Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Sirianni sees improvement in Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts is one confident dude.

He changed his number to 1 after his rookie season, lobbied the higher-ups to both trade for A.J. Brown and to bring back Kelly Green, and reportedly crushed the absolute crap out of the ball at DeVonta Smith’s charity softball game.

And yet, confidence without the game to back it up is a fool’s errand that can backfire in a hurry. Suddenly those throwback Philadelphia Eagles jerseys will come off as pandering, his swanky post-game outfits start to draw Cam Newton-level ridicule, and the calls to go to Gardner break out of the small corner of the internet they currently call home and go national.

Fortunately, Jalen Hurts understands that and has spent his spring working on the fundamentals of his game. Nick Sirianni, his Philadelphia Eagles head coach, has taken notice.

Jalen Hurts wants to be great with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The fundamentals are the building blocks of everything. Without the fundamentals, you can’t confidently build up or out and instead have to constantly worry about the bottom falling out and everything imploding like Veterans Stadium back in the day.

For a quarterback, the fundamentals are certainly important when things are going right, but they really come in handy when the pocket collapses and the play starts to break down. When a 6-foot-5, 260-pound edge rusher is chasing down a would-be passer with violence in their eyes, having the muscle memory to maintain a strong base, throw when planted, and throw a tight spiral can be the difference between a spectacular play and an absolute disaster.

After a sophomore season with more good moments than bad, Jalen Hurts took it upon himself to improve his fundamentals and traveled out to California to work with QB guru Quincy Avery, and the results have traveled with him back to Philadelphia, at least according to head coach Nick Sirianni.

That’s right, when asked about things are going with his starting quarterback by ESPN’s Sal Palentonio, Sirianni complemented Hurts’ improved fundamentals and discussed the “big difference” he’s seen in the third-year quarterback.

Conjecture? Maybe. Typical offseason hype? That’s possible too. Or maybe, just maybe, Hurts has really taken a step forward, and his ability as a passer has improved as a result.

Considering it is the pre-preseason, where every team is undefeated and looking like the real deal, I’ll go with option three until it’s proven otherwise.

Whether you like him or not, Jalen Hurts is doing everything a team could want to see from their franchise quarterback. He’s earned the trust of owner Jeffrey Lurie, of his teammates, and has slowly but surely gained support among his own fanbase, which has somehow proven to be the most difficult task of the three. While there’s no guarantee it works out, the Philadelphia Eagles are positioned to do some damage if Hurts can take a step forward heading into his third season; a prospect he is keenly aware of if the offseason is of any indication.