On Sunday, Jalen Hurts will try to beat the coach whose decision four years ago set in motion the former Alabama quarterback’s football future.
With four games left in the 2020 NFL season, Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson benched quarterback Carson Wentz and inserted Hurts into the starting lineup.
The second selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, Wentz was in his fifth season as Philadelphia’s starting QB and already had signed his second contract with the team, which included $107 million in guaranteed money, the largest in league history at that point.
Hurts had joined the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft – a pick reviled by Philadelphia fans and media, who didn’t see the point in using a pick of that value on a position of so little need for the team.
For the first 11 games of the Eagles’ 2020 season, Hurts had been a gadget player. He had thrown three passes, run 12 times and even caught a pass.
But Pederson put the rookie on the field as the quarterback in the second half of a 30-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 6, which dropped Philadelphia to 3-8-1. The next Sunday, Hurts started, and he stayed there the rest of the season.
After the season, Pederson was fired, even though he had guided the Eagles to a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII to cap the 2017 NFL season.
Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, and new coach Nick Sirianni stuck with Hurts as Philadelphia’s quarterback. The decision has been rewarded with a 38-16 record in regular-season games started by Hurts, three trips to the playoffs and a spot in Super Bowl LVII.
After a year out of football, Pederson returned to the NFL as the coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. At 3:05 p.m. CST Sunday, Hurts and the Eagles will square off against Pederson’s Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“He was a bright mind,” Hurts said of his former coach. “When I came into the league, I realized that everybody had a different way of seeing the game. His way of seeing the game was unique. Yet he could always spit it to you and dumb it down. I think how he presents his scheme, his strategy, I think that’s something that’s really good. You don’t want to make it harder than what it is. I think that was his approach with it.
“Also, (senior offensive consultant) Marty (Mornhinweg) and (assistant head coach/running-back coach) Duce (Staley) had a huge impact on me my rookie year, as well as (offensive-line) Coach (Jeff) Stout(land), who’s still here today. Those guys played a big role in that as well.”
Pederson has the Jaguars at 2-6. One of those losses came against Hurts and the Eagles. Pederson’s first Jacksonville team also won only two of its first eight games, but still made the playoffs. Last season, the Jaguars started 6-2, but missed the postseason.
The Eagles come in at 5-2. Since coming out of its bye, Philadelphia is 3-0, increasing its points output in each week.
“It’s a constant navigation from everyone,” Hurts said. “It’s a constant navigation from everyone. Everyone has a voice in that. The No. 1 goal — I’ve told you my goals, and it doesn’t really matter how it looks. It doesn’t matter how it gets done. It’s a matter of playing an efficient ball and going out there and winning. We’ve been able to do that over the course of the tenure here in a number of different ways.
“Navigating what it’s supposed to look like for this team this year, that’s always a challenge. It’s something that’s going to be presented naturally, but you seem to find it at some point throughout the year, regardless of who the coach is, regardless of who’s calling it in and who’s out there. The most important thing is finding that at the right time, and we just want to continue to progress.”