Jalen Hurts Doesn’t Need To Fake Liking Nick Sirianni

The Eagles off-season was consumed with talk about the relationship between Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni. Eventually, the two of them addressed it, and for a time, the story went away. But 4 games in, with a 2-2 record, the story has come back, with Jalen Hurts once again dodging a chance to defend his head coach.

Some people are upset at Jalen Hurts about this, including John Kincade and Bill Colarulo who both called out Hurts for not showing Sirianni enough grace, especially because Sirianni has at times gone out of his way to defend Hurts.

But Tyrone Johnson saw it a different way. Today on The Best Show Ever, he talked about why he doesn't think Hurts needs to fake anything, and the real solution is just for the two of them to get on the same page.

Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni not having a good relationship is a bad thing. But other than making all of us feel better, what would him giving fake answers accomplish? Tyrone pointed out earlier in the show that Hurts has not been disrespectful, he is just not going out of his way to give fake answers.

If there is a problem, they just need to fix it. Find a way to get on the same page. They don't need to be friends, they just need to get along. But Hurts lying to us, or giving fake answers, won't fix anything. And like Sylvana pointed out, if he did that, then people would just be upset about those fake answers.

Coming off an impressive, albiet ugly, win in New Orleans, it looked like the Eagles maybe figured something out. At least on defense. They shut down what had looked like the best offense in the league, and Jalen Carter looked like an All-Pro,

But in that game they lost Devonta Smith and Lane Johnson to concussions. Britain Covey sustained a shoulder injury that landed him on the IR. This on top of AJ Brown already being out with a hamstring injury. There was some thought that Lane and AJ would be able to go in week 4, but Brown was ruled out on Saturday, and Lane ruled out Sunday morning.

Related: New Year, Same Story For Eagles In Embarrasing Loss To Bucs

The players left, did not have enough in them to get the win down in Tampa. The Bucs, as they have done a few times now, dominated the Eagles. Baker Mayfield picked the defense apart, and Jalen Hurts and the offense could not keep up.

There was a point where it looked like they may pull back into it. They blocked a extra point, and returned it to score 2 points. it made it a two TD game, and the Eagles were driving. But then as Jalen Hurts has done multiple times this season he fumbled it. The Bucs turned that fumble into a FG, and that killed whatever meager hope they had. They went on to lose 33-16.

Now they go into the bye week 2-2. And it is very fair to question who they are. The defense has struggled in 3 out of 4 weeks. As has the offense. The offense at leats has an injury excuse, but the defense is healthy and playing this poorly.

What should we think about them? can they turn it around? Or are they still the same flawed team we saw last year?

Jalen Hurts took care of the ball better than almost anyone in 2022. Yes, he had that costly fumble in the Super Bowl, but for the most part, he protected the ball. Since then, few players have turned it over more than he does. In his past 21 games, dating back to week 1 last season, he averages 1.4 turnovers per game. That is 19 interceptions and 10 fumbles.

If they want to win anything, that needs to change. Hurts keeps saying the right things after playing smarter, but his actions don't match his words, because he keeps making those same mistakes. His 1 turnover today came when the Eagles had a chance to swing momentum. They were down 2 TDs and were marching down the field. And then Lavonte David got a strip sack, and the Eagles never had another chance to get back into the game. He nearly threw an interception later, but it was ruled incomplete. He did cough up another fumble.

Hurts does a lot well. But his game has 1 glaring hole, and he is not doing enough outside of the turnovers to keep up for it. He is hurting the team on a weekly basis. If he doesn't start following his own words, and playing smarter, the Eagles are going to continue to struggle.

While we are talking about turnovers, let's look at the other side of the field. While Hurts is coughing the ball up, the defense is struggling to make plays of their own. They have just 2 takeaways on the season. Both came courtesy of Reed Blankenship. They haven't recovered a single fumble. They also have just 6 sacks.

You can win without a shutdown defense. But if your defense gives up points, doesn't force takeaways, and doesn't get after the QB, it is hard to win. And their defense, outside of week 3, is doing nothing well so far. They struggle against the run, QBs can pick them apart over the middle of the field, and they never make big plays. That is on the lack of talent across this entire defense, but it is also the scheme of Vic Fangio.

The Hurts turnover issues are made worse by the defense never making plays of their own.

As bad as things look, I wanted to put one positive stat here. Saquon Barkley is the one bit of this offense working as advertised. 4 games in, he already has 435 rushing yards on 73 carries. That is 6 yards per carry. And it puts him on track for 1,849 yards this season. Add in him being on track for 225 receiving yards, and he would reach over 200 all-purpose yards if he keeps up this pace.

It is also important to remember they had no AJ Brown or Devonta Smith. That is not an excuse, and Hurts should be able to win on his own at least once, but this still is a very talented offense. Hopefully, we see more of it after the bye week.

Lane Johnson has helped redefine the RT position. for years, LT was thought of as the most important spot along the line. But Lane Johnson is undoubtedly the most important guy on the Eagles line, and perhaps on their entire offense. With the loss in Tampa, the Eagles are now 14-23 (.378) in games without Lane Johnson since 2016. 

Lane Johnson will be back after the bye. He was nearly cleared for this game. So they should be ok this season. But he is 34, and only has so many years left. They eventually have to figure out how to win without him, and being this dependent on 1 player is not a good thing.

Bryce Huff is finally on the board. He got 1 tackle, He still has no sacks, no QB Hits, and no QB pressures. But he got a single tackle.

They are paying him $17 million per season. For that, he has 1 tackle in 4 games. He is currently getting paid $4.25 per tackle. He is in great danger of being one of the worst contracts in Eagles history. Which is saying something for a team with Nnamdi Asomugha in their past.

Then there is also Nolan Smith, who similarly has given the Eagles next to nothing. It signals a trend. Howie Roseman is terrible at finding Edge Rusher talent. It is a serious problem with this team, and has made them over reliant on a 36 year old Brandon Graham. Graham is playing very well right now, but can a 36-year old continue to play this much and not fall off? That is the problem the Eagles face if Huff can't find a way to be productive.

When the Eagles traded for Jahan Dotson, we thought they would finally get the WR3 they have been looking for. Through 4 games, he is one of the least effective WRs in the league. Among 120 WRs, he is 119 in yards per route run. It is a stat that determines how effective you are, vs how much playing time you get. And he averages just .19 yards per route run.

Dotson is on the field. Not for 100% of the snaps, but he is getting playing time. he has run over 100 routes. And yet he has just 25 yards on 5 catches. 7 Eagles players have more receiving yards than him. Only 3 of those 7 have played all 4 games like he has. He played 49 snaps on Sunday and had next to nothing to show for it. Even with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith out, he made no impact. He is so unproductive that the Photo Service we use, still only has images of him in Washington Gear.

The trade looks like a bust, the way the Huff signing, and the Nolan Smith draft pick look like busts. A lot of Howie decisions are looking like mistakes.