The Philadelphia Eagles have brought in a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore, and it seems to be a refreshing change for quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts and the Eagles were last seen getting routed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 32-9 in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs last January. They also lost five of their last six regular-season games after a torrid 10-1 start.
It was obvious that something needed to change, so Philadelphia made some significant adjustments to its coaching staff.
Hurts is already getting accustomed to Moore.
“You get to a point where you feel, I’m going to be comfortable with this, I like this, that time comes when you can rep it, rep it, rep it later on, but right now it’s been a lot of new inventory in — the majority of it, probably 95 percent of it being new — and so it’s just been that process, and it’s been a fun process because you get to see what works for other people,” Hurts said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.
Hurts is prepared to take Moore’s system and run with it.
“I think the goal coming in was to learn Kellen’s offense and to master it, and I think that’s been a process, and by the end of it, I want it to be mine and have it in my own way,” he said.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are hoping to forget 2023
Two years ago, the Eagles made the Super Bowl and actually gave Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs a run for their money.
For much of last season, Philadelphia seemed primed to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl yet again, and it even defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. But then, things completely unraveled for Philly down the stretch, and Hurts certainly wasn’t innocent in the team’s downfall.
After a terrific 2022 campaign in which he finished second in MVP voting, Hurts took a massive step back in 2023, turning the ball over 20 times and posting a rather modest passer rating of 89.1.
Hurts entered the league as a second-round pick of the Eagles back in 2020 and became the full-time starter in 2021. Realistically speaking, the 25-year-old has really only had one very good season, and that came in 2022. Otherwise, Hurts has been very ordinary.
The University of Alabama product certainly can’t cite a lack of weapons as an excuse, as Philadelphia boasts arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL in the form of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Plus, Hurts has been playing behind a staunch offensive line.
This coming season will be a big one for Hurts, who is trying to prove that his masterful season a couple of years ago was no fluke. The Eagles added Saquon Barkley in free agency to bolster the skill positions, and they also patched up their ailing secondary through the NFL Draft.
Many are expecting Philly to re-assume its position at or near the top of the NFC in 2024, and for that to happen, Hurts will need to be in peak form. We’ll see if Moore’s offense can help Hurts rediscover what made him so fantastic in 2022.
