Eagles Nick Sirianni Spells It Out Wth Jalen Hurts: "This Is His team"

The Eagles coach also responded to the quarterback's comment about his process being blunted when it came to learning more about the offense and its protection schemes.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts warms up for practice at Lincon Financial Field. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – If it wasn’t clear before, Nick Sirianni all but spelled it out.

“Jalen (Hurts) is at the forefront,” said the Eagles coach during his Sunday news conference as the Eagles ramp up preparations to fly to Brazil to play the Green Bay Packers in the season opener on Friday.

“This is his team. He’s a captain, he’s the quarterback, he touches the ball every play.”

The implication may have been that it was Jason Kelce’s team, and Sirianni backed Hurts’ mark made on sports radio 94.1 WIP during the week.

“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 put forth on the airwaves. “And so my eagerness to learn over the years kind of was halted because of who we had.”

It’s easy to believe it was Kelce’s team, because why wouldn’t have it been? The guy’s a future Hall of Famer who started 156 straight games to finish off his career and was a six-time first-team Associated Press All Pro.

Sirianni said that Hurts’ statement was accurate.

“Kelce handled a big portion of it,” said the coach. “What he said is 100 percent true.”

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni meets the media on Sept. 1, 2024. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Hurts is on the precipice of beginning his fourth season as the Eagles’ full-time starter. He is 33-14 in that time and 5-5 in the postseason. He has accounted for 108 touchdowns, with 67 through the air and 41 on the ground.

“Ever since I’ve been here, Jalen’s been all in, trying to do everything he can to win,” said Sirianni. “Every year, he’s done everything he can do to help this football team and put every bit of his heart and soul into it.”

Nobody has yet seen Hurts operate the new offense installed by first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore against another team, except for one joint practice in Foxborough against the New England Patriots back on Aug. 13.

“I see the same Jalen, the guy who’s working his butt off to work his butt to help us win this first game, working his butt off to make sure this team is in good position and he’s playing his best ball because we need him to play good football for us to have a chance week in and week out,” said Sirianni.

“Again, I think he’s had an outstanding training camp, just with everything, the way he’s played, the way he’s passed, the way he’s led, all those different things. Every year I’ve felt his will and desire to win. The guy’s a winner. He’s been a winner his entire life and he knows how to win, and he goes about that process every day to win better than everybody I’ve ever been around.”