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Before Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts won national championships for the Crimson Tide and way before he was drafted to the NFL, he attended the Manning Passing Academy. In the November 20 episode of ESPN’s “ManningCast” of Monday Night Football, Hall of Famer Peyton Manning said that he has an ongoing relationship with Hurts and they communicate often.
“Jalen Hurts calls me a lot, Eli, to ask me about these plays: ‘Tell me what you’re thinking versus this coverage.’ I appreciate him trying to learn about the play,” Manning told his brother Eli, the former Giants great, during the show.
“I leave Jalen a lot of voice memos, just like yourself, and he doesn’t complain about it,” Manning said, joking with his younger brother. “He actually says, ‘Thanks, I appreciate it.’ Which just doesn’t seem that hard to do.’”
Peyton Manning Claims the Eagles Run the Same Offense He Did
Manning said that the Eagles run the same basic offense — some of the exact same plays, even — that he ran with the Indianapolis Colts.
“I hate to say they keep running old Colts plays, but they are — that play was ‘bulls,’” he said. “It’s a little inside pivot, swing hook with a wrap-in route on the outside. So, I feel like the Colts basically gave Philly all of our plays.”
The offense can be traced back to Frank Reich, the current head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Reich worked under Tony Dungy from 2006 to 2008, when Dungy was the head coach of the Colts. In 2014, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni worked as quarterbacks coach under Reich, who was the offensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers, and then again in 2018 as offensive coordinator when Reich was head coach for the Colts.
Describing Manning’s knowledge of the Eagles’ offense, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Rob Tornoe wrote: “Manning’s familiarity with the Eagles’ offense allowed him to quickly diagnose what happened in the second quarter, when Hurts threw an interception on a miscommunication with A.J. Brown, who had beaten his defender and tried to signal he was changing his route.”
Peyton Manning’s Fingerprints Can Be Seen in Hurts’ Development
Manning’s relationship with Hurt could explain a lot about the development of Hurts, who was selected with the 21st pick of the second round of the 2020 draft. NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared Hurts to Tim Tebow, the first-rounder who lasted only three years in the league.
“He’ll struggle to beat NFL defenses from the pocket, but his ability to grind out yards on the ground and make off-schedule plays should make him a solid backup with upward mobility,” Zierlein wrote.
Of course, Hurts has been anything but a backup in much of the time since. In his rookie season, he might have exhibited some of these rough edges as the Eagles struggled, ending the year with a 4-11-1 record. He’s shown progress every year since, though, leading the Eagles to a 9-8 record a wild-card game appearance in 2021 and then a 14-3 record with a loss in the Super Bowl.
This year, the Eagles sit alone at the top of the league with a 9-1 record heading into Week 12. Much of this success has come due to Hurts’ continued development as a quarterback.
In fact, this year, more than any other, Hurts has had to show his progress as a pocket passer in particular because of a lingering bone bruise injury that’s hampered his mobility throughout the season. His frustration over the hurt knee has bubbled over in press conferences, but if Hurts can return to full health by the playoffs, the league will have even more reason to fear the Eagles.
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