All Jalen Hurts does is win. So why is 2026 pivotal for him, Eagles?
· Yahoo Sports
PHILADELPHIA − All Jalen Hurts has done is lead the Eagles to five straight playoff appearances, including two Super Bowls − one where he was the game's MVP and another where he would have been had the Eagles not lost on a last-second field goal.
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The consecutive playoff berths puts Hurts in rare company among quarterbacks that includes Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Josh Allen and a few others. Only Hurts and Allen (seven) have an active streak of five or more straight playoff appearances.
Hurts is 28 years old, in the prime of his career. He has a .695 winning percentage as a starter, behind only Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Hurts' winning percentage is .718 if you begin with the start of the 2021 season when he became a full-time starter.
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In many respects, Hurts should be lionized as being among the best quarterbacks of this decade.
So why does Hurts face more scrutiny than ever before as the Eagles open their 2026 season on Sept. 13 against the Washington Commanders?
And it's not just from national pundits, many of whom ranked Hurts anywhere from No. 15-21 among the 32 starting NFL quarterbacks. It can also be perceived that way from the Eagles themselves, who have not given Hurts a second contract extension when other quarterbacks, such as Allen and Mahomes, have gotten them.
All of which could make this season a make-or-break season for Hurts, who is working with his seventh different play-caller in his seventh NFL season, with a new core of wide receivers other than DeVonta Smith after the Eagles traded A.J. Brown.
It's clear that the Eagles' hopes for a third Super Bowl berth in five seasons rests on Hurts, as does Hurts' long-term future with the Eagles.
How Jalen Hurts handles the scrutiny
No pressure, right?
At least, not the way Hurts sees it.
Hurts is coming off a tumultuous 2025 season where he didn't run nearly as much as he did in the past, or as effectively. A few months after the Eagles' season ended in the wild-card round against the 49ers, ESPN reported that Hurts had a strong influence on the plays called and a reluctance to run others.
ESPN also reported that Hurts suggested the failed "four verts" pass play on fourth down that ended the Eagles' last-minute chance for the winning touchdown.
In June, Hurts said he did not call that "four verts" play. But the Philadelphia Inquirer, through an unnamed source, said that Hurts did suggest the play only because offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo "froze."
"I’ve never really asked for an opportunity to respond to anything," Hurts said in June. "So, just let it live and go do my job."
A new season, a new offensive coordinator for Jalen Hurts
Patullo was fired a few days after that loss to the 49ers and replaced by Sean Mannion, a 34-year-old disciple of the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan system of plays under center, play-action passes, horizontal blocking schemes and so forth.
Hurts hasn't played extensively in that system. The offense under head coach Nick Sirianni was mostly from the shotgun, with inside zone runs and read-option plays.
It worked well enough, until it didn't. In 2025, the Eagles finished 19th in points scored per game and 24th in yards per game.
But Hurts has attacked this new system with a curiosity and enthusiasm that has impressed both his teammates and his coaches.
"He's very hungry," Eagles quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier said. "Every single day, he comes in to learn. He wants to know more. He's always asking for more. He's just a dedicated human being who goes above and beyond to do the things required of him and what the position asks.
"I think he has always embraced that."
Sure, there were some rough moments. Hurts was intercepted more often this summer than in training camps in the past. That was evident in the two joint practices with the New England Patriots on Aug. 19 and 20 when Hurts threw a total of 4 INTs.
Many of those INTs came on passes over the middle, passes that Hurts wasn't attempting too often in the past. The interceptions were also evident during training camp practices against an Eagles defense that's considered among the best in the NFL.
Hurts, it should be noted, also had some good moments against the Patriots, showing his potential in the new offense.
"I feel like I'm in a good spot. It was all about really looking at the experiences," Hurts said about the interceptions on Aug. 26. "The experiences don't mean anything until you reflect on them, and you grow from them, and you start to apply them. And so, we're very widespread in what we're doing right now, and I think that's good.
"When we can hone it down and kind of see who we are, establish what exactly the identity is for us, it'll kind of come together. So still very early."
That might not be the most reassuring thing Eagles fans want to hear less than a week from the start of the season. But it's also clear that the offense is still a work in progress.
Is Jalen Hurts still face of Eagles' franchise?
Hurts set the tone for the season during his first press conference of training camp, back on July 29. It had been nearly two months since the Eagles had traded Brown to New England, after Brown had posted cryptic messages on social media during the first half of the 2025 season expressing his unhappiness with his usage in the offense.
Without referring to Brown, Hurts said this about Sirianni's messaging on the team being more together this season: "I was taking notes on it, and I thought about 100% alignment and 0% entitlement. As a team, that’s what everybody is pushing."
As the quarterback, Hurts is expected to be a big part of that. If all of that works in sync − Hurts' adaptation to the new offense, his connection with his teammates − the Eagles should be among the contenders to reach the Super Bowl.
That, in turn, could lead to the second contract extension after this season. Hurts is currently in the midst of a five-year deal worth as much as $255 million. Hurts has no money guaranteed in 2028, and he counts $97 million on the salary cap in 2029, according to overthecap.com.
The Eagles can release or trade Hurts after the 2027 season and save tens of millions of dollars in both 2028 and 2029. Or they can extend him after this season, spread out the $97 million cap hit well into the next decade, and commit to Hurts as their franchise quarterback as Hurts ages into his 30s.
Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie wouldn't discuss an extension for Hurts when he last talked to the media on March 31 in Phoenix at the NFL owners' meetings. But he was effusive in praising Hurts.
"Ohhh, I love Jalen. There’s no bigger fan of Jalen than me," Lurie said. "Exceptional ... He's incredibly dedicated to the game, to winning and being a huge winner.
"Those things, over time, we would never discuss it. He’s in the middle a new contract now."
As you can imagine, that's a topic Hurts wasn't interested in addressing either.
"I’m truly focused on being that best that I can be right now," he said. "That’s where my energy is. There’s a lot of change. I’m focused on this offense. I’m focused on building with Sean (Mannion) and being at my best."
Hurts didn't say it, but it was clear that all of it goes hand in hand − his success, the Eagles' success and a new contract.
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: All Jalen Hurts does is win. So why is 2026 pivotal for him, Eagles?
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