Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts isn’t one to rest on his laurels.
Not content with merely appearing in the Super Bowl, Hurts famously set his iPhone lock screen to an image of himself standing alone on the field amid the red and gold Kansas City Chiefs confetti following Philadelphia’s Super Bowl loss back in February, 2023.
Now, entering the 2025 campaign not just as a Super Bowl champion, but with a Super Bowl MVP on his resumè after vanquishing Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, Hurts says he sought out Michael Jordan’s advice on how to get back to the mountaintop and what it takes to stack championships atop one another.
“It would be unwise of me not to seek knowledge from him,” Hurts recently told reporters. “And lean on someone like that. So, that’s something that I value a lot.”
Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in the history of American sports, so Hurts couldn’t pick a much more accomplished mentor to lean on when looking to understand how to sustain success.
“The biggest thing is taking it one day at a time,” Hurts said was Jordan’s message. “We have these goals, and we have these big dreams of what you want to accomplish, but ultimately it’s a journey. Take it day-by-day, be able to decode, detect, and refine the things that I need to, to be at my best when needed.”
General manager Howie Roseman has built one of the NFL’s deepest and most talented rosters around Hurts, now it is on the 26-year-old to maximize it and continue to grow as a quarterback during what the Eagles hope is a lengthy Super Bowl window.
Jalen Hurts Improving in Critical, Yet Unseen Area
Hurts hasn’t had the luxury of continuity at any point in his career.
When the 2025 season kicks off against the Dallas Cowboys this September, Hurts and the Eagles’ offense will once again be figuring out how to hit the ground running with a new play-caller for the third consecurtive season.
Nick Sirianni became the Eagles’ head coach in 2021, Hurts’ second season, bringing with him Shane Steichen, who spent two seasons at the helm of Philadelphia’s offense.
However, it has been a revolving door since Steichen departed to become the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach following the 2022 season, with Brian Johnson calling plays in 2023, before being fired, Kellen Moore guiding the Eagles offense to a Super Bowl in 2024 before moving on to take the New Orleans Saints head coaching job earlier this spring, and now Kevin Patullo elevating to offensive coordinator from his prior role as Hurts’ quarterbacks coach this season.
While Hurts hasn’t had much consistency in coaching, he believes that he’s more prepared to figure out how to get on the same page with Patullo quicker because of the amount of turnover he’s already experienced in his career.
“Yeah, I’m better at it,” Hurts told reporters, when asked if he’s better at adapting to a new coordinator this time around. “It’s been every year.”
It seemed that Hurts and Johnson never quite got on the same page, in 2023, leading to a regression on offense and ultimately contributing to the Eagles’ collapse down the stretch that season from a 10-1 start to losing, on the road, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round.
Hurts and the Eagles are banking on the transition to Patullo going much smoother, in 2025.
“I think it’s just been a progression over time,” Hurts said, of what he’s learned from these experiences. “In a way of evolution. You bank information, you take in stuff, and you really just learn from your mistakes. You learn from your successes, as well. You’re learning from all of your experiences.
“There isn’t really anything that I can’t lean on and say ‘I’ve experienced one way, or another,’ when it comes to change, in a system or a player, or an approach. I think Kevin [Patullo] has a unique way of looking at that.”
Eagles’ Best Offseason Move Revealed
Much of the optimism surrounding Hurts’ and the Eagles’ chances of a Super Bowl repeat is the depth littered across the roster, but it is one of last offseason’s additions that could provide the biggest boost in 2025.
Ahead of this season getting underway, CBS Sports revealed the best offseason move made by every team, including the Eagles’ decision to retain All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun, one year after originally inking him to a one-year contract.
“Philadelphia Eagles: Re-signing Zack Baun,” Cody Benjamin writes for CBS. “The Eagles are traditionally blockbuster movers under Howie Roseman, but they took their financial lumps after dominating Super Bowl LIX. It’s why they actually deserve a lot of credit for retaining Baun, the rangy heartbeat of Vic Fangio’s championship defense. Fellow linebacker Jihaad Campbell, the club’s first-round pick, could prove just as impactful down the road.”
Baun was nothing short of stellar during his first season in coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense, posting a career-high 58 tackles with one interception, en route to taking home All-Pro honors for the first time in his career.
The 28-year-old also pulled down a pivotal interception off Mahomes in the first half of Super Bowl LIX, which seemed to cement Philadelphia’s momentum en route to a 40-22 blowout victory.
After adding Campbell in the first round of this spring’s draft, the Eagles are building out the linebacking corps but Baun is the foundational centerpiece of that unit as 2025 nears.
