Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: ‘Hopefully, people understand’

When the Philadelphia Eagles selected quarterback Jalen Hurts with the 53rd choice in the 2020 NFL Draft, the team’s fans widely ripped the pick.

Why, they wondered, would Eagles general manager Howie Roseman spend a second-round selection on a position where Philadelphia was set for seasons to come.

The Eagles had Carson Wentz, the second player picked in the 2016 NFL Draft, on a long-term contract already handling the quarterback spot, and he’d had 81 touchdown passes over the previous three seasons.

On Sunday, Hurts ran his record as the Eagles’ starting QB to 15-1 this season, including Sunday’s 31-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, securing Philadelphia’s fourth trip to the Super Bowl.

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During his postgame press conference, Hurts noted “they probably never wanted to draft me here.” Asked to elaborate, Hurts said his selection had been “a big surprise to many.”

“But my favorite verse – you know, I went through a lot of stuff in college – and it kind of stuck with me – John 13:7,” Hurts said. “‘You may not know now, but later you’ll understand.’ Hopefully, people understand.”

Hurts joined the Eagles from Oklahoma, where he transferred after three seasons at Alabama.

After winning the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award and leading the Crimson Tide to the CFP national championship game as a freshman, Hurts helped Alabama reached the CFP title game in his second season, too. But Alabama rallied to defeat Georgia in overtime in that contest with Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback.

After he had replaced Hurts at halftime of the championship game, Tagovailoa took over the starting spot for the 2018 season. Hurts rebounded at Oklahoma in 2019, when he finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

Hurts will play for another championship when the Eagles take on the AFC winner – either the Cincinnati Bengals or Kansas City Chiefs – in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.

“We put a lot of work in to have this opportunity and to be here,” Hurts said. “It’s a moment we want to enjoy as a team, reflecting on everything we’ve been able to overcome to have this opportunity in front of us. We want to take advantage of it.”

In the NFC Championship Game, Hurts had his least productive outing of the season. Hurts completed 15-of-25 passes for 121 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran 11 times for 39 yards and one touchdown.

Hurts scored on a 1-yard plunge as Philadelphia took a 28-7 lead with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.

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“You want to make the big plays,” Hurts said. “But a lot of this – all of this – comes down to the details. The attention to details, the football IQ and the fundamentals to do the right things – whether you want to keep the clock running or not or get the ball snapped quickly or knowing situational awareness.”

Although both San Francisco quarterbacks got hurt during the game, the 49ers still had the NFL’s No. 1 defense on the field, directed by former Jess Lanier High School and Alabama standout DeMeco Ryans, the defensive coordinator who seems headed to being named an NFL head coach now that his season is over.

“They played a really good game,” Hurts said. “They have a really good coach. I’ve always talked about that. He does a really good job with them, especially those guys up front and the linebacker corps kind of rallying to the ball. We ran the ball really well, and I think they didn’t really give us many opportunities to take shots down the field. We had some kind of one-on-one shots – kind of hit or miss. But we kind of took what they gave us. It kind of ended up being kind of one of those games.”

Three Alabama alumni have been the starting quarterback for Super Bowl winners – Bart Starr in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, Joe Namath in Super Bowl III and Ken Stabler in Super Bowl XI.

“We want to go out there and play to our standard,” Hurts said. “That doesn’t change regardless of the magnitude of the game. Today was good enough to get the win and advance, but we still want to go out there and play to our standard. …

“I know the job isn’t done. I never always knew how far we’d come. I never knew how far we’d go. But I never said it couldn’t be done.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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