What’s wrong with Jalen Hurts? Eagles need a lot more from their star QB

Jalen Hurts has never had a problem with the Philadelphia Eagles being built around Saquon Barkley. Winning is all that has ever mattered to him. If all he does is play game manager, as he’s done through the first two weeks of the playoffs, and they keep winning, that’s fine. Whatever it takes.

But if the Eagles are going to reach their second Super Bowl in three seasons, it is surely going to take a lot more from their quarterback than just that.

There are no outward signs of concern in Philadelphia as the Eagles get set to play host to the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, but maybe there should be after Hurts’ mediocre and at times alarming performance in their first two postseason games. He’s thrown for a total of just 259 yards. He’s taken nine sacks, including seven in the divisional round against the Rams. And he hasn’t looked at all like himself.

Hurts swears he’s not feeling the affects of the concussion he suffered in Washington on Dec. 22, or any rust from sitting out the last two games of the regular season. And he hasn’t blamed anything on the injured finger on his left (non-throwing) hand either, nor did he admit that his lack of mobility late in the game against the Los Angeles Rams was because of his injured left knee.

But it’s pretty clear that something is off. And after a game in which the Eagles netted just 65 passing yards, even Hurts acknowledged he and the passing game were capable of so much more.

“Our performance today was enough to win, but enough is never enough in terms of the standards we have for ourselves and what we want to do,” he said. “There’s always a drive for more and this urge to continue to improve, and that’s how it will continue to be. At this point in the season, No. 1 thing is about improving.”

At the moment, though, Hurts is clearly trending the wrong way. He completed 13 of 21 passes for just 131 yards (and two touchdowns) two weeks ago in a 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round. He also ran just twice in that game for 10 yards. Then against the Rams, in sometimes windy and wintry conditions, he ran more — seven carries for 63 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown — but his passing was way off. He was 15 of 20 for 128 yards.

That was still enough, thanks mostly to Barkley’s 205 rushing yards. And there was no expressions of worry in the postgame locker room, not even from No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown who caught just two passes for 14 yards despite being targeted seven times.

Brown, who dropped one very catchable pass, insisted “You’ve got to give this game a pass,” no pun intended, because of the difficult weather conditions, though that didn’t really become a factor until the second half. Also, Matthew Stafford, the Rams quarterback, threw for 324 yards and nearly led a dramatic, fourth-quarter comeback in those same conditions. And the conditions don’t necessarily account for Hurts standing in the pocket like a statue taking more sacks than he had in the last three games combined — including a late third-quarter safety.

Even offensive coordinator Kellen Moore acknowledged the performance was “not ideal.”

“I think you’ve got to evaluate it from a big-picture perspective,” he said. “Then we look through every detail of it. Too many sacks on our end. I focus on how I can help this process and put ourselves in better situations with some of the play-calling. Some of those situations I’m going to dig really deep into.”

The play calling against the Rams wasn’t great, to be sure. But that doesn’t account for Hurts overthrowing a wide-open Brown near the sideline, or missing him later by throwing to the wrong side. It doesn’t account for Hurts barely moving as Rams defensive tackle Neville Gallimore shot up the middle and tackled him in the end zone with 26 seconds left in the third, or doing the same on a sack by defensive tackle Kobie Turner with 2:36 left in the fourth that could have ended up costing them the game.

Hurts, at the top of his game, is hard for defenses to catch. He’s accurate with his throws. He’s decisive. He creates plays outside the pocket. He has a strong arm and can connect on deep passes. That’s how he powered their run to Super Bowl LVII two years ago.

None of that is happening right now.

To be fair, Moore did say Hurts has done “an excellent job” with his reads and decisions. He said he’s shown his value as an option in the running game, which has paved the way for Barkley’s big games. And he insisted that Hurts “played a really clean” game against the Rams, avoiding any costly mistakes.

That’s true. But that also describes the role of a game manager. And the Eagles aren’t paying Hurts $51 million per year to only be that.

Two years ago, by the way, Hurts was similarly low powered through the first two rounds of the playoffs. But he certainly looked better doing it. And the Eagles could see from his near-MVP regular season that he had a higher gear in reserve, which he showed when he threw for 304 yards and a touchdown and ran for 70 yards and three touchdowns in their Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.

It’s hard to watch Hurts throw and see him limp over the last two weeks and believe that a similar reserve is still there. He doesn’t look like a quarterback capable right now of carrying his team if they need it, even though his coaches and teammates continue to insist that he is.

“I expect him to come out and do what he does,” Brown said. “He’s a warrior.”

That’s what they need Hurts to be, especially against a red-hot Commanders team with an electric young quarterback in Jayden Daniels, who has put on quite a show in the playoffs so far. The rookie has thrown for 567 yards and four touchdowns in two games, while rushing for 87 more. He is carrying their team right now the way Hurts used to consistently do.

The Eagles don’t feel they need him to do it anymore. They’ve ridden on Barkley’s shoulders for much of the season, and they think they might be able to do it all the way to the Super Bowl too. But it’s going to be increasingly hard to win the championship they’re chasing without Hurts contributing more, without him showing at least a sliver of his old MVP form.

Because game managers at quarterback don’t often win championships in this sport. And the Eagles know it. That’s why they gave Hurts a $255 million deal. Now they need him to earn it, whether they admit it or not.

And Hurts needs to remind everyone that the Eagles are more than just a one-man show.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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