play1:36Sirianni on Hurts: ‘He just loves to win’Nick Sirianni stands up for his quarterback Jalen Hurts and tells Rich Eisen why Hurts is such a “great team player.”
Tim McManusCloseTim McManusESPN Staff WriterTim McManus covers the Philadelphia Eagles for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2016 after covering the Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7, a site he helped create, since 2010.Follow on X and Jeremy FowlerCloseJeremy Fowlersenior NFL national reporterJeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.Follow on XMultiple AuthorsApr 1, 2026, 06:00 AM ET
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles at a crossroads (2:43)The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense has been disappointing, and it starts with quarterback Jalen Hurts. ESPN’s Tim McManus explains why the star player is at the center of the problem. (2:43)
Sirianni on Hurts: ‘He just loves to win’Nick Sirianni stands up for his quarterback Jalen Hurts and tells Rich Eisen why Hurts is such a “great team player.”
Nick Sirianni stands up for his quarterback Jalen Hurts and tells Rich Eisen why Hurts is such a “great team player.”
With 43 seconds left in a wild-card playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo fiddled with his red pen, scanning the play sheet. Quarterback Jalen Hurts stood in front of him, leaning in to speak to his playcaller. Coach Nick Sirianni was nearby, listening to the chatter. A few assistants and backup Tanner McKee were within earshot.
A brief deliberation resulted in the simplest of football plans: a play known as “four verts,” which the Eagles had just run on the previous play. But this time, the 49ers were all over it, with three defenders collapsing on tight end Dallas Goedert over the middle for a failed attempt to then win and recapture their own playoff magic.
Though it’s unclear what other plays were considered, if any, Sirianni ultimately approved Hurts’ suggestion. Within seconds, the plan — and a premature offseason vacation — was in motion.
Close observers point to a lack of creativity and synergy in the Eagles’ attack. The pass game wasn’t always properly tied to the run, and there’s a level of predictability that allows opposing defenses to get a bead on what’s coming. Though there is plenty of blame to spread, Hurts has had a hand in the offense becoming calcified, according to several team sources who spoke to ESPN on condition of anonymity.
Enter new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who replaces Patullo and is implementing a system more in the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan mold — a scheme that leans into motion and under-center play-action, two facets Hurts and the Eagles have not embraced under Sirianni. It sets up a dynamic in which the Super Bowl LIX MVP will be forced to adapt to strengthen his future in Philadelphia.
Hurts has led the Eagles to impressive heights, working his way from benched quarterback at Alabama to second-round pick, three-time Pro Bowl selection and world champion. He has persevered through constant offensive staffing changes and has established the standard in the building with what coaches and teammates have described as a world-class work ethic.
“Poor body language, not always bought in, not the most coachable and the players notice,” a team source said.
The flip side is that Hurts’ steadfastness has helped him and the team through constant turnover at offensive coordinator. The Eagles have failed to give Hurts the level of consistency he has said he “yearns” for, knowing that it can “breed excellence.” The one time he had it was with Shane Steichen in 2021 and ’22, and it resulted in an MVP-caliber season for Hurts and the team going 14-1 in games he started on the way to an appearance in Super Bowl LVII.
Mannion will be Hurts’ sixth playcaller since the QB entered the league in 2020. Patullo was fired at season’s end after overseeing an offense that went from eighth in offensive yardage to 24th. Though Patullo was well-liked and respected in the building, there was “a lot of noise that he was not doing a great job and some people started to believe it,” according to a team source, who added that there were players who “lost faith in him.”
A source close to Hurts said the QB needs coaches who will “check him,” opining that Hurts had “too many ‘yes’ people around him” this past season.
Mannion, 33, is entering his third year as an NFL coach and first as an offensive coordinator. He is expected to lead the most dramatic overhaul of the offensive system since Sirianni became head coach in 2021.
ESPN interviewed more than a dozen sources to pull back the curtain on what’s ailing an Eagles offense full of notable talent, including at quarterback.
He has thrived in high-wattage settings, and his deep shot to Smith was the kind of play that inspires sneaker ads.
But, even in the midst of a championship season, Hurts’ penchant to resist change showed up at times in the building.
Kellen Moore, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2024, had tried to implement new offensive concepts that Hurts did not always embrace, per multiple team sources. One of the sources said they believed the changes concerned motions and shifts, recalling that Hurts was not receptive to the idea. A third team source said Hurts was willing to experiment with the new wrinkles in 2024, but if they were not paying off immediately, he was quick to pivot and express his discomfort.
A source close to the QB stresses that Hurts understands motions and shifts help the quarterback and doesn’t dissuade coaches from using them.
Moore and Hurts seemed to find a compromise, successfully implementing 279 plays with motion during that 2024 season, good for 11th most in the league. Moore ran them much more often in 2025 as the New Orleans Saints head coach, with 373 motion plays, sixth most in the league, compared to the Eagles’ 237 this past season, which ranked 26th.
Those talks did not seem to affect Philadelphia’s running game. Barkley broke off 17 rushes of 20 or more yards and seven of at least 40 yards on his way to eclipsing the historic 2,000-yard mark. But Philadelphia’s passing game was not diversified, finishing with a pedestrian 3,517 yards, third worst in the NFL in 2024.
Multiple team sources described the relationship between Moore and Hurts in 2024 as “tense” at times.
Moore’s work with Philadelphia earned him the Saints job, which meant another coordinator for Hurts, his fourth in as many years.
The Eagles promoted Patullo, the pass-game coordinator who had developed good relationships with key players in the building, Hurts included. Sirianni decided it was Patullo’s time. The two maintained a close relationship dating to their time together in Indianapolis.
The Eagles’ offense under Patullo in 2025 never found its footing. Patullo was under heavy scrutiny almost immediately. The offensive line wasn’t as good, partly because of injuries. The running game suffered as a result, with Barkley breaking off four runs of 20 or more yards on the season.
The reasons for Hurts’ dip in rushing attempts last season vary, depending on who is asked. One team source said keeping Hurts healthy over the long term, both for the season and his career, was a factor. Another cited defenses that adjusted to spread formations, loading the box and daring Hurts to throw.
Brown said he knew he had a chance to be prominently featured when facing a man-heavy team. But when defenders forced tight-window throws via zone coverage, “A.J. disappears,” a team source said. Brown’s yards per reception (11.7, down from 14.1) and yards per target (7.3, down from 9.1) dipped substantially when facing zone, and he caught only two of his seven TDs against the coverage.
Hurts’ rigid preferences became an issue again this past season, multiple sources said, citing Patullo’s desire to get Hurts under center more often for rushing efficiency and play-action purposes. Playing from under center is something Hurts “continually fights” inside the building, one source said. Hurts doesn’t like to “turn his back on the defense” and prefers to process coverages with everything in front of him, the source said.
Sirianni covered for them, but cameras caught him mouthing “Why?” following the long pass. Smith acknowledged to ESPN afterward that “1 and 11” — Hurts and Brown — made the decision to go for the kill shot.
Eagles offensive players know Hurts isn’t afraid to change plays he doesn’t like and must adjust accordingly, a team source said. Added a separate team source, “You never know what play is coming out of the huddle” when Hurts is leading it, and in the past he has been known to signal a route that hadn’t been installed by coaches.
Brown and Hurts were once considered best friends, but veteran defensive end Brandon Graham suggested in the latter stages of the ’24 season that the relationship had frayed. Though both Hurts and Brown downplayed it, a team source said word began circulating within the organization around that time that things “weren’t good” between the two.
There were few public interactions between them early in the ’25 season. There were even times when the two would connect for a touchdown and not seek each other out afterward. Earlier in their time together, it would not be uncommon to see Brown and Hurts engaged in long conversations in the locker room postgame during media availability. As time went on, it was rare to see them interact in those types of public settings.
There is a difference, a source with knowledge of their relationship said, between being friends with someone and being teammates, especially when referencing two alphas in a pressurized environment with different approaches to the goal of achieving high-end success.
“You might want to win, but your way might be different than mine,” the source said. “[Your stars] have to be on the same page and I don’t think they always were.”