Update expands on bombshell report about alleged Eagles, Jalen Hurts drama

Shortly after the Philadelphia Eagles suffered a wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers this past January, a bombshell report claimed that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had "been the source of much internal frustration" among teammates and others within the organization throughout the season. 

For a lengthy piece published on Wednesday, Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN offered more information regarding all that went wrong for the 2025 Eagles. 

Jalen Hurts "rubbed people the wrong way" before, after Super Bowl win?

"There was a level of consternation in pockets of the '25 team dating to the summer," McManus and Fowler shared about the Eagles coming off their Super Bowl LIX victory. "...Beneath the public excitement surrounding the team was an uneasy undercurrent for some internally. A team source at that time described the state of affairs as a 'disaster' and indicated Hurts was part of the issue, noting that whatever personality traits had rubbed people the wrong way before had grown since the championship win."

Hurts signed a five-year contract extension reportedly worth up to $255M with $179.3M guaranteed in the spring of 2023, but multiple reports surfaced in the summer of 2024 claiming that the relationship between the signal-caller and head coach Nick Sirianni had become at least somewhat "fractured." Meanwhile, supposed issues between Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown could lead to the Eagles trading Brown at some point after June 1 of this year. 

Is Jalen Hurts more of a problem than a solution for the Eagles?

In January, former Eagles defensive end Chris Long suggested that Hurts was at least somewhat to blame for the struggles the Philadelphia offense endured throughout the 2025 season. McManus and Fowler touched upon that topic, and they said that sources claimed that Hurts had "a hand in the offense becoming calcified" under former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. 

The Eagles parted ways with Patullo following the loss to the Niners. 

"He has pushed back on changes that would diversify the scheme, sources said, including when it comes to him going under center more," McManus and Fowler said about Hurts. "He has shown a reluctance to let it rip at times, particularly against zone coverage. He diverts from the game plan and changes playcalls to what some feel is an excessive degree. His strong preferences, coupled with the coaches' efforts to play to his strengths, which include his deep ball accuracy and throws to the perimeter, limits the breadth to which the offense can expand -- or at least that's the way it has gone in the past."

The Eagles have since replaced Patullo with former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion. According to McManus and Fowler, a team source revealed that Hurts is now "as open as he's ever been" to changes while working with his sixth offensive playcaller since he was drafted by the Eagles in 2020. 

"[Mannion] is expected to lead the most dramatic overhaul of the offensive system since Sirianni became head coach in 2021," McManus and Fowler added about the Eagles. Whether or not that will result in Hurts and Sirianni continuing their working relationship beyond the 2026 season shall be seen.