August 22, 2024
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Will Jalen Hurts return to his MVP-caliber form in 2024?
Jalen Hurts still gets cagey when it comes to questions about his health, but even he won't shy away from acknowledging that he looks and feels so much better now compared to last season.
"Yeah, I think I'm in a better place physically," the Eagles' quarterback said after Wednesday's final practice of training camp.
"Obviously had some nicks there throughout the year that I told you guys not to ask me about," he cracked to the local media with a sly grin. "But you know, you deal with those things. I think all of those things have made me better. They've made me re-evaluate some things, and they've allowed me to re-assess, and I've been able to saturate myself in the right things."
Alright look, he's never going to fully break from the Sabanisms, but he does seem a bit more open now, and if this camp is anything to go by, he looks much more mobile, decisive, and precise in his passing on the field.
Everyone who was at the NovaCare Complex during this past month could see it, his teammates especially.
"He was banged up," said linebacker Devin White earlier in camp, who had the unique perspective of seeing the Eagles' implosion in the Wild Card game last year from the Buccaneers' side compared to where everything in Philadelphia is now. "You only can do so much if you're not your full self. So just watching him out here, him being comfortable taking the ball and running if he has to, just so we can get another possession, another down, and don't turn it over – really having speed and athleticism about him when he does decide to take off...
"I think he's just real comfortable. He's probably always been comfortable. He's been a hell of a player since he's been in the league, but he's just taking it to another level."
Which the Eagles are hoping carries over into Week 1 and on, and sees Hurts return to his MVP-caliber form of two years ago, if not better.
Oh, why yes, we do have the 🔥 A.J. Brown catch https://t.co/SrKDjHSExa pic.twitter.com/8go4n3ANLu
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 20, 2024
Hurts, who is heading into year 5 of his NFL career and his fourth as the Eagles starting QB, put in a stellar camp that didn't see him throw an interception until the very last day.
That wasn't from playing it safe with the ball or holding on for too long either. Hurts pretty regularly aired it out to his top receivers in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, connected on tightly-timed routes underneath, or just knew when it was time to check it down or tuck and run for the couple of yards that were there.
He also seems to generally be meshing well within new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's system, which makes far greater use of pre-snap motion to create mismatches – something the Eagles didn't do anywhere near enough of last season.
"We've just been very oriented around the process," Hurts said of getting on the same page with Moore, who is his third OC since he became the full-time starter in 2021. "Not necessarily the results. Really just learning from everything every day."
Dropping THAT interception on the feed for ya 😏@bigplay24slay | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ocRWaqaNRO
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 21, 2024
Early into Wednesday's last session of the summer, it finally happened. Hurts tried to thread a pass to Parris Campbell cutting across the middle of the field, but veteran cornerback Darius Slay jumped right in front of the route to make the pick and take off the other way.
Afterward, Slay, who said he was aware of Hurts' turnover-free streak in camp, bragged that he "baited" him into finally throwing an interception.
Hurts' retort: "I told him about time," as he walked away from the press conference dais.
And after the pick, Hurts went on to end the whole practice with a bomb to Smith down the left sideline for a touchdown.
MORE: How did Hurts finish up Eagles training camp?
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