Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: Most Coachable Player 'Ever'?
PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts is still the same quarterback that took the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl and then, two months later, signed a contract extension that was, at the time, the highest ever given to an NFL player.
“I’m the same guy,” he said. “I’m the same guy.”
He then paused for several seconds before adding, “I’m the same guy, same approach, the numbers may have changed, but same guy, same approach, same goals, same dreams.
Teammates who were asked about him during the recent OTA period, which ended on Thursday afternoon with Hurts serving as the final piece to a puzzle that will continue construction when players are tentatively scheduled to return on July 25 for training camp, said he's still the same guy.
“As far as his demeanor, he stays pretty consistent,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “As far as how he acts and goes about his business, he’s very professional here. One thing he does, he’s always just working his tail off. With that, the actions speak a lot louder than the words. He’ll say a little bit every now and then when he needs to.
“Just how he conducts himself, I feel like his presence in the huddle, just how calm he is, sets the tone for everybody to be calm, focused, and play it one play at a time. I feel like it infiltrates everyone involved.”
Coaches, like Nick Siranni, tell a different story. Hurts may be the same guy, but the same quarterback?
Probably not because even Hurts and anyone familiar with cliches knows: “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.”
“Jalen may be the most coachable person I've ever been around in my life,” Sirianni said. “He's just always looking to get better. Now, that's our job as coaches, to make sure we're feeding him good information.
“He's so coachable, he just keeps getting better, and he keeps getting better, and he keeps getting better.”
The coach said he saw an improved Hurts during the brief OTA practices.
“I see another jump in everything that he's done with accuracy, with the decision-making,” said the coach. “We're doing 7-on-7, so there is no rush, so there's no pass rush except for the guys that are walking at him with the bags. … But I do see his development continuing.
“That's what we talk about with Jalen all the time. I don't know what his ceiling is because he just keeps getting better, and he's going to continue to do that. So, I've seen that same jump, the speed with which he makes the decision, the accuracy of his throws. He's really had a good spring.”
Hurts won’t stay stuck in the past that, even though he directed the franchise to a record 14 regular season wins and finished as the MVP runner-up.
“Last year is over,” he said. “Nothing that has been done prior will get us to where we want to be now. There are a ton of experiences that we’ve definitely documented and deposited in the bank, if you will, to learn from.
“And we will learn from. And we have learned from. But it’s a day-by-day thing. It’s a day-by-day thing. And I think everybody has taken that approach. We’re excited to just kind of continue that progression.”
The quarterback added that “it doesn’t take much to fuel me” after an offseason where he will continue trying to “turn my weaknesses into strengths.”
Asked what those weaknesses were, he said, “That’s for me to know. But it’s all about getting better."
With last year in the past, Hurts is focused on the future, which began in early spring.
"I think it was really good to get everybody together," he said. "Meet the new guys, and kind of start from Ground 1 again...It doesn’t take much to fuel me and motivate me. I think it’s about the type of competitor that you are. Obviously, everyone wants to go out there and be the best.
“That’s what we work for, but it’s a steep price that you have to pay to do that. As a team, as an organization, everybody in this building, it’s about learning from every experience that we’ve experienced every day in practice, every team that we’ve played, things of the past, whatever it is."
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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