Vic Fangio reveals that Jalen Hurts lost a step in 2025, but he’s back, which is huge for the Eagles
Veritas Vic, compulsive truth-teller, affirmed the obvious: the QB had slowed down. But, after watching him for two weeks, the J-Train is back on track, and that should turbocharge the new offense.
Despite his implication that American hero Dr. Anthony Fauci somehow acted improperly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite his denials that he was considering retiring over the winter (he was), Vic Fangio is a compulsive truth-teller — at least, in his own mind. He dogged the Dolphins when he was there, he’s told us that Jalen Carter has been out of shape, and he said last year that Adoree’ Jackson was playing so badly he might not start.
On Tuesday, Veritas Vic revealed a truth about 2025 that had been self-evident:
Jalen Hurts lost a step.
From 2021-24, Hurts was the second-most dynamic running quarterback in the NFL, a sabertooth tiger on the hunt. But in 2025 he looked like a woolly mammoth trying to escape the La Brea Tar Pits.
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Teams no longer feared his ability to convert first downs and his ability to turn broken plays in the red zone into rushing touchdowns or scramble TD throws.
Expect that fear to return.
In public last year, Hurts, his coaches, and the front office swore that there was no real difference in Hurts’ speed. In Fangio parlance, they pled the Fifth (Fangio last week ripped Fauci’s performance at a Senate hearing: “I’m gonna be like Fauci and just take the Fifth Amendment on all questions.”).
In private, NFL sources swore that Hurts was not the same player in 2025 that he had been in previous seasons.
Just two weeks into 2026 training camp, for Fangio, the difference is palpable.
Fangio was asked his perspective as a defensive coordinator regarding how Hurts was acclimating to the new offense being installed by first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. Fangio did not hesitate:
“He looks faster,” Fangio said.
There you have it.
In training camp practices, Hurts is eluding would-be tacklers the way he used to do. He’s breaking into the clear. He’s turning the corners. He’s finding gears he didn’t have in 2025, and, you can assume, he’ll locate the overdrive level that once struck fear into the hearts of defenders league-wide.
True, it’s just practice, but Fangio made it clear that Hurts didn’t perform this way this time last year. And no, it’s not as if Hurts’ defensive teammates can snag an arm or foot as he blasts past them, but Fangio’s been coaching pro football for more than 40 years, so you can trust him to gauge a quarterback’s potency.
“Obviously, we can’t touch him during practice,” Fangio said. “There’s been a few times where our guys think they had him and they really didn’t. He’s moving good.”
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Last year, offseason reports surfaced that said Hurts wanted game plans to include fewer designed runs. Hamstring, ankle, shoulder, and finger issues cost Hurts time from 2020-23. A concussion in Game 16 of 2024 cost him the final two games of the season, though he returned in fine fettle and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl LIX title.
Things clearly changed for Hurts in the 2025 season. In his first four full seasons as a starter he’d averaged 9.9 rushing attempts and 44.8 yards per game. Last season he averaged 6.6 runs for 26.3 yards. He averaged 13 rushing touchdowns in his first four full seasons. He scored eight last year.
There were other factors.
Offensive linemen Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens all missed time with chronic injury issues that also diminished their effectiveness when they did play.
After a grueling, record-setting first season as an Eagle, featured back Saquon Barkley was far less explosive.
First-time offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo was overmatched, and head coach Nick Sirianni was powerless to help him.
Star receiver A.J. Brown so badly regressed physically, mentally, and psychologically that the Eagles traded him for pennies on the dollar at a massive salary-cap hit on June 1.
And, finally, defenses realized that, all things being equal, they would rather force Hurts to beat them with his legs than Barkley, since Barkley was a home-run threat every time he was handled the ball. Then defenses realized that Hurts couldn’t beat them with his legs anymore.
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Between 2021-24, Hurts ran for 267 first downs, 31 more than 2024 MVP Josh Allen, who was second, and 67 more than 2023 MVP Lamar Jackson, who was third. Hurts averaged 66.8 first downs in those four years. He ran for 37 first downs last season.
Hurts’ absence of speed answers questions independent of his abilities. It answers questions about his motivation.
The insidious question that loomed last season:
Was Hurts protecting himself because, with the Super Bowl title and a Super Bowl MVP in his back pocket, even a modestly productive season was likely to produce a massive contract extension?
Hurts is under contract through 2028, but 2026 is his last fully guaranteed season. Historically, the Eagles reward their best young players with early extensions that generally serve two purposes: Early extensions give the player cash in his pocket right away, and, if the player continues to play well, they give the Eagles a bargain — a player paid below comparable talents at comparable positions.
But Hurts didn’t have a moderately productive season. He had a poor season. The passing game, ranked 23rd, was abysmal considering its weapons. Hurts’ passer rating dropped from 103.7 in 2024, which ranked fifth, to 98.5 in 2025, which ranked 12th. His quarterback rating, which attempts to include all aspects of the position, fell from 62.5 in 2024, which was 10th, to 55.2 in 2025, which was 20th.
There was no extension in the offing. That might change during or after 2026, if, as Fangio says, he’s got his legs back.
And if he’s willing to use them.
The Eagles are grinding their way through the second week of training camp. Some parts of the team have looked good, others remain very much a work in progress. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg assess quarterback Jalen Hurts’ play, how some of his targets are faring, and why, regardless of how the offense is coming together, the defense could be elite enough to help the Eagles contend for another title. Listen here.
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