Jalen Hurt on Eagles’ losing streak: ‘Put it on me’

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts stated, “I don’t think we’re all committed enough” and “We have to make, like, an internal change, how we attack things, how we come to work every day,” following Philadelphia’s third straight loss on Monday night.

 

Was the former signal-caller for Alabama criticizing his coaches and teammates?

 

Hurts stated on Thursday that it was more akin to him calling out himself.

“My mind was in a place of really just trying to challenge myself,” Hurts said.

“When you think holistically about the things we want to accomplish and

everything we’re trying to do, that all runs through me, that all starts with me.

And so when I say we, I mean me because I’m the point guard out there

I’m the one that makes everything go and I’m the guy that everyone trusts in to set

the pace for everything, that’s in how I play, that’s in my leadership, that’s in

every aspect of the game. That comes with the shoes that I walk in.

“This is a challenge to myself, and you challenge yourself and you challenge the people around you.”

 

After winning 10 of their first 11 games this season, the Eagles have lost to the

San Francisco 49ers 42-19 on Dec. 3, Dallas Cowboys 33-13 on Dec. 10 and

Seattle Seahawks 20-17 on Monday. Philadelphia’s other loss came on Oct. 15,

when the New York Jets scored a 20-14 victory.

 

The four losses are the only games this season in which the Eagles have failed to score at least 21 points.

 

“Put it on me,” Hurts said of the slump. “… That’s something that I own. That’s something that I take responsibility in and I’ve never shied away from. And so I

embrace that challenge. I embrace that challenge placed upon myself and my

teammates. At the end of the day, it’s about what we go out there and do as a

team. The last thing I want to do is leave that field and feel like I let my teammates

down, that I didn’t do enough for my teammates.”

 

Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said Hurts and offensive coordinator Brian

Johnson shouldn’t shoulder the blame for the Eagles’ offensive stumble in December.

“The criticism on this offense should come at me because this is my offense,” Sirianni said.

 

During the three-game losing streak, Hurts has averaged 212.7 passing yards per game, completed 59.2 percent of his passes, had one touchdown pass and two interceptions and achieved a 72.4 passing-efficiency rating. In the first 11 games of the 2023 season, Hurts averaged 245.2 passing yards per game, completed 67.6 percent of his passes, had 18 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions and achieved a 94.9 passing-efficiency rating.

 

“I’d say offensively we haven’t played or coached up to our standard the last three games,” Sirianni said. “Overall, as you look at our offense, I think there’s a lot of similarities with our offense last year statistically and the way we played and this year except for two major categories, and that’s been our explosive plays and our turnover differential. But if you look at all our other statistical categories I think you’d see that it was very similar.

 

“But these last three games have not been up to our standard, and Jalen and myself and Brian are always going to be looked at first. We know that. We accept that based off of our positions. And if we’re not playing good enough on offense, it’s probably because all three of us aren’t doing our best job. …

Jalen is going to want some plays back, just like the rest of us. We will be expecting a few calls back. Everyone will be clamoring for their plays to be returned. All we have to do is get it back on course. Although I am aware that we are focusing on those three games, Jalen Hurts is a strong candidate for MVP before those three games. That concludes the year’s body of work. We all know and are convinced that we can return to the level of work we were doing before these three games.

 

Monday at 3:30 p.m. CST, the Philadelphia Eagles will host the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field in an attempt to end their current losing streak.

“I think everyone has the right mentality,” Hurts said. “I think everyone is pushing forward. And I think everyone is approaching it in the right way. And at the end of the day, it takes everyone.”

 

The Eagles won a pair of home playoff games to capture the NFC championship last season. Philadelphia already has secured a position in this season’s playoffs. But whether the Eagles will play at home is yet to be determined.

To get the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, Philadelphia would need to win out while the San Francisco 49ers drop two of their last three.

 

The Eagles and Cowboys are tied at the top of the NFC East at 10-4. The division winner will open the playoffs at home. The other team will have a road game as a wild-card qualifier.

 

After playing New York on Monday, the Eagles face the Arizona Cardinals at home on Dec. 31 and visit the Giants on Jan. 7 to complete the regular season.

 

Dallas hosts the Detroit Lions on Dec. 30, then visits the Washington Commanders on Jan. 7 for its regular-season finale.

 

“It takes true togetherness to win, and winning is hard to do,” Hurts said. “You have to accept the challenges of what comes with that. We’re just pressing forward. We’ve got a great opportunity in front of us. You can find beauty in everything, positives in everything. There’s beauty in this. This why I believe this is just something we’re going through.”