ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky defended Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on Thursday’s episode of “Get Up,” arguing that criticism of the star quarterback is “disingenuous and disrespectful” given that Hurts consistently does the one thing that matters most: Win.
Orlovsky’s defense comes as Hurts has faced mounting criticism for the Eagles’ offensive struggles and a report stating people within the organization are frustrated with his performance this season despite the team’s 8-2 record.
“What’s going on with Hurts is so disingenuous and disrespectful to Jalen Hurts, and I’m not the biggest Jalen Hurts fan,” Orlovsky said. “All this dude does is literally everything that everybody begs every other quarterback to do or knocks them for not doing. This dude is 51-14 since 2022. He’s been to two Super Bowls. He’s won one. He’s been the MVP essentially in both. He was the MVP of the Super Bowl last year.”
“All he does is win,” Orlvosky continued. “He is obsessed with football and winning and doing what’s best for the team, and we’re just finding ways to knock him or take shots at him or report about this, about him or that about him.”
Through 10 games this season, Hurts has completed 66.9% of his passes for 1,995 yards, 16 touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 265 yards and six touchdowns. However, the Eagles are ranked 25th in the league in total offense (300.1 yards per game) and 28th in passing offense (184.9 yards per game).
Hurts addressed the criticism during a news conference Wednesday, saying the talk about him comes with the “nature of the position.”
“I guess I get a lot of attention when things are going well and when things are not going so well,” Hurts said. “I never run away from holding myself accountable, and I think that’s exactly what I’ve taken the approach of doing.”
Orlovsky added that Hurts has consistently won big games, something other top quarterbacks around the league have not done.
“We kill guys,” Orlovsky said. “Joe Burrow, does he win enough? Dak Prescott, does he win enough? Matthew Stafford didn’t win enough in Detroit. Josh Allen doesn’t win enough. He can’t win the big game. Lamar Jackson can’t. All Hurts does is everything that we beg for those quarterbacks to do. All we want to do is kill him because it doesn’t look the same way or the way that we want it. I’ve done it before in the past as well. I don’t understand why we are obsessed with trying to knock Jalen Hurts right now when he does the only thing that people actually care about.”
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