Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) watches during warm ups before an NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 6 at the Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo.Gregory Payan/The Associated Press
Jalen Hurts is off the market.
As a quarterback? For more than a year now after Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles reached a deal in April, 2023 for US$179.3-million guaranteed through the 2028 season.
Entering the prime of his career, Hurts has a few more seasons to chase a Super Bowl ring.
He couldn’t wait any longer to slip a diamond ring on his girlfriend’s finger. Hurts revealed this week to Essence magazine that he’s engaged to his long-time partner, Bry Burrows.
“I knew a long time ago,” Hurts told Essence. “I mean, to this point in my life, that’s an irreplaceable feeling. I think that’s what allowed us to get to where we are now.”
In football terms, the college sweethearts who met at Alabama are at the 1-yard line.
If Hurts and the Eagles want a look at real-deal Super Bowl bling, they can go ask Nick Foles, who led Philadelphia to its only Super Bowl win during his 11-year NFL career. The Eagles (1-0) will honour Foles ahead of Monday night’s home opener against the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) after the former QB announced his retirement over the summer.
Foles’ career reached its height after he replaced an injured Carson Wentz late in the 2017 regular season and was the Super Bowl MVP after leading the Eagles to a 41-33 win over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
He threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns but is best remembered for the “Philly Special.” On fourth-and-goal, Foles floated from behind centre to behind the right tackle before the snap, leaving running back Corey Clement alone in the backfield. Clement took the snap and Foles hesitated before running undefended into the end zone. Clement pitched to tight end Trey Burton, who flipped a short pass to Foles for a 22-12 halftime lead.
“Ultimately, he did the biggest thing in this city by winning the Super Bowl,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.
Winning another is left to Hurts.
Hurts looked like a lock to keep the Eagles in the Super Bowl conversation after he led them to one two seasons ago, when they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. He sure played like the franchise QB when the Eagles started 10-1 a year ago.
Hurts has been a bit of an enigma over his past eight starts (including playoffs), where the Eagles are just 2-6. Take last week’s win against Green Bay in Brazil. Hurts was a modest 20 of 34 for 278 yards and two touchdowns – but had two interceptions by forcing throws into coverage, a troubling trend since last season when he tied for the NFL lead in picks with 15.
Hurts said he made “two unwise decisions.”
It’s not the first time of late his performance was spotty, and those interceptions could have cost the Eagles an opening win.
“Not overly concerned,” offensive co-ordinator Kellen Moore said. “They’re outliers in many cases, I think as we all have seen Jalen in those circumstances, so we feel optimistic we’ll be just fine moving forward and we’ll be able to adjust.”
Hurts also fumbled a snap, though some of the blame on exchange woes falls to new centre Cam Jurgens, who replaced the retired Jason Kelce.
“You’ve got to find a rhythm, you’ve got to find a flow,” Hurts said. “Just finding that flow, continuing to communicate over time.”
Hurts put up All-Pro numbers compared with Kirk Cousins in his dismal debut with the Falcons.
The Falcons gave Cousins a four-year, US$180-million contract to fix the most important position on the field, but it’s clearly still a work in progress based on an 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cousins looked shaky most of the game, completing 16 of 26 passes for just 155 yards to go along with a pair of picks.
One important caveat, it was the first game action for Cousins – regular season or preseason – since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
“I’m sitting there Sunday night pretty disappointed,” Cousins said this week. “You’ve got games from 2013 that still bother me. So, I’ve got scars, more than Achilles tendon scars. Games will do that to you. You care a lot about it. It matters to you. And, when it doesn’t go how you wanted it to, it hurts. So, obviously, a sense of urgency for Monday.”
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is out for the game after suffering a hamstring injury in practice. The Falcons will play without linebacker Nate Landman (calf, quad).