Accountability Vs. Autonomy: Eagles' Jalen Hurts Needs To Embrace Both

Jalen Hurts described being told not to worry about pass protection adjustments when Jason Kelce was around.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks to throw before a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - Jalen Hurts ended the spring with an unforced error and just over a week away from the season opener, arguably unfurled another Thursday.

The fifth-year quarterback missed a layup on the final day of spring work when asked about Nick Sirianni's shifting role from offensive chief to CEO coach opening up the floodgates for six weeks of unneeded speculation.

This time, the hiccup happened in the most innocuous of circumstances during the Eagles’ annual radiothon for charity when the team’s passionate fanbase bids on things like hanging out with Eagles’ executive and local celebrity Big Dom DiSandro, playing a round of golf with Saquon Barkley, or allowing a couple of hours of below-average radio to be recorded at a local business.

The annual affair generates significant money for the Eagles' Autism Foundation charity that is very important to team owner Jeffrey Lurie and doubles as an opportunity to hype what’s expected to be a potentially exciting season on the organization's flagship radio station.

What it’s not is an adversarial environment where dirty laundry can be uncovered unless it’s volunteered.

And that’s what Hurts did when again discussing his autonomy, or lack thereof, at the line of scrimmage in past years.

It’s not news that Hurts has been hoping for more ownership of the Eagles’ offense.

"It's been a role that I've been waiting on," Hurts said earlier this summer. "I know we've had a well-respected, Hall of Fame guy [Jason Kelce] who's been [handling pass protection calls], and now we [have] the opportunity to [change] that. It's something I've been wanting, and I think that's how it's supposed to be."

That’s fine and even understandable, something this reporter has argued is the end game any offense should strive for.

Hurts, though, went a bit further than that saying he “was told not to worry about a lot of things” with Kelce around.

"We had a great player in Jason Kelce who took on a lot of responsibility, and as a result of that I was told not to worry about a lot of things,” Hurts told 94.1 WIP. “And so my eagerness to learn over the years kind of was halted because of who we had.”

Those taking that as a shot at Kelce are off base because the QB and his former center always had a strong relationship. More so, Hurts understood that Kelce’s ability to handle the pass protection adjustments was unique and not easily duplicated.

The issues come with what was described as an almost dismissive handling of the setup to Hurts by the coaching staff. And by lobbing that at Sirianni, the star QB outed his own habit of avoiding accountability, a core value that the head coach has built his messaging around this offseason.

Perhaps that’s not a coincidence in what is starting to look like a passive-aggressive tennis game at times.

The most troubling aspect of Hurts’ comments was his self-admitted pause on learning how to handle the blitz correctly and consistently.

After all, Hurts always understood his shelf life in Philadelphia was going to last past Kelce’s expiration date and even though hindsight says that the six-time All-Pro center ended his career with an amazing string of consecutive starts that reached 156, you’re always a play away from the sideline in an attrition-based business.

So why was Hurts’ “eagerness to learn over the years kind of halted” when he knew the day would come for him to have the “trump card” as new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore calls it?

That's a question that always needed to be answered on the field but now it needs to be asked off of it.

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