Eagles' Jalen Hurts Doesn't Hear The Noise

Hurts often refers back to his "unprecedented" benching at Alabama for true freshman Tua Tagovailoa during the National Championship Game against Georgia.

By any measure, it was unfair. Hurts was coming off a freshman campaign with the Crimson Tide which he was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year and led Alabama to the national title game, before losing to Clemson 35-31. The sequel was another run at the title only to be unceremoniously benched at halftime while trailing the Bulldogs 13-0.

Even Saban wanted a different style of QB, which was only bolstered by Tagovailoa rallying Alabama to a 26-23 victory.

The chip on Hurts' shoulder from that experience might as well be as heavy as any 500-pound deadlift from the Texas native's powerlifting days.

The noise ramped up around Hurts recently after an uncharacteristic five-turnover performance against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14 extended a rare Eagles' losing streak to three.

A manufactured Tanner McKee narrative forced head coach Nick Sirianni to chime in with a "ridiculous" tag on the idea of benching Hurts and the QB halted halted the silliness with an efficient performance against the hapless Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday by completing 12 of 15 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another 39 yards on the ground.

Eagles defensive leader Nakobe Dean mentioned that if had heard the criticism surrounding Hurts (and he did), that he would bet that some of it seeped through to Hurts.

“He’d be a broke man if he made that bet,” Hurts claimed.

There's been ample evidence over the years that Hurts does understand at least some of the barbs that have come his way, and handling them is just part of the job description.

“I think that playing quarterback in the NFL, you're going to get a lot of attention,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Positive, negative, all attention. When that happens — we talk about this a lot as a team — any little thing [that] distracts you, what can distract you, you need to block out. I think that why Jalen can handle it so well is because he’s so locked in and focused and not distracted by things to be able to lock in onto what he needs to do to get himself ready to play.”

Part of Hurts' process is to play the stoic warrior, unaffected by the storm around him.

"You play in September, October, important games. You’re kind of finding yourself. It’s a new team. You find your groove," he said. "But the real things are found in December, January and February. And so, I think just being built off perseverance, being built off learning from all of my experiences, and learning from everything."

Christmas season is when things ramp up and Hurts has typically thrived in big moments.

“You work really hard to show up when your team needs you the most," Hurts said. "All of the perceived pressure, whatever that is, just really preparing for a moment. Preparing for an opportunity and knowing that the resilience, determination and perseverance can bring it home for the group."

That pressure Hurts spoke about is “perception by those who are watching.”

For Hurts?

“I’m not watching, I’m living. … doing.”