Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts isn’t surprised, or fazed, by recent reporting that some within the organization have grown frustrated by his risk-averse approach to the quarterback position.
"I'm not surprised by anything,” Hurts said. "This is kind of the nature of the position. But I put my energy and my focus on trying to go out there and do my best and trying to learn, trying to build, trying to take in the things that I can to try and improve."
Hurts has been solid this season. He’s accounted for 22 total touchdowns and thrown just one interception. He leads the league in interception percentage (.4) and his ability to protect the football has helped Philadelphia win eight of its first ten games and rise to the top of the conference standings.
However, the counting stats for the star players around Hurts are down and the offense as a unit is middle-of-the-pack. The Eagles scored just 26 total points over the past two weeks, which is cause for concern. So naturally, some fingers get pointed at the quarterback.
As the reigning Super Bowl MVP, Hurts knows that he’s going to get a lot of attention, both good and bad. He also knows that his job is to focus on what he can control, not worry about others’ opinions of him.
"I guess I get a lot of attention when things are going well and when things are not going so well," Hurts said. "I never run away from holding myself accountable, and I think that's exactly what I've taken the approach of doing.”
This was a very poised, mature response from Hurts, probably because he has experience dealing with similar situations. This isn’t the first time that Hurts has faced adversity, or doubt. Every other time that he’s squared up with adversity he’s responded, and grown, and he doesn’t expect things to be any different this time around.
"Ultimately, it's about how you navigate what's in front of you and how you respond to these things," Hurts said. "I think the response is more important than anything. It's about pushing forward; it's about finding ways to grow.
"There's always going to be something. There's always unknown. There's always another dynamic to a situation. Ultimately, it's about growth."
For a player who has done nothing but win consistently since the minute he took over as the starting quarterback in Philadelphia a half-decade ago, Hurts sure catches a lot of flak. The great thing about Hurts though is that he genuinely doesn’t care. Perhaps he uses it as motivation, but he certainly doesn’t internalize it.
Hurts and the Eagles' offense will have a chance to get back on track when they travel to Dallas to take on the rival Cowboys on Sunday.