When Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts looked forward to a fresh season and a new challenge at his NovaCare Complex locker on Tuesday afternoon, the weirdest thing happened: Reporters and videographers commended Hurts for his media professionalism throughout the season, and he responded.
That was an incredible encounter with a media group known as the most hardscrabble in the country, and it showed one thing: Hurts impresses everyone he encounters, and his poise and manner do not go unnoticed.
“I think there is definitely a lot to learn from it,” he said.
“I have had the opportunity to watch it and I think I’m going to move forward with all of those experiences in mind and try to use those things to better myself and grow and help the guys around me and we’re going to definitely use that as an experience to take a step and move forward. You have to look yourself in the mirror and assess it for what it is and do the things that need to be done to grow from it. I think that’s my mentality going on and I think that will be this whole entire team’s mentality moving forward.”
The best is yet to come for @JalenHurts. 💯 pic.twitter.com/cuqbG0PHHd
— NFL (@NFL) February 16, 2023
Hurts responded to a query regarding his contract status, saying, “There will be a day when that conversation will be had, but today is not that day.” 2023 is the final year of his rookie deal, which began in 2020 when he was a second-round pick in the NFL Draft.
He is obsessed with winning, and he has made that quite evident since becoming an Eagle. Hurts’ promise grew into greatness in 2022, when he passed and ran for 35 total touchdowns and 4,461 total offensive yards, receiving Pro Bowl honors and second-team All-Pro recognition, as well as being named a finalist for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.
In three playoff games, Hurts passed for 579 yards – 304 of them in the Super Bowl – and three touchdowns, adding five more touchdowns and 143 yards on the ground.
Hurts will draw on his well-documented experiences at Alabama. He says he is “hungrier than ever, starving for more” and he will “challenge me to be the best quarterback, leader, man I can be for my teammates, this City, and impact the people around me the right way.”
He will do so without Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen, who is currently the Indianapolis Colts head coach. Hurts, who had coaching continuity for the second consecutive year in 2022, the first time since high school, chose the positive attitude as always.
