Eagles coach Nick Sirianni dismisses criticism of Jalen Hurts as just a ‘game manager’
Written by CBS SPORTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on July 15, 2025
Jalen Hurts will soon be sporting a ring as a 2025 Super Bowl champion, with a game MVP trophy on his mantle, but that hasn’t diminished the criticism from some who argue the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is an elaborate game manager and the beneficiary of Saquon Barkley’s brilliance.
Hurts’ coach, Nick Sirianni, has a simple response to that line of thinking, telling NBC Sports Philadelphia, “That’s bullsh–.”
Hurts is 46-20 as a starter, with a winning record in each of the four seasons where he was the starting QB. Despite being under center for this past season’s Super Bowl champions, critics zeroed in on his regular season stat line — just 2,903 passing yards, 18 touchdowns through the air and a tush push-aided 14 rushing touchdowns in the championship season — as proof that he is not among the elite of the elite when it comes to NFL quarterbacks.
Last season was a statistical step back for Hurts, who only attempted 361 regular season passes compared to 538 and 460 in the previous two campaigns.
These things happen when you’re handing the ball off to Barkley, who broke the 2,000-yard mark in 2024-25. For Sirianni, Hurts’ success comes from simply doing whatever needs to be done to pick up wins, something Hurts has undoubtedly been successful doing.
“Anytime, I hear that, it’s cool, it’s like a nice debate thing that people like to have,” Sirianni said. “And I get it, there’s a lot of hours that TV shows and radio stations have to fill to be able to fill that debate. I understand that, but we’re talking about the ultimate team game there is, and he does whatever he needs to do to win each and every game.”
In the Eagles drubbing of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, Hurts threw for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while completing 17 of 22 passes.
Hurts was in full control of the offense on the biggest night of his career, regardless of the tools he had surrounding him.
“One of the reasons I love football so much is that it takes everybody to accomplish your goals,” Sirianni said. “Listen, you name great quarterbacks, you can go ahead and start naming great quarterbacks. I’ll tell you their great receivers and their great defense.
“You know? Whether it’s Brady with (Rob) Gronkowski or Brady’s defenses, Mahomes with (Travis) Kelce, Steve Young with Jerry Rice. The list goes on and on and on.”
Ultimately, Sirianni reverted back to his initial, simple thought on the “game manager” criticism.
“It’s good debate, I guess,” Sirianni said. “I wouldn’t even say it’s a good debate, but it’s a debate that people are able to have. But yeah. I guess my first thing, my first initial thing was, this is bulls—.”
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