Jalen Hurts has a lot to prove this year. Despite last season’s Super Bowl victory, the recent QB rankings saw the MVP sitting below the top 5 spot at No. 9. For Philly’s sky-high expectations of a Super Bowl sequel, the entire roster has been gearing to ball out in training camp. But with everyone chasing glory, the Eagles’ QB has notably left something to be desired.

After the 2022 season, Hurts has done things his own way, not caring about doing exactly what he’s told. “When you put so much energy into performance, you kinda lose sight of the main thing of winning. Since the loss in 2022, it’s been my main motivation to find ways to win, regardless of how it looks. I just want to find ways to win, and that’s the mentality I want this team to have.” Ahead of the new season, his team has picked up on this energy in a big way. While it’s good news overall, it doesn’t bode well for a QB who got sacked a whopping 38 times last season.

Elliot Shorr-Parks shared scenes from the Eagles’ training camp recently. In camp, Jalen Hurts has notably been sacked on the 11-on-11 drills not once, but twice. As Parks wrote on X, the first sack came from DT Moro Ojomo, “Ojomo with a ‘sack’ of hurts in 11v11s.” The second one came shortly afterwards, this time from DT Jordan Davis. As Parks adds in another post, “Jordan Davis with a nice pass rush snap. Might have sacked Hurts in a game.”  While Jalen Carter sat out the practice with a shoulder injury, the defense fell to Nolan Smith, Ojomo, Davis, and Jalyx Hunt. Ojomo and Davis both had one sack to their names last season. It looks like they are revving up to get more of the spotlight this time around.

Under the defensive genius of Vic Fangio, the Eagles’ defense soared straight up from the bottom last season. Even with many veterans no longer a part of the equation, the core still remains intact and brimming with promise. However, for Hurts, it means he’ll have to make significant improvements to his plays. The stakes are not just about his QB rankings, but also about avoiding the painful number of sacks last season. As Vince Lombardi had so poignantly noted once, “Let me tell you what winning means… You’re willing to go longer, work harder, [and] give more than anyone else.” That’s exactly what Hurts will now have to do before the ‘25 season kicks off.

For Jalen Hurts, this disappointing set of sacks hit especially hard for another reason. They came right after the new OC Kevin Patullo went out of his way to hype up his QB in a presser. Not a very good impression for Hurts in front of the coaches.

Kevin Patullo’s vote of confidence for Jalen Hurts

The defense is shining bright under Vic Fangio. In the offense, Kevin Patullo has noted that Hurts has been improving rapidly. Hurts has reportedly completed 93% of his passes during the practice sessions. He’s also “pointing out what the defense is doing” during team meetings, which has impressed Patullo greatly.

As Patullo said in a presser that he’s been working with Hurts to get a better understanding of everything. “You know, he’s becoming a more complete player in the pass game. He puts a lot of work into it. The quarterback needs to be tremendous as far as just understanding what the defense is doing, what we’re trying to do, and how to attack them.” The pass game improvement is clear from the 93% completions in training. But as far as understanding the defense goes, Hurts will need to get a better read of his own defense along with the opponent’s. Patullo further added that Hurts takes a lot of pride in “not throwing the ball over,” and understanding the stakes to help move the team forward. But this vote of confidence comes as a stark contrast to Hurts’ performance in the camp.

Two sacks at the training camp can still be worked out. It speaks more about the talent of the DTs rather than the QB himself. But if this persists into the regular season, the Eagles will face the league with a steeper hill to climb. Hurts and HC Nick Sirianni both face the same criticism of riding on the talents of a stacked roster. This season, Jalen Hurts might have his work cut out for him to flip the script on that narrative.