Getty The Eagles play for the first time since a brutal hit to quarterback Jalen Hurts in a preseason game against the New York Jets.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts famously talked about being the thermostat. He sets the temperature in the room, hot or cold. It’s the outsiders entering that environment that need to adjust because the 24-year-old controls the dial. Believe that.
Hurts, a guy playing for a big-time contract extension in addition to a Super Bowl, addressed his teammates ahead of their NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the New York Giants. The third-year starter stood up in front of the auditorium and delivered the necessary speech a true leader gives. Maybe not the one they wanted to hear, but the one they needed to hear.
Hurts was perfectly on brand with his words, which poured out naturally in Episode of 8 of the Eagles’ own reality series called Unscripted:
And I know this room, we have yet to touch our ceiling, we have yet to touch the best possible, you know, performance we can put out there. We ain’t did nothing yet. And I think this whole entire room, we got another level we can take it to.
And, to be honest, man, I’m just … I ain’t hungry, I know Coach Stout [Jeff Stoutland] always say hungry dogs run faster, I ain’t hungry, I’m starving for this s***. This s***, this s*** means so much to me and I know everything is in front of us.
And I don’t have to give y’all any rah-rah speech, I shouldn’t have to give anyone in this room no get-up-and go, no go-go juice, no none of that shit. It’s understood. It’s understood who we are. It’s understood what we work for. And it’s understood what we want to accomplish.
But, it takes everybody. It takes everybody. And we control everything that we want to do. Everything is in our hands. We put in the time together, we work for this, this is what matters the most.
This is where it matters the most
Watch episode 8 of Unscripted, presented by @lincolnfingroup.
Hurts Trusting the Process: The Standard Rises
Hurts has been consistent with his message throughout the 2022 campaign. Actually, further back, prior to Week 1. He showed up at spring OTAs talking about how the foundation had been set, how the standard had been set, how the only direction was to climb.
Well, the Eagles climbed all the way to A 14-3 record en route to an NFC East title and No. 1 seed in the conference. The next step on the ladder is obviously the Lombardi Trophy, although no one is saying that. Hurts has doubled down on the process.
“Regardless of the magnitude of the game publicly, we know what we work for,” Hurts told reporters. “The preparation and the work we put in all season, and before the season started, in the offseason. So, I don’t think anything changes in terms of the process. The process remains the same throughout everything, but the standard rises. We just want to kind of lean on the things that gotten us here.”
For the city
Hurts Has No Limitations, Shoulder Feeling Fine
Hurts heads into the playoff matchup versus New York carrying no injury designation. He was a full participant in practices and walk-throughs all week while slinging the football with his normal accuracy and strength. He had zero setbacks returning from a strained right shoulder. The same goes for starting right tackle Lane Johnson in his return from a bad groin. Everything remains in front of the Philadelphia Eagles.