It was an innocent comment, but really, it showed everything as to why Jalen Hurts will be the Eagles’ quarterback beyond this season.
And indirectly, it showed why for the second year in a row, Carson Wentz faces an uncertain future.
The Eagles traded Wentz last February to the Indianapolis Colts. The Eagles ended up with a first-round pick and a third-round pick – and made the playoffs behind the play of Hurts.
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They’ll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in the wildcard round of the playoffs.
In other words, the Eagles fleeced the Colts, who are stuck in salary cap purgatory with Wentz.
Anyway, here’s the quote from Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, in reference to how different Hurts is from the last time the Eagles faced the Bucs, back on Oct. 14:
“I think significantly,” Sirianni said. “He has definitely gotten better throughout that time, which doesn’t surprise me at all because Jalen is a student of the game. Jalen wants to get better and craves to get better. He has high football character, and like I have said plenty of times, guys that are tough, guys that have high football character, and guys who love football are going to reach their ceiling.”
Then Sirianni added this: “I think you’re just seeing him grow closer and closer to his ceiling.”
A caveat: Sirianni in no way, shape or form was comparing Hurts with Wentz, nor was he even asked about Wentz. Nor should he have been.
So when Sirianni said Hurts is growing closer to his ceiling, take it in this context: Hurts improved throughout the season, and especially over three straight games down the stretch, to prove that he’s a franchise-caliber quarterback.
Hurts did this in must-win games while dealing with an ankle injury.
During those three games, Hurts completed 66.7% of his passes, threw three touchdown passes against an interception and had a passer rating of 101.3. Hurts ran for only 89 yards, but he scored two more TDs on the ground.
“I think for him, it was important for him to step up,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said about Hurts’ last three games. “When you wear that ‘C’ logo (for captain) on your jersey, I think it adds on a lot more pressure.”
It was no different than what Wentz did in 2019, when the Eagles were in a similar situation, needing to win four straight games in order to make the playoffs.
Wentz was brilliant over those four games. He completed 67.6% of his passes, with seven TDs and no interceptions, and had a passer rating of 100.8.
But those days are gone. Where Hurts is still “getting closer and closer to his ceiling,” Wentz has already hit that ceiling.
It goes well beyond what Wentz did on the field, which wasn’t much when it mattered most – for the second year in a row.
After Wentz’s clunker of a season in 2020, it was widely believed that if anybody could fix Wentz, it was Colts coach Frank Reich. He was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2017 when Wentz was well on his way to being named the NFL’s MVP before tearing his ACL that December.
Well, Wentz did play better this season. Until he didn’t.
All the Colts had to do was win one of their final two games. They lost both, and Wentz was horrible in each. He threw an interception and lost a fumble in the last game, an embarrassing 26-11 loss to the sad-sack Jacksonville Jaguars, who finished 3-14.
Over the last four games, Wentz completed 58.3% of his passes with five TDs and two INTs, and had a rating of 86.1.
In other words, Wentz’s finish was comparable to his 2020 season with the Eagles, when Wentz completed 57.4% of his passes, threw a career-high 15 interceptions and had a rating of 72.8. His rating ranked 35th out of 36 quarterbacks.
No wonder Reich said this to reporters who cover the Colts when asked if Wentz will be the starting quarterback in 2022: “Next year’s roster will be next year’s roster. I don’t want to open it up about one player and then start talking about all of them.”
Compare that to what former Eagles coach Doug Pederson said about Wentz as the 2020 season ended: “I’ve got a ton of confidence in Carson Wentz and always have. Our offseason is going to be geared towards getting things fixed as quarterbacks, and obviously as a team.”
Notice how neither coach said definitively that Wentz will remain the starter.
Last spring, trading Wentz cost the Eagles $34 in dead money on their salary cap, an NFL record. But they’re free of him now.
The Colts, meanwhile, have two choices: Trade or release Wentz and eat $15 million in dead money. Or keep Wentz for a $28.3 million salary cap hit, knowing that he’ll bristle if competition is brought in during the draft.
Oh, wait, the Colts’ first-round pick, at No. 16, is now property of the Eagles.
Hurts, meanwhile, was drama-free. He improved throughout the season, especially after the first meeting with the Bucs, on Oct. 14. Hurts completed 12 of 26 passes for 115 yards with a touchdown and an interception that night in the Eagles’ 28-22 loss.
But everything changed after that. The Eagles committed to the run, and Hurts’ passing improved, and that made the running game even more dangerous. The Eagles went 7-3 over their final 10 games.
“I’ve said it all year. I’ve said it’s coming,” Hurts said. “I’ve said different things to kind of ignite the growth to where we are now.”
There’s still a ceiling to reach, after all.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
