Lost in the shuffle of the drama of AJ Brown's “passing” comments and the monsoon they set off, there have been some very legitimate questions about Jalen Hurts' passing abilities and whether or not he can do enough with his arm to win the big one for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Some still believe in QB1 due to his efficiency, as he's averaging a career-high completion percentage and has worked hard on avoiding turnovers while still pushing the ball down the field, but for others? He just isn't doing enough through the air, regardless of what coaches are calling for him.
Discussing that very question on Wednesday with reporters, Nick Sirianni first celebrated Hurts for everything he's done to become more accurate, as his efforts are impressive, to say the least.
“We’ve all got things to get better at. What I do know is, what he’s done really well is take care of the football at an outstanding rate. You guys would know this better, but I know he’s got however many touchdowns and interceptions in this winning streak, how good he’s been. He’s accurate with the football. He’s been able to make plays with his feet as things break down or something’s not open,” Sirianni told reporters.
“He’s done so many good things. I think there is so much talk. I know. I’ve got to get ready to talk to you guys and hear all the talk about this. At the end of the day, the thing that doesn’t get said enough about Jalen Hurts is he’s, what 45 and 19 over the past four years? That’s pretty darn special.”
Pretty nice stuff, right? Well, Sirianni wasn't done, as he did have some constructive criticism for his QB1, too, as the entire offense can do better.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reacts to the touchdown pass and catch of quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field
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Nick Sirianni reveals what Jalen Hurts can improve on moving forward
Turning to the medicine under the money, Sirianni noted that the Eagles' entire passing game could improve, from Hurts throwing the ball to his receivers tasked with catching it.
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“Do we all have things to get better at in the passing game? Yeah, I think that’s obvious. I think that’s what we’ve been talking about. We all have things that we’ve got to get better at. Coaches, players. But this is why this is the greatest team sport there is. It takes everybody. It takes every single person being together, every single person for the success to happen. It’s just not a one-person thing,” Sirianni told reporters.
“So we’re all working to get better. We’ve had moments of being good. We’ve had some moments of not needing it. We’ve had some moments where we haven’t been good enough. All those things are true, right? Moments of being very good, moments of not needing it at all where we haven’t done it very much because we didn’t need it in that game, and moments we need to be better.”
If the lead-up to Week 15 has taught fans anything, it's that the Eagles can't pretend that their passing offense isn't an issue or worth noting. No matter how their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers shakes out, questions about the passing game will already be queued up after the final bell.