The Philadelphia Eagles plan to ride into 2022 with Jalen Hurts as their starting quarterback.
General manager Howie Roseman praised Hurts' development Wednesday while affirming the QB has done enough to head into the offseason as the starter.
"We talk about Jalen and the growth he had, really, a first-year starter, second-year player, leading this team to the playoffs, tremendously impressed by his work ethic, his leadership," he said. "Last time we talked was during camp, and we said we wanted to see him take the bull by the horn, and he certainly did that."
Hurts improved as the season progressed, proving to be a dynamic dual-threat quarterback as the Eagles turned a 2-5 start to the season into a 9-8 playoff appearance. But the second-year signal-caller struggled in Sunday's playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading to questions outside the building about whether the Eagles could decide to chase an upgrade.
Within the facility, there are no such queries about Hurts' future.
"Jalen knows where he stands with us," coach Nick Sirianni said. "He knows he's our quarterback. How do you know where you stand with a coaching staff? Because you communicate, and you talk over and over and over and over again. So Jalen knows where he stands with us. I thought he did a great job of getting better throughout the year, as we talked about. There's no secrets there. He knows he's our guy."
Hurts has admitted there are areas of his game that he needs to work on -- namely anticipation in the passing game and the deep passing game. Meanwhile, the Eagles will work to buffer the 23-year-old quarterback this offseason.
"We've got to do whatever we can to continue to help him develop," Roseman said. "And how we do that? By surrounding him with really good players."
With three first-round picks, the Eagles have the capital to add those good players to a playoff roster.
"What we're doing right now is we're evaluating our team and continuing to figure out ways to build," Roseman said. "We're not happy about the fact that our season ended in the playoffs. We want to build a team that has home playoff games, gets to play in front of our fan base, a team that gets a bye. Those opportunities, those assets allow us to continue to build, really helps us to add good players to this team. Our job is to look at everything, to evaluate every position, every player."
It is fair to note that Roseman praised Carson Wentz last January, calling him "like fingers on your hands. You can't even imagine they're not here," before subsequently trading the QB to Indy. So, while the situations are different, Roseman could shift gears if a potential upgrade materialized.
