Jalen Hurts Developing Into a "Triple Threat"

The Eagles QB has been helped by the addition of A.J. Brown, but make no mistake, he has put himself in a position to be this franchise's future with his mindset and desire

PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts is still developing.

It’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

There can’t be any doubters left regarding his ability to be the future of this franchise.

If so, that’s on you.

The Eagles QB threw a career-high four touchdown passes in a 35-13 demolition of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Afterward, he gave us a glimpse into how he views himself, and that is a triple threat.

“I think it’s about being able to be a threat in many different ways,” he said. “That’s something that a guy like me has the ability to do. Naturally being able to run, we’ll call it a dual-threat but I like to call it a triple-threat.

"You have to be able to kill them with your legs at times, make the throws when you need to in the passing game, and kill them with your mind and with what you see and how you react,” he said. “…you have to be ready for all of those looks and have an answer for it. That’s a testament to the preparation and the people that I have around me.”

One of those people had a monster game – A.J. Brown, and he will grab a lot of the headlines after his career-high three touchdown catches and his career-high 156 yards receiving, but it was Hurts who made it all work. Again.

There is no denying the relationship Hurts and Brown have cannot be overlooked.

The two are best of friends and they spent the summer building chemistry and that continues now, eight weeks into the season.

“I think we just wanna be great,” said Brown, who now has 659 yards receiving and five touchdowns. “Someone I call a friend. He knows what I want to accomplish, and I know what he wants to accomplish. When you’re playing for somebody you love, that you call a family, it’s a different meaning behind it.

“I know I can’t let him down, you know what I’m saying? We just having fun and playing for one another. I’m pretty sure he knows I got his back, and I know he’s got mine. I think that’s exactly what this is.

The addition of Brown has certainly helped Hurts’ development, but so have the holdovers from his first year as a starter – DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

“I’ve seen all of these guys do amazing things,” said Hurts. “I’ve seen (Smith) do crazy things in college. I’ve seen A.J. as a friend and as a fan take slants 70 yards. I’ve seen (Goedert) make the craziest catches in the game and in practice.

“So when I see them make those plays in the game, better yet when I’m playing with them in the game I’m like, I got my popcorn ready after I throw them the ball. I want to make sure I do my job to get them the ball and then I can be a fan and watch them go to work.”

There’s more to Hurts' game this year than just the addition of Brown and another year with the other two key pass-catchers.

Hurts completed 67.9% of his throws and posted a passer rating of 140.6, a career-high. In the process, he became the first Eagles QB to throw four touchdowns without an interception since Nick Foles had seven TD throws in Oakland on Nov. 3, 2013.

According to Elias Sports, he is the first Eagles QB to record four TD passes of 25-yards or more since Norm Snead more than 52 years ago, which, ironically, was also against Pittsburgh.

He has 10 TD passes to just two interceptions. He hasn’t fumbled once, and against the Steelers, he ran only twice for 10 yards.

This was an all-arm win.

You see the development in Hurts’ game every week. Where it stops, nobody knows.

Actually, it won’t stop, according to the QB.

“I honestly feel that there is no arrival, there is no arrival,” he said. “You’ll never get to a point to where you say, ‘I’ve arrived’. There is no arrival, there’s only the journey, and I’ve embraced that journey and I’ll continue to do that and take it day by day and just try and climb.”

That kind of mindset, above all else, is why the Eagles can feel comfortable giving him a contract at the end of the season with a lot of zeroes attached.

And it will be well-deserved.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.