How Jalen Hurts feels about being the QB on a run-first team

Most quarterbacks want to throw the ball. Jalen Hurts just wants to win.

That was the quarterback’s message on Wednesday when asked about the transformation the Eagles have undergone this season to becoming the heaviest rushing team in the NFL.

“It’s about the team,” Hurts said on Wednesday. “I don’t care how it looks. That’s kind of my game. I think that’s something that people have to accept, that it’s going to look how Jalen Hurts wants it to look. But he’s gonna win.”

Hurts and the Eagles (11-2) have been winning. After a 2-2 start, they have rattled off nine wins since their bye week and are barreling their way toward one of the top two seeds in the NFC.

But during this winning streak, the entire identity of the offense has changed.

In each of the first four games, Hurts threw 30+ passes but he hasn’t done that once in the nine-game winning streak. In the first four weeks, Hurts averaged 33.0 attempts per game and has averaged just 21.4 per game since then.

Hurts on Wednesday was asked if that’s difficult in any way to accept — being the quarterback on a team that so heavily leans into the running game.

“It’s not any difficulty in winning when that’s your main thing,” Hurts said. “And that’s truly your main thing. I know everybody sees the mic’d up clip of ‘duty calls’ and all that. And I know there will moments where that moment comes. It’s a matter of being equipped when that time comes. That’s what we’re building confidence for, that’s what we’re striving for.

“No one cares how you get it done when you get it done. That’s it. I feel like everything I say is stemmed from the whole standards vs. winning and losing conversation we had last year. But you have standards but at the end of the day, when did winning not become the main thing? Just want to play at a high level. We all want to play at a high level. But we want to win. We want to win. That’s the most important thing.”

There’s no doubt, however, that the Eagles’ passing offense needs to improve. They had just 83 net passing yards in Sunday’s tight win over the Carolina Panthers and several players on offense expressed some frustration about those struggles.

How can it get better? 

“Honestly, just finding that rhythm,” Hurts said. “The rhythm thing is important. I think that takes a collective group in how we approach things, what we do, how we attack people. Ultimately, knowing my job and doing my job.”

It was not Hurts’ best game against the Panthers and he has been critical of himself for his performance. Hurts in that game averaged a season-high time to throw 3.47 seconds and a season-low yards per attempt of 5.1

When asked point-blank if he needs to get the ball out quicker, Hurts did not push back.

“There are moments where I can get it out quicker,” he said. “There are definitely moments where I can definitely get it out quicker. I think that’s just something that I own. I’ll be better with it.”

The Eagles can still lean into their run game — and with Saquon Barkley and their offensive line they probably should — but the passing game needs to be better when called upon. That’s a group effort but a big part of that is obviously going to be the starting quarterback.

There’s a balance to strike here. Because as much as the Eagles’ offensive identity has been running the football, a big part of their effectiveness has been limiting turnovers. Hurts turned the ball over 7 times in the first 4 games and has just 2 in the last 9.

While the Eagles are dead last in the NFL in passing attempts, Hurts has mostly been efficient. In the nine-game winning streak, Hurts has accounted for 23 touchdowns with 2 turnovers and has a passer rating of 113.7

But has his emphasis on limiting turnovers affected his ability to push the ball downfield?

“I think from a macro view, macro perspective, you gotta be able to saturate yourself in something to say, ‘This is who we are and this is what we’re going to do,’” Hurts said. “I think, as I said, as things change and as dynamics change and the dynamic of our team has changed. We had a great addition in Saquon Barkley and he’s been able to impact this team in a tremendous way. We’ve always been able to run the ball at a high level. He’s taken that to the next level. 

“It hasn’t changed the main thing. Ultimately, we’re looking at a piece of our game that we need to be better at. Being critical of ourselves, that we need to be better at. But ultimately, we’re still doing what we need to do.”

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