Early during Nick Sirianni’s weekly interrogation by Eagles flagship station 94-WIP on Wednesday morning, he was asked about Jalen Hurts by host Joe DeCamara: “Is there a possibility later this season, if he continues to struggle, that you could make a change at the quarterback spot?”
Sirianni replied:
“I think that’s ridiculous.”
You know what’s ridiculous?
Saying you would never replace a quarterback in the middle of a horrible performance — that’s ridiculous. Saying you would never bench a quarterback who’s slumping worse than the economy — that’s ridiculous.
It’s more than ridiculous. It’s malpractice.
It’s not as if Sirianni is averse to benching people.
He benched defensive coordinator Sean Desai late in the 2023 season.
Hell, he benched himself in 2021, when, as a rookie head coach, he found the burden of play-calling too onerous, and ceded it to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.
Don’t be afraid to do unto others, Nick.
There are two reasons a coach has not only the right, but the responsibility, to bench a quarterback who is playing losing football. This is doubly true of a coach whose team has the weapons to make another deep postseason run, which is exactly the sort of team Sirianni has.
First, the coach owes it to the rest of the team to give them the best chance to win. He doesn’t just owe the players. He owes his coaching staff, his support staff, the administrators, the scouts, the janitors — everybody.
Because everybody’s livelihood suffers when the team doesn’t win, and if Hurts continues to play this poorly, the team cannot win.
Second, when you’re in a tailspin like Hurts, you’re very unlikely to dig your way out of it. Defensive coordinators are using a very clear formula to beat Hurts: Load the box to stop the run, force the receivers inside, give up nothing deep, and don’t bother with a spy, since Hurts doesn’t want to run anymore, and he has lost a step, anyway. And blitz, blitz, blitz.
This is the third time since Hurts became the unquestioned starter that he has lost three straight regular-season games. However, it is, by far, his worst performance of any three-game slide, and the first time he has been the biggest reason for the losing. Hurts has a lower passer rating (69.9), more total turnovers (seven), and fewer rushing yards (72) than in previous losing streaks. He’s been bad before, but never this bad.
The Eagles are 8-5. A loss Sunday to the visiting Las Vegas Raiders combined with a Dallas Cowboys win against the Minnesota Vikings would shrink the Eagles’ lead in the NFC East to a half-game and put even a wild-card berth in peril.
This is no time to worry about Jalen Hurts’ feelings.
It might sound heretical to say of the Super Bowl MVP, but if Hurts continues to struggle, he damn well should be benched. He is not sacred.
Also: Do you believe Sirianni?
Liar, Liar
Can you believe Sirianni? He lies all the time to protect players. He admitted this in 2023: “That’s something I’ve always done.”
With that in mind, if, by halftime Sunday, Hurts has thrown two interceptions, fumbled the ball away, and he’s 3-for-11, I think we‘ll see Tanner McKee.
I guess Sirianni needs to say that Hurts is untouchable in order to fortify Hurts’ confidence. Sad.
The Eagles were burned the last time they benched a starter. In 2020, Carson Wentz, who already was angry that the Eagles drafted Hurts in the second round, was benched with 4½ games to play. The benching infuriated Wentz. He first got coach Doug Pederson fired, then forced a trade. The trade hung the Eagles with a then-record $33 million salary-cap hit and left them with Hurts, a talented, raw, flawed quarterback.
Four years later, Hurts has gone to two Pro Bowls, two Super Bowls, and won a Super Bowl, and signed a $255 million contract. Nevertheless, Hurts remains raw and flawed — less so, but still.
It’s rare that franchise quarterbacks get benched on merit, but that’s a phenomenon almost exclusive to NFL QBs. Hurts is on a five-game slump, which is about 30% of his season. If Bryce Harper hit .150 over 54 games and made 10 errors or if Tyrese Maxey shot 20% for 27 consecutive games and averaged seven turnovers, you can bet your britches they’d get a day or two off.
Hurts understands that he’s a big part of the problem. He acknowledged that he’s in a slump, and it’s a granular slump. And when he says he needs to be more “detailed,” it means he needs to get back to the basics in practice so they translate during games.
“How can I have the right technique?” he said. “How am I playing with the fundamentals? To run the way I want to run? To throw the way I want to throw?”
It comes. It goes.
“For whatever reason, that’s a part of the game,” Hurts said. “Success or greatness — those things aren’t linear. You have your ups, you have your downs.”
When athletes in other sports have their downs, they get sat down.
But not quarterbacks.
They’re special.
Whatever.
Tradition!
It’s more than a little ironic that the analytically driven Eagles have, in Sirianni, a pocket-protector spokesman who is essentially telling us that he wouldn’t bench his quarterback because “This is the way it’s always been done.“
Listen: If you want to go for it on fourth-and-4 from your opponent’s 32-yard line with 3 minutes, 30 seconds to play, when a field goal would put you up seven or eight points, then you don’t get to use the “This is the way it’s always been done” defense.
I understand the concerns with going to McKee — concerns independent of how it affects Hurts. There are concerns about offensive timing. You know Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will show McKee exotic looks on every snap. McKee will be baited by defensive backs.
McKee might fail catastrophically, and then, where are you?
You are no worse off, that’s where.
It’s not as if Hurts hasn’t been benched before. He lost his job as Alabama’s starter at halftime of the 2018 College Football Playoff national championship, which his replacement, Tua Tagovailoa, won. Instead of transferring, Hurts returned the next season, served as a backup, and, 11 months later, replaced Tagovailoa in the SEC title game and led a comeback win.
If anybody can handle a benching, it’s Jalen Alexander Hurts.
There’s no debating that there’s a contingent of folks, especially in the Philadelphia area, who would love to see Hurts fail. You can debate their motives, but he’s not nearly as appreciated as he should be.
This has led to a cycle of protectionism inside the NovaCare Complex. That’s not good for anybody.
However, most folks don’t want any scenario to surface in which Hurts gets benched. He has played wonderful football at times.
But to dismiss his benching out of hand isn’t just ridiculous.
It’s coaching malpractice.
