Have the Eagles asked Jalen Hurts to change how he approaches running?

[time2rock]

 

Have the Eagles asked Jalen Hurts to change how he approaches running?

By Reuben Frank, Eagles Insider • Published 4 hours ago

 

If it looks like Jalen Hurts isn’t the same runner as he was the last few years, there’s a very good reason for it.

The Eagles don’t want him to be.

"He needs to protect himself,” Nick Sirianni said. "He took the big hit against New England, and it's always been our intention to make sure he's protecting himself as a runner. We encourage him to slide, and we encourage him to get down, and we encourage him not to take a big hit (and) step out of bounds when you can.”

There’s a lot to balance here.

Hurts is among the most dangerous runners in NFL history. Along with Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, he’s one of only three quarterbacks with back-to-back 750-yard rushing seasons, and his 1,898 yards from 2020 through 2022 are 3^rd-most ever by a QB in his first three seasons (behind only Jackson and Cam Newton). And he didn’t even play most of his rookie year.

But he’s also gotten hurt late in each of his first two seasons as a full-time starter. Hurts missed one game and was still hobbled with an ankle injury when the Eagles went to Tampa for the 2021 wild-card game, and he was just getting over a shoulder injury that cost him two starts when the playoffs rolled around last year.

The Eagles know they need a healthy Hurts late in the season to have a chance to win a championship.

So the message this year has changed. Hurts will use his legs when it’s safe and the Eagles need a big play. But the hope is the games we saw last year where he had at least 15 carries – and there were six of them – won’t happen anymore.

"He's got a great ability to make you miss, but he knows when he's going to make the guy miss and not,” Sirianni said. "And I think he's got a great feel of, ‘Oh, OK, I'm not making him miss, OK, I'll go down in this particular case.’ That's exactly what we want him to do to protect himself as a scrambler, as a runner, while also trying to get the most yards that are coming from that play.

"Every run play that we have in for him or any read play is done with the utmost thinking about him all the time to make sure we keep him safe. If we're thinking about that constantly, we want him thinking about that as well because we know how important it is to have him out on the field every game.

"Do we want all our guys stepping out of bounds? No. We want our other guys most of the time -- if it's not a two-minute drill - to keep the ball in their outside arm and use their stiff arm, play a little bit of pound on the sideline. I don't want Jalen doing that.”

Hurts will always be a weapon on 3^rd- or 4^th-and-1 or at the goal-line. His 29 rushing touchdowns are already 19^th-most in NFL history by a quarterback. Seven more put him in the top 10.

And he’s converted on 47 of 53 plays on 3^rd- and 4^th-and-1 (or goal) since 2021, and that 89 percent conversion trails only Russell Wilson (95 percent) during that span.

But when it comes to fighting for a few extra yards in the open field or putting himself at risk taking on a linebacker or taking off scrambling through traffic when there’s an open receiver available for a short pass, the Eagles want Hurts taking the safe route.

 "For us, not only as a staff, but for Jalen as well, it's just continuing to find that proper balance in terms of him being able to use all of his God-given ability play-in and play-out,” Sirianni said.

Balance is the operative word here. 

Use your legs as a weapon but be smart about it.

"I think it's always a fine line and a balancing act,” offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said. "Obviously, you want to keep your quarterback out of harm’s way. It's a really, really long season. 

"You have to do a great job of keeping him upright. He has to continually use his instincts and use everything that he has at his disposal to be the best player that he is, and his legs are definitely a part of that equation.”

As for Hurts, he shrugged all of this off Wednesday and indicated that his philosophy of when to take off, when to scoot out of bounds and when to slide hasn’t changed.

"I just think that it hasn’t been much of an opportunity to (run),” he said. "Whether it’s scrambles or some of those busted plays out of the pocket, there haven’t really been many designed runs there.”

When asked whether he’s changed his decision-making process at all when it comes to running, Hurts didn’t say a word. 

He just shook his head no.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/have-the-eagles-asked-jalen-hurts-to-change-how-he-approaches-running/539301/

[EaglesAddict]

Good, and it's been noticeable.  He needs to limit the hits he takes and they need to limit the amount of designed runs for him (which haven't been working too well this year anyway).  I've always wanted a QB who can run/scramble when needed...and not a QB whose running is his primary strength and is always looking to do so.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

If hurts wants a long successful career then he needed to change his approach. And he is going down early and he is trying to avoid taking big unnecessary hits. But there’s no denying he also doesn’t look as quick or dangerous as last year. And I’m not so sure that’s deliberate?