Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts recently acknowledged that he is “excited” about taking more responsibility at the line of scrimmage following the offseason retirement of future Hall of Fame center and franchise icon Jason Kelce.
During the latest edition of the “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” podcast, Jason Kelce touched upon Hurts’ new duties beginning with Philadelphia’s regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers in Brazil on Friday.
“I think him taking on this as a responsibility is going to accelerate his game across the board,” Kelce said about Hurts, as shared by Ryan Canfield of Fox News Digital. “I think he’s ready for it. One, from a knowledge base. Two, I think he’s ready for it just by being a more experienced player. He’s going to be more of a leader and needs to be more of a leader and have more of this responsibility on him. I’m excited to see how this goes for him this year.”
Questions about Hurts’ leadership style first arose as the 2023 Eagles fell from 10-1 to 11-6 before they suffered a humbling 32-9 wild-card playoff loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Subsequent reports released during the summer then touched upon how Hurts’ relationship with head coach Nick Sirianni allegedly became “‘fractured’ and unhealthy” last season.
Whatever is and/or isn’t true about the Hurts-Sirianni situation, it now seems that new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and new quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier will be the loudest voices in Hurts’ ear until further notice. Moore and Nussmeier spent portions of the offseason helping Hurts take command of Philadelphia’s offense following Kelce’s departure.
“I think he’s ready to take this next step and I think, in some ways, it is going to help him become a better player,” Kelce continued. “I don’t think you read into this negatively. …I’m excited to watch how Jalen grows as a player.”
Both Moore and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could routinely be mentioned throughout the fall as candidates to replace Sirianni, especially if the Eagles get off to a slow start. As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Philadelphia as a two-point favorite for Friday’s showdown versus Green Bay.
