February 27, 2024
Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports
Jalen Hurts' leadership remains key to the Eagles' success.
The Eagles are going to be a different group in 2024, though to what extent still isn't clear.
Obviously, there are the new coordinators in Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore, and the inevitable roster turnover on the horizon that is going to bring along some tough decisions. But another key shift may be in how Jalen Hurts, as the franchise quarterback, leads the charge from here on out.
Unflinching composure and seemingly unbreakable stoicism have been his trademarks from the second he was drafted going on four years ago, but things are different now, and reports coming out of the Super Bowl from a few weeks back were that the Eagles would be looking for him to speak up more in 2024.
Whether that happens and whether that's part of what the Eagles need to reset and bounce back following a monumental collapse to the 2023 season will have to be seen.
Regardless of how Hurts chooses to lead going forward, head coach Nick Sirianni still has all the confidence that he'll find a way to excel at it.
"There's not a book that is written on 'This is how you lead,' right?" Sirianni said Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "People lead in different ways, and one thing I learned early about leadership is you have to be yourself, because if you lead and you're trying to be somebody you're not, that gets seen through. That was the same scenario I was put in when I became the head coach [of the Eagles] or the offensive coordinator [of the Colts] or whatever it was. Everybody has to lead their way, and Jalen has special qualities that people will follow and people would want to follow.
"He's gotta do what he needs to do to lead in that way. Some people's leadership style is loud and aggressive. Some people's leadership style is by example. Some have a mixture of both. Jalen needs to lead how he needs to lead, and [A.J. Brown] needs to lead how he needs to lead, whoever it is, [Darius Slay] needs to lead how he needs to lead, because that's leadership, right? Being who you are and leading an example."
Nick Sirianni on Jalen Hurts leadership style
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) February 27, 2024
Says Hurts has special qualities as a leader #Eagles pic.twitter.com/je2XBr7vDf
Coming off an MVP-caliber campaign and run to the Super Bowl in 2022, there was next to no question over Hurts' leadership capabilities nor the chemistry within the Eagles' locker room. This past season, however, never felt the same. Despite what was at one point an NFL-best 10-1 start, the Eagles on the whole never fully or truly looked in sync, which led to massive crash and burn over the final month of the season. Injuries mounted, offensive play-calling became limited and predictable, and the defense devolved into a mess of confusing coverages and blown assignments in the switch from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia at defensive coordinator, which all led to the Eagles losing five of their last six on the schedule, then bowing out of the playoffs in disastrous fashion to the Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.
That brought everything under a harsh microscope from outside the building, Hurts' demeanor included. But Sirianni, who has just as much been scrutinized under that lens since the season ended, couldn't pin any of that on his quarterback.
"We had a falloff as a team," Sirianni said. "It wasn't just Jalen, it's not just me. We had a falloff as a team those last six weeks that we all need to get better from."
And he does believe that Hurts, only entering year 4 as the starter and his age-26 season, will be a huge part in working to get the Eagles back on track to the hopes of championship contention.
"Jalen's played some really outstanding football," Sirianni said. "Here's what I know about Jalen: Whatever we see that he needs to work on or he sees that he needs to work on, he's gonna get better at that because he puts everything he has into it. That's a form of leadership too."
"He'll put everything that he has into getting better as a football player, being better as a quarterback, so we can win more games as a team," Sirianni added.
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