Eagles have no plans to change the way Jalen Hurts plays

It sounds like the Philadelphia Eagles won't be changing quarterback Jalen Hurts now that they've paid him. 

"We didn't pay him more to do less, I'll say that," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters during a Thursday predraft news conference, according to Nick Tricome of the Philly Voice. "Will we still think about how to protect him? Yeah, because that's our job to protect our quarterback."

"But Jalen does a lot of things really well and we want to utilize the skills that he has so he can continue to play at a high level. To me, we'll continue to go about our business the same way we went about our business. We'll always think about protecting him first. But we didn't pay him more to do less." 

Hurts, who potentially could've been replaced atop the Philadelphia depth chart by Deshaun Watson last offseason, was a revelation for Sirianni and company this past campaign while helping to guide the club to a Super Bowl berth. Per ESPN stats, he finished the 2022 regular season ranked fourth among qualified passers with a 66.4 adjusted QBR. He was also fourth among quarterbacks with 760 rushing yards. While Hurts tossed 22 touchdown passes and rushed for 13 scores, ESPN's Tim McManus notes that Hurts missed a pair of December games due to a right shoulder sprain that impacted him throughout the postseason tournament. 

This past Monday, news broke that Hurts and the Eagles had agreed to a five-year extension reportedly worth up to $255M with $179.3M guaranteed. Hurts earned that deal at a time when some teams are said to be "hesitant" to make a move for Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson while he's on the non-exclusive franchise tag, due to his injury history linked with his scrambling ways. 

"Nobody knows what Jalen Hurts' ceiling is," Sirianni added during his comments. "Why? Because he loves football, he's tough, he has high football IQ, and he's competitive. The guys that have those things tend to reach their ceiling, so he's going to continue to rise." 

The 24-year-old will have to remain healthy on a long-term basis to even flirt with reaching that high ceiling beginning this coming fall.