Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Focus on Hurts

Posted September 11th, 2026 | No Comments »

Let’s talk about Jalen Hurts as we head into Sunday’s season opener. He is entering his sixth season as the Eagles starting QB. He’s got a pair of Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi on his resume. He has led the team to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons. Hurts has his share of things to work on, but he is a proven winner.

Hurts is looking to show people he can play well in the Eagles new offensive scheme so this will be an interesting season. He’s not resting on his laurels. He heard a lot of doubts over the past year and is very driven to prove his critics wrong. Some question him, but others think he’ll do well in the new offense.

I hope people are patient with Hurts. Think about what we saw in the first two games of the year. Matt Stafford and Drake Maye, who finished first and second in the MVP voting last year, both struggled and lost their season openers. They combined to throw 1 TD and 4 INTs. Their teams combined to score a total of 17 points. To be brutally frank, Stafford and Maye stunk.

We have to wait until Sunday to see Hurts in action. If you need a fix before then, the team put out a 20-minute video focused on the offense at Training Camp.

There is some good stuff in that video. You can see Hurts working with Dontayvion Wicks and Makai Lemon. He’s got a good relationship with DeVonta Smith and is working on that angle with the new guys.

One advantage that Hurts will have is that I expect the Eagles to lean heavily into the run game. They will want to feed the ball to Saquon Barkley, who has posted big numbers against Washington over the past two years. Hurts and the receivers will need to do their part, but won’t be the focus of the offense. The great thing about Hurts is that he doesn’t care about stats. He’s comfortable throwing 15 passes or 30. He just wants to win. Hurts will do whatever that takes, especially after all the negative comments he had to hear in the offseason. Style points are nice, but coming away with the W is the real key.

It is probably good that Hurts and the coaches got to see the first two games of the season. There are always lessons to be learned from watching other teams. Seeing the Rams and Patriots struggle will keep Hurts focused and from being overconfident.

Sirianni and Hurts are 5-0 in openers so they obviously do a good job of being prepared in those games and handlings things well.

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The Rams have a loaded roster and are still a SB favorite, but the opening game showed how silly some of the hype has been. As good as they are, that roster does have some holes and some issues.

Dan Orlovsky had some interesting comments about the Rams defense.

They struggled in the opener but also going back to last year. They have given up 27 or more points in 7 of the last 10 games. Not good for all the talent they had last season and this year. That could prove to be a legit concern going forward. By comparison, the Eagles gave up 27 or more points just once in all of 2025 (the embarrassing loss to the Giants).

Maybe the Rams will play much better next time out and make this a non-issue. Or maybe not. This is definitely something to watch.

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For anyone who needs a refresher on the Eagles offseason, Jimmy Bama has you covered.

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