Philadelphia Eagles: What to make of all the recent Jalen Hurts talk

What to make of A.J. Brown and John McMullen’s comments?

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown came to the defense of his quarterback and longtime friend, Jalen Hurts, claiming that the rumors were false. Brown particularly called out the impossible nature of being sacked in an environment without any pass rushers. A simple answer could be that the “sacks” in question were “timed sacks,” not physical sacks. Furthermore, Brown was not in attendance for the Eagles’ May OTAs making his certain stance a little less certain.

This isn’t to suggest that Brown is incorrect or that he’s just defending Jalen Hurts because of their longtime relationship. Gunn wasn’t in attendance for the OTAs either, as a matter of fact, so one can’t even make an argument about the word of one over the other. There was one person involved in this grand discussion, though who was present, the other well-established reporter mentioned earlier, John McMullen.

To open, let it be clear that McMullen stated at the end of his tweet how respected Gunn is and that he thought it more likely that whoever relayed the info to Gunn had something against Hurts. With that said:

McMullen expressed a contrary opinion and stated that when he attended the Eagles OTAs in May, this was not the case for Jalen Hurts. Like Gunn, McMullen is also is associated with JAKIB Sports, which makes this public disagreement all the more shocking, and yet, it happened. In addition to the fact that McMullen publicly disagreeing with a fellow respected reporter and JAKIB Sports member speaks volumes to the sincerity of McMullen’s comments, the perspective of someone actually in attendance is certainly valuable, but there are still variables to consider.

While McMullen was in attendance for the May OTAs, he was only in attendance for two days, according to himself. Is it possible that this did occur, just not while he was attending? Sure. Is it possible that without A.J. Brown and potentially even Devonte Smith (who missed some time in OTAs), Hurts struggled to find an open receiver within the designated allotment of time? Again, Sure. One more thought to consider, however, is the possibility that all parties involved are, to a degree, correct.

It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that Jalen Hurts has impressed while A.J. Brown was in attendance. As it is within the realm of possibility that Hurts was fine while John McMullen is in attendance. It is also possible that the individual responsible for relaying the information to Gunn has some sort of person gripe with Hurts or a desire to see another QB under center for the Philadelphia Eagles. Finally, and this is likely the most important to remember, it’s possible (arguably likely) that Gunn’s source is one close to the team and did, in fact, say what Gunn reported.

As a reporter, Gunn’s responsibility is to accurately report what he is told by team sources. Given his track record, there is no reason to doubt that he did exactly that; it just happened to use strong language referencing a controversial topic in the city. As far as this matter is concerned, and as is often the case, the truth likely lies somewhere in between.