Eagles’ Nick Sirianni on Jalen Hurts: ‘All he does is win’ and he deserves more credit as a leader

Despite making his fourth playoff appearance and his second Super Bowl in his first four seasons as Eagles head coach, Nick Sirianni is familiar with facing criticism from fans.

The Eagles' Week 6 matchup against Cleveland was the perfect example of that when the crowd erupted in “Fire Nick” chants after they held off the Browns for a 20-16 victory.

But Sirianni said he uses the criticism as a chance to connect more with his players.

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“You try not to let outside noise in,” said Sirianni Friday on The Pat McAfee Show. “And listen, obviously, you have to hear some of it when you go through the media circuit and everything like that, but I find it a moment where I can kind of connect with the guys that are going through things, right — going through criticism or going through things like that. So, I really look at it as a positive in that aspect. I can relate with guys that are going through some of their own things that they go through.”

Quarterback Jalen Hurts has also had to deal with his share of criticism this season. But Hurts thrived in Sunday’s NFC championship game win over the Washington Commanders, throwing for 246 yards and a touchdown and rushing for three TDs.

“I think Jalen and I go through a lot of the same things in that aspect in which we can relate to each other,” Sirianni said. “All I know is that all he does is win and he puts us in positions to win. He’s selfless, he doesn’t really care how we win and he just goes about his business every day. I don’t think that’s talked about enough. About how well he’s done as far as leading the football team.

“Playing quarterback is more than the stats that show up on the paper at the end of the game, right … He’s just been in complete control and comes to work every day unphased by anything.”

Another Jalen making waves with the Eagles is defensive tackle Jalen Carter. He has had a huge impact in his second season and has 20 quarterback pressures, nine tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble in three playoff games. Against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, Carter played 98.6% of the snaps, only coming off the field for the last defensive snap of the game.

“You got to be in great shape to play that percentage of plays,” Sirianni said. “There’s not a lot of defensive linemen that are playing that percentage of plays because the coaches will take them out if they feel like they’re gassed a little bit. We all see the film of what Jalen Carter can do, right and all the things that he’s shown. This is why we’re talking about him right now.

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“But the off-the-field things that he’s worked so hard on — weighing what he’s supposed to weigh, being in great shape, practicing his butt off, working on the fundamentals — you talk about a guy who knows how to take away the football, he’s got a knack for taking away the football … Can’t say enough about Jalen and his work ethic to put himself in this position where he is playing 98%.”

The Kansas City Chiefs have fully embraced the villain role as they aim to make history becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. Sirianni is looking forward to seeing Eagles green in the crowd at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

“I know Philly fans travel,” Sirianni said. “And I know they travel well. It doesn’t really matter where we’ve been all season, we’ve had so many fans there. Just because it’s the Super Bowl, I wasn’t expecting anything different. So, it’s going to be exciting to have our fans there making sure it’s loud in that game for the Chiefs to be able to handle. So, that doesn’t surprise me one bit.”