NFL Insider Explains Why Jalen Hurts’s Postgame Press Conference After OT Win Was ‘Jarring’

Despite his impressive performance, Jalen Hurts didn't revel in the Eagles' Week 12 victory over the Bills.
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Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has been playing like a top 10 quarterback this season, and his best talents were on full display in Week 12’s 37–34 overtime victory over the Bills. Sunday’s win saw Philadelphia defeat another AFC juggernaut and take one step closer to a playoff berth, but Hurts has seemed mostly nonplussed about the Eagles’ successes.

Hurts was spotted with a stone-cold expression when Eagles kicker Jake Elliott converted a 59-yard field goal to tie the game against Buffalo late in the fourth quarter. After the win, Hurts was described as “miserable” during the Birds’ postgame press conference on Sunday, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

“It was jarring to me. The Eagles had just had a dramatic victory, one of the best victories and maybe the game of the year in the NFL,” Rapoport said of Hurts’s demeanor, “and Jalen Hurts is sitting there at the press conference, and I swear to god, he was miserable. Everyone was trying to get him excited. He was so annoyed and pissed off that he didn’t play up to his standards, and this is not normal.”

“To lead a team and keep striving as he has is not normal either,” Rapoport added, “and I was so impressed by that.”

Hurts was locked in during the thrilling win over the Bills, passing for 200 yards with three touchdowns against one interception. He added 65 yards on the ground and scored two rushing touchdowns, one of which was a 12-yard walk-off touchdown in overtime to clinch the Eagles’ 10th win of the season.

Amid all of the noise surrounding his career thus far, it certainly sounds like Hurts’s harshest critic is himself.

The Eagles will face the 49ers in a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 3.


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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.