Footage of Jalen Hurts’ infamous benching reveals a lot of what we’ve come to know about the Eagles QB
The scene in the new Nick Saban docuseries is an example of the decision-making required of strong leaders. Were it a doc about Hurts, it would be the origin story for a QB who again is an underdog.
It’s all there, isn’t it?
The hundred-yard stare. The nods of the head. The jaw set square.
Jalen Hurts is standing in a cramped corner of a Mercedes-Benz Stadium locker room. He is surrounded by teammates in white jerseys, and also alone. It is halftime of the 2018 College Football Playoff title game. Alabama trails Georgia, 13-0. Coach Nick Saban has just informed his sophomore quarterback that he will not start the second half. Hurts wasn’t privy to Saban’s explanation to his staff on switching to Tua Tagovailoa, but he is surely aware of the sentiment, and it cuts like daggers.
“We need to throw the ball to win the game,” Saban recalls telling his assistants.
The scene unfolds over the course of two minutes in ESPN’s newly released docuseries on Saban, the long-time Alabama head coach and current ESPN analyst. Within the show’s narrative framework, it serves as one of many illustrations of the unflinching decision-making required of strong leaders in high-stakes moments. Were it a documentary about Hurts, it would be the origin story.
To somebody who began following Hurts only after the Eagles selected him in the second round of the 2020 draft, the footage from that night sure looks like an augur of all of the things that would eventually come. You look at his expression and you look at his posture — unflinching, proud, almost defiant — and together it almost feels like you can see Hurts’ foreknowledge of what he will become.
Barely more than five years after that moment, Hurts will be the best player on the field while nearly leading the Eagles to an upset Super Bowl win over the best quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes. Two years later, he will be Super Bowl MVP. Tagovailoa, who led Alabama to a 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia in that 2018 title game, will be on his second NFL team, third on its depth chart.
David Murphy alerts
» READ MORE: The Eagles are doing something scarier than tanking, rebuilding, or going all in. They’ll be better for it.
There is some survivorship bias baked in, of course. Nobody cares to watch the archival footage of the quarterbacks who get benched and never recover. Belief in oneself alone does not enable a player to rebound the way Hurts did. It isn’t a sufficient characteristic. But it is a necessary one.
The moment from the ESPN documentary is especially gripping given Hurts’ current circumstances. Less than two years ago, he was the MVP of one of the most dominant team wins in Super Bowl history. Now, he is an underdog once again.
The Eagles are 2-2 this season, and 5-7 in their last 12 games. During that stretch, Hurts is averaging 194 yards passing per game. He is coming off a loss to the Rams in which he threw for just 93 yards, his lowest full-game output since he became a full-time starter. The Eagles will enter Sunday’s game against the Jaguars in London as a touchdown underdog, their longest odds in a game since the 2021 season. Their long-time right tackle has abruptly retired. The front office has just traded a starting offensive lineman. They are at an inflection point. The future can go a number of different ways.
“That’s the nature of it,” Hurts said earlier this week, after the news of Lane Johnson’s retirement and Cam Jurgens’ trade to the Ravens. “That’s why it takes the utmost commitment, the utmost respect for the game and what’s required of the game to go out there and prepare and try to be at your best.
» READ MORE: Eagles vs. Jaguars predictions: Our writers pick a winner for the Week 5 game in London
“I think this gives us a great opportunity to connect and come together, not necessarily by the departures or anything, but just in general where we are. This is when you find out what you have. You find out who you’re going out there to battle with. You see how you respond to adversity. You see how you show up to work every day, what’s your energy, what’s your level of persistence and resilience and determination to go out there and do the job.”
Those are characteristics that sit at the foundation of Hurts’ rise from the ashes of that January night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2018. As he spoke, you almost felt like you were hearing his internal monologue from years ago. He is older now: his hair shorter, his features sharper, his face grizzled. But the internal components are the same. That’s worth keeping in mind.
For over two decades, one of the guiding personnel principles of the Philadelphia Eagles organization has been to prioritize the offensive line. Through four games, and this past week in particular, the group has undergone dramatic turnover. Hall of Fame-caliber tackle Lane Johnson retired. Cam Jurgens was shipped to Baltimore in a trade. Their respective replacements have potential, but, compared to how general manager Howie Roseman has stockpiled talent on the line in the past, the options now seem less optimal. Did Roseman and the Eagles stray from a long-held philosophy? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane retraces key decisions that brought the team to this point. Listen here.
Listen to all episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
