PHILADELPHIA — Editor's note: The above video is from Aug. 8.
The stats from Friday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets tell a perfect story for quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts finished his first and only drive of the preseason opener going six for six with 80 passing yards and a 22-yard touchdown to tight end Dallas Goedert.
While oftentimes numbers can lie, or at least not tell the entire story of a player’s performance, this time the numbers did back up what our eyes showed us.
Hurts was very sharp. He was accurate, he was on time, and he made the right decisions.
Everything just seemed smoother and easier for the Eagles third-year QB. His throwing motion, his footwork, even shoulder placement. It looked like he took what he needed to work on from last year to heart.
Utilizing the middle and left side of the field more were key areas of his game that needed improvement. Well, against the Jets Hurts made a number of quick throws over the middle, and his touchdown to Goedert was down the left sidelines.
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Although Hurts is one of the best running quarterbacks in the NFL, he also did have a tendency to rely too much on his legs last year, bailing early on clean pockets. His first completion of the night went for 28 yards to WR Quez Watkins, and it was a great example of growth in that area.
Hurts was rushed up the middle by Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and was able to escape towards the right sidelines. A lot of moments last year this kind of play would have resulted in Hurts dropping his eyes, tucking the ball, and running for a positive gain. Although it would have turned into a positive play, many plays had more yards given up by not throwing down the field.
In this instance, Hurts rolled to the right but kept his eyes up, finding Watkins for a much bigger gain than what a run would have created. It was a perfect strike on the move and it showed what his mobility can create for others in the passing game.
The play that resulted in a late hit on Hurts did show he may have left the pocket too early so this is still a work in progress, but the play to Watkins shows a concerted effort by Hurts to improve in this area.
On top of all of these improvements Hurts made in his first live action of 2022, the most impressive part of his performance was it all came without relying heavily on his three star weapons in A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert, and DeVonta Smith. Sure, Goedert had the touchdown, but Hurts did not target Brown once, while Smith did not play due to a hamstring injury.
He was spreading the ball around and getting other targets like Watkins and RB Miles Sanders involved. It obviously won’t be an issue when Hurts targets his top three receivers. He needs to do that for this team to have success. But it was good to see his passing wasn’t over-reliant on those players making things happen for Hurts.
Hurts has a long way to go before Eagles fans can claim he is an elite, franchise-caliber QB that can carry a team as a passer. A player that deserves the massive contract extensions teams are handing out for their signal-callers. He will need to show he can consistently string together these kinds of performances for four quarters, week in and week out.
But Friday was certainly a great start.