Eagles' Nick Sirianni responds to Jalen Hurts 'straitjacket' comment

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts raised some eyebrows when he curiously said following his club's 55-23 thrashing of the Washington Commanders in this past Sunday's NFC Championship Game that head coach Nick Sirianni "let me out of my straitjacket a little bit." 

Sirianni spoke with reporters on Tuesday and responded to Hurts' comment. 

"I think he was having fun after the game," Sirianni explained, as shared by Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "We’ve been winning a couple of different ways this year and I think he was just having fun after the game. But I know this, and he has said this plenty of times, he doesn’t care how we win and I don’t care how we win as long as we win. We do everything we can to be able to win." 

It's hardly a secret that running back Saquon Barkley has served as the most valuable player of Philadelphia's offense throughout the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hurts failed to reach 135 passing yards in the Eagles' first two postseason wins before he completed 20-of-28 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown against Washington. The 26-year-old also notched three scores on the ground in the blowout victory that propelled the Eagles to a Super Bowl LIX matchup versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

"We talked a lot about how there have been different circumstances of how games have went and where we’ve been at late in games, but we found a way to win and rattle off 15 out of 16, so I thought [Hurts] was having fun with that after the game," Sirianni added. "I just loved how he went out and executed and prepared for this game. I always admire the heck out of how hard he works regardless of the situation and how he’s the same guy every day." 

Hurts and Sirianni are reportedly now "in a better place" regarding their relationship than where they allegedly were roughly 12 months ago. They'll need to stay on the same page through the second Sunday of February to stop the Chiefs from becoming the first team in NFL history to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles as 1.5-point underdogs in that matchup. That same outlet had Hurts third among the betting favorites at +350 odds to claim the Super Bowl MVP Award.