Jalen Hurts gives advice to quarterback of an Alabama SEC rival

Jalen Hurts has been in John Mateer’s shoes. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback played three seasons at Alabama before transferring to Oklahoma. Mateer has played the previous three seasons for Washington State, but he’ll be the Sooners’ quarterback in 2025.

“I think, No. 1, is just embracing everything that comes with it,” Hurts said about his advice for Mateer during an NFL Network interview at the Eagles’ training camp on Saturday. “It’s a special place to play, a special support system and support group, and so I’m always supporting. And I’ve actually had a conversation with him in his transition, and so I’m always supporting from afar, always watching both schools, and happy I get to pick my poison when I want to.”

Hurts won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2016 at Alabama and helped the Crimson Tide reach the CFP national-championship game for the second straight season in 2017. But in 2018, Tua Tagovailoa replaced Hurts as Alabama’s No. 1 quarterback, and Hurts transferred to Oklahoma after the season.

In his only season with the Sooners, Hurts threw for 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns and ran for 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2019. He finished as the runner-up in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy as Oklahoma reached the four-team College Football Playoff.

Mateer comes to the Sooners after throwing for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns and running for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns for Washington State in 2024.

Oklahoma visits Alabama on Nov. 15 for an SEC game.

Hurts is preparing for his fifth season as Philadelphia’s starting quarterback. Last season, he won the most valuable player award for Super Bowl LIX, where the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 to win the championship of the NFL’s 2024 season.

Hurts has emphasized resetting rather than repeating as Philadelphia’s outlook for the 2025 season as the Eagles seek their third trip to the NFL championship game in four seasons. In the 2022 season, Philadelphia lost to Kansas City 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII.

“It’s just what you want: Everybody to have a similar mentality and a similar approach in what we’re trying to accomplish ultimately,” Hurts said. “You talk about doing something after success, well it depends on where your eyes are and what you hold on to, because I hold on to ’22 and many other shortcomings. So those are things that you use, you use as fuel and use to drive you forward.”

The Eagles held their first practice at training camp on Wednesday. Philadelphia’s three-game preseason schedule starts on Aug. 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Eagles play in the first game of the NFL’s 2025 regular season on Sept. 4, when the Dallas Cowboys come to Philadelphia to kick off the campaign.

“We’re coming in, you know, we’ve had our own individual summers,” Hurts said, “and we put a lot of work in and we’ve had the opportunity to work together in some spurts. But the beauty about it is it’s coming all together, being here as one and pursuing the main thing. Everybody comes together from their individual journeys to come together to try to find ways to win. And so I think we’re establishing the foundation for that right now.

“It’s a new year, new team, and we just continue to build on the chemistry we have and build the chemistry with some of the new guys we have in different roles.”