Numerous rumors regarding issues that allegedly impacted the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles during their late-season collapse have made it somewhat easy to forget that quarterback Jalen Hurts was banged up throughout the campaign.
As Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports shared on Friday, Hurts recently revealed he's "in a better place" now than he was back in January.
"I think I'm in a better place physically," Hurts explained. "I obviously had some nicks there throughout the year, but you deal with those things. And all of those things have made me better. They've made me reevaluate some things, and they've allowed me to reassess, and I've been able to saturate myself in the right things."
Specifically, Hurts dealt with a knee injury during the fall that didn't keep him from guiding the Eagles to a 10-1 start. Philadelphia then fell to 11-5 before Hurts suffered a nasty-looking injury to the middle finger of his throwing hand in the club's regular-season finale against the New York Giants.
Of course, physical setbacks weren't all that downed the Eagles before they endured a brutal 32-9 wild-card playoff loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hurts' relationship with head coach Nick Sirianni is reportedly "still a work in progress" after it became "'fractured' and unhealthy" amid the club's losing stretch of play. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and new quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier have replaced Sirianni as the main people in Hurts' ear, and that arrangement seemingly brought out the best of the 26-year-old throughout training camp.
"He looked crisp, sharp and in command according to those who watched him," Vacchiano wrote about Hurts for Friday's piece. "He looked confident and comfortable — two things he definitely didn't seem to be late last year."
Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick continues to be linked with an Eagles team ready to win now after general manager Howie Roseman essentially forced new coordinators on Sirianni. As of Friday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles third among the betting favorites at +600 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.
Sirianni may need to Hurts to again play at a Most-Valuable-Player Award level, this time under Moore, to avoid being shown the door by Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie in January.
