have to do that a little bit more with the quarterback position because I’m not in there full time.”
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