Jalen Hurts backtracks from ‘committed enough’ comments, says he was just trying to challenge himself

When it comes to his approach to leadership, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he would never tell someone else to do something that he wouldn’t do himself.

That’s why Hurts kept the focus on himself Thursday when he expanded on his postgame comments Monday following the Eagles’ 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Upon being asked then about the offense’s shortcomings in two-minute situations, Hurts said, “I don’t think we’re all committed enough” regarding the team’s failure to execute.

The Eagles did not score on any of their three possessions that followed the two-minute warnings. Two in the first half ended with punts (one a four-play drive, the other a three-play drive), and the third in the second half ended with Hurts’ second interception of the night.

On Thursday, Hurts explained that when he said we in that moment, he really meant me.

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“My mind was in a place of really just trying to challenge myself,” Hurts said. “I think, when you think holistically about the things we want to accomplish and everything that we’re trying to do, it all runs through me. It all starts with me.

“So, when I say we, I mean me, because I’m the point guard out there. I’m the one that makes everything go. I’m the guy that everyone trusts in to do and 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. So just as a challenge to myself. And you challenge yourself and you challenge the people around you.”

Hurts’ comments echoed a similar sentiment that he also expressed Monday night when he pointed the finger at himself and accepted responsibility for the offense’s struggles. He acknowledged after the game that he has to be better when it comes to minimizing the mistakes, penalties, and mental errors that afflicted his worst night as a passer of the season.

Hurts finished the night with a season-low completion percentage (17-for-31; 54.8%) and passer rating (40.1) complete with two interceptions. He also incurred a penalty for a false start that turned an attainable third-and-5 into an improbable third-and-10 inside the Eagles’ own 20-yard line in the first quarter.

“We’ve lost games because I could be better,” Hurts said Monday. “That will change everything. I accept that.”

While Hurts said that the challenge to be better starts with him, it doesn’t end with him, and part of his responsibility is to challenge the people around him.

When asked Thursday if he’s seeing the same level of commitment from his teammates that Hurts is striving for himself, Hurts said that “everyone has the right mentality” and that they’re approaching the challenge the right way.

Hurts, who is known for his stoic demeanor, also displayed an understanding of when to stay even-keeled with his teammates and when to be more expressive when things aren’t going well. He said that his tone of communication depends on the moment and whom he’s dealing with, acknowledging that different people require different approaches.

Ultimately, Hurts expressed that he’s trying to lead by example as the Eagles look to right the ship after their first three-game skid since the 2021 season.

“I try to do the little things that need to be done, and everybody has those things for their process, but you got to be able to do that,” Hurts said. “And that has to be the precedent. That reality is, to win it takes everyone. So as committed as a team we have to be to just the process and that excellence.

“I take ownership for that and lead in that in setting the tone and setting the temperature for things. So we’re pushing forward.”

On Wednesday, coach Nick Sirianni offered an explanation as to why Hurts targeted a seemingly well-covered A.J. Brown late in the fourth quarter, a decision that resulted in his second interception of the night and sealed the victory for the Seahawks.

Situationally, the Eagles had 13 seconds remaining in the game in which they were down, 20-17. The Eagles were at their own 45-yard line and had a first-and-10, just shy of field-goal range for kicker Jake Elliott. They had two timeouts in hand.

Hurts chose to throw the ball deep to Brown on the right sideline, the receiver later sharing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was the first read in the progression.

Brown was one-on-one outside of the numbers with cornerback Tre Brown, while Julian Love served as the single-high safety. Love ultimately made a play, swooping in to pick off Hurts’ underthrown pass for Brown.

Sirianni said that Brown’s one-on-one matchup against Brown was an opportunity to play for defensive pass interference.

“At times there we’ve seen you can get a pass interference there,” Sirianni said Wednesday. “It was what it was on that particular play, but if you get a pass interference call there and if a team is giving you a one-on-one shot for very similar to what happened on the other side of the ball, they ended up getting a one-on-one shot that had some different things there, and we’ve seen it.”

Sirianni said that the Eagles had attempted the same sort of pass in other two-minute drills and gotten a defensive pass interference call. He pointed specifically to the Eagles’ Week 5 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams when Brown drew that penalty against defensive back Derion Kendrick with 2 seconds remaining in the first half, setting Hurts up for a 1-yard touchdown run.

But against the Seahawks while running a similar play, it didn’t work.

The concept of playing for a defensive pass interference call would seemingly contradict the notion that the team should “control what [they] can control,” a tenet that Sirianni expressed Oct. 9 at the quarter pole of the season. The Eagles do not have control over whether an official calls a penalty even if the defensive player commits the transgression.

After explaining the rationale, Sirianni added that Brown also has a “tremendous ability to come down with the football in one-on-one situations.”

On Thursday, Hurts said that he was just trying to give Brown a “shot down the field” on the play, but he also answered affirmatively when asked whether Sirianni’s thought process about aiming for a defensive pass interference on the play aligned with his own.

Hurts denied that the coaches teach the play with the end goal of drawing a defensive pass interference, however.

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“That’s not the way it’s taught,” Hurts said. “You’re not hoping for that, but it’s situational football and we came up on the short end of that stick.”

With hindsight being 20/20, Hurts had wide receiver DeVonta Smith open on the other side of the field on an out route with a one-on-one matchup. It also appeared that running back Kenneth Gainwell was open for a checkdown with plenty of space in front of him to rack up yards after the catch.

When asked about Gainwell in particular, Hurts said he did not see that he was open.

“I wish I would’ve done a lot of things,” Hurts said of his decision-making on the play. “There’s always plays that you wish you can get back. In the Jets game, in the Vikings game, in all of these games throughout the year. So it’s just a learning opportunity.”

The Eagles host the New York Giants on Monday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and Jeff McLane as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.