Quarterback Jalen Hurts repeatedly had his leadership style questioned and even criticized as the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles went from 10-1 to 11-6 before they suffered a blowout wild-card playoff loss.
For a piece published Friday, Tim McManus of ESPN detailed how Hurts has shown he's "maturing as a quarterback and a leader" during the ongoing season, beginning with how the signal-caller addressed teammates following the club's 22-21 Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons that featured running back Saquon Barkley committing a costly fourth-quarter drop.
"Jalen led everything," Eagles safety Reed Blankenship said about Hurts speaking to the team that Monday night. "No coach said a word. It's a player-led team at the end of the day, and we know what we did was detrimental to us."
Hurts emerged as a finalist for the 2022 Most Valuable Player Award as he helped the Eagles complete a trip to Super Bowl LVII, and he then signed a five-year contract extension reportedly worth up to $255M with $179.3M guaranteed in the spring of 2023. More recently, multiple reports from this past summer detailed how Hurts' relationship with head coach Nick Sirianni allegedly became "'fractured' and unhealthy" as the Eagles fell apart last season.
Sirianni mentioned how Hurts telling teammates after the Week 2 loss that they must "intensely control the controllables" was "exactly what you want to happen from the leaders on your football team." Veteran defensive end Brandon Graham, who previously defended Hurts during training camp, explained how the 26-year-old is "more vocal" of a leader now than he was back in January.
"He was having fun [before] but I think even more now he's just letting loose," Graham added about Hurts. "Because if I'm going to be the No. 1 guy and people want to hear from me, I think that's what he's embracing this year, like, 'I'm going to make sure they hear me.'"
It's widely thought Eagles general manager Howie Roseman could show Sirianni the door if Philadelphia doesn't make it to at least the NFC Championship Game this coming January. Thus, Hurts stepping up as a leader following the offseason retirements of center Jason Kelce and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox could ultimately help save his coach's job.
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 2-1 Eagles as 1.5-point favorites for this Sunday's game at the 2-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
