The veteran didn't mean any disrespect to Hurts.
When Jeffery Simmons made the comments that he did about Jalen Hurts, saying that he had to make the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl champion make quarterback plays, they were taken in a much different context than most should have viewed them.
Whenever things get said about the Philadelphia quarterback, they’re often taken in the wrong light.
Hurts gets a lot of backlash for whatever reason, despite winning many games and doing so in nearly walk-off fashion on Sunday, throwing a touchdown with about 10 seconds left in the game to beat the Titans.
However, that is how it is, and he just has to keep taking it on the chin.
When speaking to reporters about his comments, Simmons had a lot to say, and his comments should be viewed in light of what he actually meant.
He wasn’t taking a shot at Hurts but instead understands that when Hurts is using his legs, this Eagles offense is almost unstoppable.
“I’m frustrated. We’re losing. We’re 0-2. So I mean, it is what it is. We’re 1-2. Or we, we owe in 2. I mean, I’m frustrated as hell right now. That was not a shot at Jalen that he can’t throw the ball down the field. We saw he could throw the ball down the field. He’s a Super Bowl MVP. That wasn’t my shot at Jalen.
“The thing is, if we could keep him in a pocket and eliminate him from scrambling and making him go sideways, like, we could be successful, especially getting him to third down, because we saw on second downs what that was like. Jalen was trying to find something downfield, he takes off running.
“You see that all over the tape. And that was my point of making Jalen Hurts stay in the pocket and just be a quarterback. It wasn’t, oh, he can’t be a quarterback in the pocket. But when it really mattered, we weren’t our best today, and that was at the 2-minute drive most of all,” he said, H/T A to Z Sports.
I understand that Eagles fans want to stick up for the quarterback, but I also think it’s important that we recognize that things got taken out of context.
Hurts wasn’t even really able to beat the Titans with his legs yesterday, finishing with just 16 yards on five carries. Even with Saquon Barkley going down after four attempts, the Eagles didn’t rely on Hurts to make plays with his legs. Instead, he threw the football at a high level, throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns despite the two interceptions.
