A Troubling Jalen Hurts Trend – NBC Sports Philadelphia

A disturbing pattern in Jalen Hurts’ three seasons as a starter, an outsider at cornerback with insane college performances and a Wes Hopkins stat line you’ll surely appreciate.

We’re just three days away from the Eagles’ 12-game slate^e training camp at the NovaCare Complex after 17 years at Lehigh, 16 years at West Chester, seven years at Widener, five years at Albright in Reading, 17 years at Hershey and 11 locations in the franchise’s first 18 seasons.

So these are our last 10 observations of the off-season until… we’ll see!

1. Here’s what concerns me about Jalen Hurts: In 36 starts through the first 13 weeks of the three seasons since he became the Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback, Hurts has a 95.4 passer rating, 52 TD passes, and 21 INTs with a 65.0 percent completion percentage. His passer rating sits at 12^e of the 37 quarterbacks who have thrown 400 passes in that span, and the Eagles are 26-10 in those 36 games — the best record in the NFL. In 11 starts over the final five weeks of the season? Hurts has an 82.7 passer rating with nine TDs, nine INTs and a 63.0 percent completion percentage. That 82.7 passer rating ranks 22nd^nd Of 29 quarterbacks who have thrown 200 passes in the final five weeks of the last three seasons, the Eagles are 7-4 in those games. Four of his eight lowest passer ratings have come in the final five weeks of a season. My theory is that late-season injuries and general wear and tear have had a dramatic cumulative effect on Hurts’ performance each year. He’s had some very good late-season games and obviously he was great during the 2022 playoff run, but he’s also played just one game in the four weeks leading up to the 2022 postseason and had a bye week the week before the postseason started and then two easy wins and then another bye week before the Super Bowl. But it’s clear whether he’s had a known injury or not, Hurts is not the same player at the end of the season as he was in the first few months. I would never want Kellen Moore to eliminate his running ability because he’s such a weapon. But I do think he has to keep Hurts’ long-term health in mind when calling plays. And I also think Hurts has to be smarter about taking contact sometimes when he doesn’t have to. The Eagles aren’t going to accomplish what they want to do if Hurts isn’t close to 100 percent in January, and Hurts, Moore and Nick Sirianni have to do everything they can to make that happen.

2A. If the Eagles make the playoffs this year, Nick Sirianni will become just the sixth head coach in NFL history and the second since the 1980s to lead his first four teams to the postseason. The others:

John Robinson, Rams (1983-1986)
Bill Cowher, Steelers (1992-1987)
John Harbaugh, Ravens (2008-2012)
Chuck Knox, Rams (1973-1977)
Paul Brown, Browns (1946-1955) (played in AAFC 1946-1949)

2B. Who remembers Bill Cowher playing for the Eagles? Cowher began his brief NFL career as an undrafted linebacker with the Eagles in 1979, but never played in a game. He signed with the Browns after the season and played in 25 games from 1980-1982. The Eagles traded an undisclosed late-round pick to the Browns after the 1982 season for Cowher, who became the Eagles’ special teams captain. He played in 16 games in 1983 and four in 1984, almost all on special teams. Cowher injured his knee in a Week 4 loss to the 49ers at the Vet and never played again. The Eagles invited Cowher to training camp in 1985, but he knew by then that his future lay in coaching and he accepted a job with the Browns as special teams coach. Seven years later, he became head coach of the Steelers and in 2020 was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the first former Eagles linebacker to be inducted into the Hall since Chuck Bednarik.

3. Wes Hopkins had nine interceptions against the Cowboys, tied for the most in history. Terry Kinard of the Giants also had nine. Lito Sheppard is tied for second with eight.

4. The Eagles’ Vegas over-under win total this year is 10 ½. Six of the last seven times their over-under has been 10 or more, the Eagles have won fewer than 10 games. The lone exception? Last year. In 2005, it was 11 ½ and they went 6-10, in 2011 it was 10 ½ and they went 8-8, in 2012 it was 10 and they went 4-12, in 2015 it was 10 and they went 7-9, and in 2018 and 2019 it was 10 ½ and 10 and they went 9-7 both years. Last year’s over-under was 11 ½ and they won 11. So 2018 is the only year since 2004 that the Eagles’ preseason projected win total has been 10 or more and they’ve won a playoff game.

5. We’ve talked so much this offseason about the impressive group of young corners the Eagles have assembled, led by Quinton Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Isaiah Rodgers and Kelee Ringo, as well as Eli Ricks, Tyler Hall and Zech McPhearson. But another intriguing guy who will be fun to watch at camp is Shon Stephens, the 5-foot-9 small-college outside forward the Eagles signed as an undrafted free agent in April. Stephens may not possess ideal speed and he’s never played Division 1 ball, but his production at the Division 2 level has been notable. After stints at JUCO Bakersfield (Calif.) and Missouri Southern State of Joplin, Mo., Stephens had eight interceptions for D-2 West Liberty (W. Va.) in 2022 and another eight for D-2 Ferris State of Big Rapids, Mich., last year. That’s 16 interceptions in 22 games, and that’s attention-grabbing at any level. So is a 4.38 40 at Michigan State’s pro day. The roster numbers will be tough for Stephens. Assuming the Eagles keep seven corners, Darius Slay, Mitchell, DeJean, Rodgers and Ringo are certain, and Avonte Maddox and Eli Ricks seem likely. But if nothing else, a good summer for Stephens will mean a spot on the practice squad. One thing everyone can agree on is that there’s no such thing as too many fast, young, playmaking corners.

6. Since Jeff Lurie bought the Eagles, only four teams have had fewer losing seasons. Lurie bought the Eagles in 1994, but 1995 was his first full year as owner, so the Eagles have played 29 seasons under his ownership — 1995 through 2023. They have had only eight losing seasons during that span (and 19 winning seasons and two .500 seasons). In that same 29-year span, the Steelers have had three losing seasons, the Packers and Patriots have had five, and the Colts have had seven. The Eagles have also had eight. Of those six teams, all but the Eagles have had a Hall of Fame quarterback during that span — Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning.

6B. In the 29 seasons before Lurie bought the Eagles from Norman Braman – 1966 through 1994 – the Eagles had 10 winning seasons, 17 losing seasons and two .500 seasons.

6C. In franchise history, the Eagles have had 42 winning seasons. So 45 percent of the winning seasons in Eagles history have come since Lurie bought the team.

7. The Eagles have scored at least 30 points in the postseason 10 times: once under Dick Vermeil, once under Rich Kotite, once under Ray Rhodes, twice under Andy Reid, twice under Doug Pederson and three times under Nick Sirianni.

8. The Eagles had 49 first downs in their last three games last year — 17 in the loss to Arizona, 19 in the loss to the Giants, 13 in the loss to the Bucs. That was their fewest first downs in a three-game span since the end of the 2005 season, when they had just 42 with Mike McMahon at quarterback — 13 against the Rams, 11 against Arizona and 18 against Washington.

9. The only player the Eagles have drafted in the last 20 years who has thrown 10 interceptions for the Eagles is Nate Allen.

10. Of the 63 players who played in at least one game for the Eagles during the 2017 Super Bowl championship season, 17 are still in the NFL, including four with the Eagles. In addition to Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Jake Elliott and Rick Lovato, who are all still with the Eagles, the 13 others are Nelson Agholor (Ravens), Derek Barnett (Texans), Ronald Darby (Jaguars), Rasul Douglas (Bills), Zach Ertz (Commanders), Kamu Grugier-Hill (Vikings), Jordan Hicks (Browns), Mack Hollins (Bills), Rodney McLeod (Browns), Jalen Mills (Giants), Isaac Seumalo (Steelers), Nate Sudfeld (Lions) and Carson Wentz (Chiefs). Several others who played last year and have not officially retired are not currently playing for a team: Corey Clement, Sidney Jones, Jason Peters and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Nick Foles, who hasn’t played since 2022, is also currently out of the competition but has not yet retired.

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