Emotion is coursing through the city of Philadelphia’s sporting heart right now, for there is no other way to be. Not when an Eagles season that doubles as a dream continues to unfurl, seemingly bringing fresh delights on a weekly basis.
Not when some moderate summer optimism has transformed into a swashbuckling juggernaut of a campaign that sits at 11-1, with a bunch of big-time performances stashed away and a run toward the Super Bowl firmly in view. Because, if not them, then who?
Philly has waited for this and expected to be waiting a while longer, only to find happiness in a winning combination of an effervescent young coach, a stout and sturdy defense and a calm young quarterback that they didn’t always believe in.
They do now, and Jalen Hurts is the man of the town, a two-time winner of the National Football League Player of the Week award, probably a future recipient of one of those monstrous QB contracts with all the zeroes and a storybook scripter in overcoming adversity.
So, with all that emotion in the City of Brotherly Love and perhaps the most heartstring-tugging game of the season coming up this weekend against the New York Giants, what sort of buzz must be rushing through Hurts’ soul?
“I am emotionless right now,” he told reporters.
Excuse me?
“I’m focused on what’s in front of me and in front of us,” he continued. “Stay true to the grind and the hustle, stay true to that and true to yourself when you have things changing around you and so many opinions. Continue to do the work.”
Has Jalen Hurts silenced the franchise QB debate?
Jalen Hurts is having a massive season so far. On top of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 11-1 record, Hurts is in the NFL’s top five in total yards and total touchdowns this season. Super Bowl champion and former Eagle Darren Sproles joins Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor and LeSean McCoy to weigh in on whether Hurts is officially a franchise QB.
Hurts has seen enough and been through enough to recognize the folly in taking things for granted. He’s experienced the highs and encountered the tumble from the other side of the mountain.
He was talented enough to win the Alabama starting job as a freshman, determined enough to stick around after being benched for Tua Tagovailoa in the national title game, sensible enough to move on to Oklahoma and just plain good enough to shine again there.
After being drafted in the late second round, he grabbed an opportunity with the Eagles while everyone said he was nothing more than a stop gap, heard all the talk of how he couldn’t be a long-term answer, endured all the supposed flirtations between his team and Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson — and here he is.
No one is saying that stuff now. As ever, big-name QBs are discussed on a daily basis, but Hurts has just gone about his business, with 20 touchdowns and three interceptions and a level of play among the very best in the league. Under head coach Nick Sirianni, he is settled, but not satisfied.
“I can’t tell you what the next step or the next chapter looks like,” he said. “There is no arrival, there is only the journey. Ultimately you want to chase progress and consistency. I don’t want to make too much out of nothing.”
It’s not nothing, though. In a season that has seen the NFC East bust out dramatically, here are the Eagles clear at the very top and poised to take a divisional stranglehold if they can beat the 7-4-1 Giants at MetLife Stadium (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX).
It is an odd season in the NFC. Few predicted the drastic nature of the tumbles taken by the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams. Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 6-6. Competition for the Eagles is coming from unusual sources, the Minnesota Vikings still plugging away at 10-2 and the Dallas Cowboys right there at 9-3 and with a Christmas-time duel with the Eagles still to come.
Composed as Hurts is, his sideline vibe unflappable, his every word carefully selected, there isn’t much calm from the Philly fan base. The diehards aren’t playing the “yeah, but…” game. They’re all-in on the hype, thinking big, dreaming huge, craving a repeat of the wild season five years ago that led to a Philly Special and a Lombardi Trophy and all that good stuff.
They’re feeling it, perhaps more than they should, but who are we to temper the excitement?
For someone like Hurts, then, who has been through tough times and rebounded from them, how hard is it to stay grounded when each week brings a fresh shot of positivity? Unsurprisingly, he has an answer for that, too.
“The teachable moments don’t have to come from the worst, or the bad experiences,” he said. “They can come from the positive ones as well.”
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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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