How Eagles' Jalen Hurts plans to respond to calls for his benching

On Wednesday, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said he thought it was "ridiculous" that some people were calling for him to bench quarterback Jalen Hurts following Hurts' nightmare outing in Philadelphia's 22-19 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that dropped the Eagles to 8-5 on Dec. 8. 

Later in the day, Hurts suggested he's confident he will bounce back in a big way when the Eagles host the struggling Las Vegas Raiders (2-11) this coming Sunday. 

Outside criticism is "nothing new" for Jalen Hurts

"Success or greatness, those things aren't linear. You have your ups, you have your downs, but it's about how you respond to it," Hurts explained, per the Eagles' website. "And I think about that. It's nothing new that I haven't faced before. It's a matter of responding to it. And I got a lot of confidence how we will respond. I got a lot of confidence how it will go."

Hurts threw four interceptions and lost a fumble against the Chargers. Two of those turnovers happened on one play, but wide receiver A.J. Brown later accepted blame for the interception that occurred after a Hurts pass deflected off Brown's hands. 

The Eagles have lost three straight contests, but it was nevertheless always silly to think Sirianni would sit the reigning Super Bowl Most Valuable Player with four regular-season games remaining on Philadelphia's schedule. For starters, the first-place Eagles still sit above the 6-6-1 Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East standings. Additionally, backups Tanner McKee and Sam Howell are largely unproven commodities.

Jalen Hurts expects "good things" from Eagles down the road

"When you put forth the work, you put forth the effort, good things happen when you need them to happen," Hurts added. "That's my mentality. That's how I've gotten to where I am today. That's how I've been able to overcome some of the high mountains that have been in the way. And I don't look at this time or this opportunity in front of us as anything different. You're always going to be tested. You're always going to have something that you have to overcome. And this is something that, as a team, we've got in front of us that we have to attack with full force."

Picking up a win against the lowly Raiders would do everybody associated with the Eagles some good coming off the three-game skid. As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Philadelphia as an 11.5-point favorite for that matchup.