Even after dominating the Detroit Lions, the 8-2 Philadelphia Eagles are concerned about the Jalen Hurts-led offense. There’s a growing frustration with quarterback Hurts and the way he is running the offense, per several well-connected insiders. Those concerns apparently have reached a point where there are questions about whether Hurts is following coaching instructions during games.

The debate turned a little heated on Sunday’s Verizon Postgame Show after the Eagles’ 16-9 win over the Lions. Longtime Philly reporter Derrick Gunn questioned whether it was an issue with the play-calling or if Hurts is changing too many plays on the field:

”Is it the actual play itself, or is the quarterback audibling more than we know? Is he not, whatever they practice, he gets into a game and just goes blank and doesn’t go through his progressions? How much is it to play?” Gunn said.

The veteran reporter also questioned why some plays that the team practices during the week aren’t being executed in a game.

”I’m just curious to the point of how much what is practiced does not carry over to the game in terms of the quarterback executing what they spend three or four days practicing leading up to the next game,” Gunn added.

Former Eagles star linebacker Seth Joyner echoed those sentiments as well.

”You run the offense the way that the coach sets it up to be played. And if that’s not the case, then no wonder they got problems,” he said.

Joyner compared it with more structured coaching systems, such as those run by Andy Reid or Sean Payton. In those offenses, he said, quarterbacks run the play as designed because the entire game plan is built on timing and trust.

He also used an example from the earlier Giants game where Hurts threw an interception on an out route. In practice that week, Hurts had consistently thrown the in-breaking route to A.J. Brown. But in the game, he chose the riskier throw, and it nearly became a pick-six. For Joyner, that was a clear disconnect from practice to game execution.

The Eagles’ victory over Detroit masked the fact that the offense continued to look out of sync, as drives were uneven and several plays broke down because Hurts did not appear to read the play as expected or follow proper timing. There is reportedly concern within the team that the offensive issues are not about play-calling but about decision-making itself.

Joyner added that, as much as players were joking and celebrating after the win, with even A.J. Brown saying he was “not dancing,’‘ that does not make the frustration building inside about the direction of the offense go away.

The frustration inside the locker room amid Hurts’ move

The internal concerns carry even more weight now that Hurts is in the third year of the five-year, $255 million contract he inked in 2023, among the largest deals in NFL history. That financial commitment means the Eagles expect him to operate the offense exactly as designed.

Over the weekend, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that members of the organization have “grown frustrated” with Hurts. Joyner added that some of Hurts’ decisions look like he is “going off on his own tangent,” which he described as “borderline insubordination.”

”There’s certain things and certain ways that he likes to run things, and there are things that they run in practice that, you know, they get into a game and he goes off on his own tangent.” Seth Joyner later added, claiming that someone inside the Eagles’ building shared this concern with him.

These reports came even as the team improved to 8–2 and earned another strong defensive win, but the offense continues to struggle, and right tackle Lane Johnson’s injury adds even more pressure going forward.

For now, the Eagles are winning games, but there are real issues. What happens next is going to depend on whether those problems improve or worsen with time.