The Eagles came away with their ninth win Monday night in a gritty Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs. After the game, head coach Nick Sirianni called the players together for a postgame meeting, but before he could get too far into his speech, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts interrupted him to praise the defense.
The video can be seen on the official Philadelphia Eagles team Twitter account. Sirianni has the players assembled together, and the mood is palpably celebratory. He starts out by saying, “Hey, guys, that was gritty. That was grimy. It ain’t about who’s the toughest. It’s about who’s the toughest the longest, alright, and that’s us.”
Then, there’s a cut, and we see Sirianni switch topics, saying, “Defense, second half.” It’s at this moment that Hurts can be heard shouting over his head coach, which brings on immediate cheers and applause from the rest of his team. Once the camera has panned over, a smiling Hurts is seen still fully in uniform and eye-black, yelling, “That’s how you play! That’s how you play, man!”
When the camera pans back to Sirianni, he continues, saying, “That’s championship defense right there. Way to go, way to go. Hey, and the best thing about this win, we did that together. It took everybody.”
It took everybody
Hurts’ Interruption Could Be a Sign of Growth and Trust
This level of volume and passion not only shows a different side of Hurts than what is typically seen by the media in his solo press conferences but also the developing leadership of the young quarterback. It’s also telling of the growing trust and collaboration between Hurts and Sirianni.
Hurts was right to be ecstatic about what the Eagles’ defense had accomplished, too. In the second half of Monday night’s game, the Eagles held one of the most potent offenses in the league to zero points. Of course, if you watched the game, you know there were a couple of terrible drops that could’ve made a difference in the outcome.
With this big win, though, the Eagles move to 9-1 and sit alone at the top of the NFL standings. They’ve already faced tough injuries to key players like starting right guard Cam Jurgens, who had been on IR since Week 4 but came back in this one. Tight end Dallas Goedert, who went out with a fractured right forearm in Week 9 against the Cowboys, marked another. They also lost LB Nakobe Dean for the season to a Lisfranc injury the same week as Goedert.
Hurts Is Figuring Out How to Lead the Eagles Through Adversity
Hurts himself hasn’t been immune to the injury bug, as he’s had a lingering knee injury in the form of a bone bruise for most of the season at this point. The effect of this knee issue can best be illustrated when comparing Hurts’ usage in the running game from 2022 to 2023. Actually, in the past two seasons Hurts was above 50 yards per game while this year he’s hovering close to 35. He’s either being protective of the knee or unable to get up and go like he has in the past.
When asked about the bye week on Thursday, November 16th, ahead of the matchup with the Chiefs, Hurts said, “The bye couldn’t have come at a better time, and some of the guys on the team took advantage of that time. Just being able to refresh. Obviously, getting ready for this second half of the year. I think it’s been good for us all.”
The team has had its ups and downs, but even with the knee injury annoying him, Hurts has stood strong in the pocket and kept the team on track. This was a critique of Hurts’ game when he first came into the league, but thanks to his hard work, Sirianni’s coaching, and possibly the mentorship of hall-of-famer Peyton Manning, Hurts is doing a fine job leading this team without having to lean on the run.
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Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Interrupts Coach Nick Sirianni’s Postgame Meeting [Watch]