“I Think…”: Jalen Hurts Takes a U-Turn After Calling Out His Teammates

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants in a Week 16 game at Lincoln Financial Field. Despite almost losing a 17-point halftime lead, the Eagles managed to secure a 33-25 victory on Christmas Day. This win marked their 12th consecutive victory over the Giants and ended a three-game losing streak.

With a record of 11-4, the Eagles remain the favored team to win the NFC East. After the game, in a post-game conference, Jalen Hurts appeared to praise his team and their ‘hunger.’ Interestingly, his recent comments were the opposite of what he said after losing the game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Jalen Hurts is happy with his team now!

QB Jalen Hurts appeared in a post-game presser of the Eagles after winning the Week 16 game. Hurts said, “I think we’re hungry, I think we are uh motivated, eager, kind of the same things I’ve been saying, and just in terms of chasing that standard we have for ourselves and demanding the manner that of ourselves.”

Interestingly, these ‘hunger’ and ‘motivated’ words from Hurts came in after he called out his teammates post the Seahawks’ loss, saying that his team wasn’t hungry enough to win, and looked to be lacking in efforts to put their best foot forward. After losing three consecutive games, including a 20-17 defeat to the Hawks, the Eagles were searching for solutions in Week 15.

Following the loss, the Eagles QB expressed to reporters that his team isn’t “committed enough to win games right now.” Despite leading for most of the game, the Eagles had faced a setback when Drew Lock orchestrated a 92-yard drive, culminating in Jason Smith-Njigba’s touchdown reception with 28 seconds left, giving Seattle a 3-point lead.

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Philadelphia’s attempt to at least tie the game was thwarted when Hurts was intercepted by Seahawks safety Julian Love. Nevertheless, the Eagles now marked their win at their home ground by improving their mistakes of previous games.

How did the Eagles win this time?

The Eagles wanted a quick start on Monday, and Britain Covey delivered with a 54-yard punt return, putting them at the Giants’ 13-yard line. This happened after the Giants failed to make progress in their initial three plays. Two plays later the Eagles’ seized a 7-0 lead and maintained that control. Despite two turnovers benefitting the Giants with 15 points, the Eagles controlled the game by emphasizing their running game, which was a challenge in previous matchups.

In the fourth quarter, the running backs carried the ball 13 times for 88 yards, more than the Eagles’ total ground gains of 170 yards. Jalen Hurts performed well in the fourth quarter, completing 5 of 7 passes for 77 yards, including a 32-yard pass to A.J. Brown, setting up the final TD. Despite occasional inefficiencies, the Eagles amassed 161 yards of offense in the fourth quarter and 465 in the entire game.

While they hadn’t scored more than 19 points in their previous three games, this time they secured a 33-25 win over the Giants.

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