Quarterback Shedeur Sanders had a decorated college career, earning the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and finishing eighth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2024. But the wasn’t a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had a decorated college career, too, from receiving the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award at Alabama in 2016 to finishing second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in 2019. But he wasn’t a first-round pick in the NFL Draft either.
But as he prepares for his sixth NFL season, Hurts has led Philadelphia to two of the past three Super Bowls, and the Eagles won the league championship game for the 2024 season.
In advance of their NFL preseason game on Saturday, Philadelphia held a joint practice on Wednesday with the Cleveland Browns, which gave Sanders the opportunity to talk face-to-face with Hurts.
Sanders joined Cleveland in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on April 26.
After Wednesday’s practice, Sanders stayed on the field to talk with Hurts after most of the other practice participants had headed for the showers.
“We had a very lengthy conversation,” Hurts said. “He came to me and just, you know, wanted to talk, and I’m always there, as I said earlier, of giving my perspective on what I see and how I’ve gone about things. And, ultimately, it takes a great deal of patience and hard work and a sense of resilience. You know, you got to want it. You got to want it. So I’m supporting him from where I am and wishing him nothing but the best with his opportunities.”
Hurts is less than four years older than Sanders, but he said he is happy to share his experience with quarterbacks entering the NFL.
“There’s a sense of obligation to be yourself and who I am,” Hurts said. “To, you know, be honest and genuine in expressing how I got to where I am today. It wasn’t an easy journey. It’s always going to present its own challenges, but, you know, continue to be who I am, continue to carry myself in a humble way and always putting the work first.
“So I know and I’m aware of that. I know that’s a torch that I hold, and it’s something I respect and embrace and accept for what it is. At the same time, I always put my focus on always being the best I can be, and, hopefully, my actions can speak louder than anything that I can say.”
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Hurts and Sanders entered the NFL in different situations.
As a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Hurts had no chance of opening his career as Philadelphia’s starting quarterback. The Eagles had Carson Wentz as an entrenched and highly paid starter when they picked Hurts. But with four games remaining in his rookie season, Hurts made his first NFL start, and he’s been in the lineup when healthy ever since.
With Deshaun Watson sidelined by an Achilles injury, the Browns need a starting quarterback. Cleveland signed Joe Flacco as a free agent, traded for Kenny Pickett after he served as Hurts’ backup last season and drafted Sanders and Dillon Gabriel to address its vacancy.
Sanders opened his NFL career as the starting quarterback in the Browns’ 30-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in their preseason opener on Friday night. Sanders completed 14-of-23 passes for 138 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran four times for 19 yards.
But Sanders probably won’t play against the Eagles on Saturday.
The Browns announced Sanders sustained an oblique strain during passing drills on Wednesday, wouldn’t participate in Thursday’s joint practice with Philadelphia and was unlikely to play in the preseason contest.
Sanders’ injury is the lastest to a Cleveland quarterback. Pickett suffered a hamstring injury on July 26 and still has not returned to full team drills. Gabriel also has dealt with a hamstring ailment that kept him from full participation.
The Browns and Eagles will square off at noon CDT Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. NFL Network will televise the game.
Hurts did not play in the Eagles’ preseason opener on Thursday night – a 34-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in which his backup, Tanner McKee, threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns.
Hurts said he finds the joint practices in the preseason valuable.
“You learn a lot,” Hurts said after Wednesday’s workout. “You learn a lot about where you are and then you learn about where you have opportunity to go. And I think today was very competitive. I’ve always enjoyed every joint practice just from that state.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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