Jacked Jalen Hurts Draws Praise from Eagles Teammates

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback looks more sculpted physically and was crisp in the short amount of time he was on the field during one OTA

PHILADELPHIA – After a successful season of connecting on deep passes, Jalen Hurts’ springtime deep ball is a work in progress, at least based on one OTA practice open to reporters on a warm and sunny Thursday afternoon. 

What isn’t a work in progress is the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback’s physique. He looked jacked, with muscles that most fans probably couldn’t name bulging in places like the upper arm, for instance.

Hurts said last year that he was still experimenting with offseason training regimens that would lead to success.

Whatever he did last year worked, as he led the Eagles to a franchise record 14 regular-season wins and a Super Bowl appearance while finishing second in the league’s MVP balloting.

Per Next Gen Stats, Hurts had the third-highest grade for the NFL’s top deep passers. The criteria for a deep pass were for balls that had at least 20 yards of airtime.

Hurts was 20 for 52 on those throws (38.5 percent) with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10:2 and a 109.8 passer rating. Ahead of him was the Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith at No. 1 and the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa at No. 2.

So, he and his receivers will get the deep pass down before the regular season opens with a game in New England against the Patriots. 

As it was, he looked quick and decisive in hitting receivers in stride on Thursday in a series of quick slants and intermediate-timing routes.

Hurts hasn’t spoken to reporters since signing his $255 million contract extension in late April. He is expected to talk at some point next week, the final week of the Eagles’ offseason program before breaking until training camp opens probably at the end of July.

Then, maybe he will reveal exactly what he did during his offseason to get ready for Year 3 as the Eagles starting quarterback, aside, of course, from cashing some very large checks.

As it was, a pair of Eagles defenders who are new to the team were asked for their take on their quarterback.

Safety Terrell Edmunds, who spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Ben Roethlisberger was quarterback for the first four, was impressed by Hurts’ intelligence.

“He’s super smart,” Edmunds said. “You can just tell the way he diagnoses a play, what he’s looking at, what kind of keys that he’s trying to check for. And he’s trying to eye control the safety so he can get you off leverage and everything. He’s just a smart guy. He’s as advertised, and he goes out there every day with that hard hat on.”

Linebacker Nicholas Morrow, who spent his only year in Chicago with Justin Fields, highlighted a dart that Hurts threw into a tight window, allowing Dallas Goedert to make a fingertip catch in traffic.

“I don’t want to get into comparing (Hurts vs. Fields), but I’ll say, he had a ball (where) the tight end’s going for the ball, and he threw it away from him,” Morrow said. “The guy breaking the at the same time as he’s throwing it, and he threw it away (from him).

“He’s been really good from that standpoint. He’s also getting the ball out really fast. So, setting up and breaking, you really gotta be on your Ps and Qs if you’re some type of vision-break defense to understand where he is in his intentions.”

The Eagles continue OTAs on Friday before hitting the field again on Monday.

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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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