Jalen Hurts opens training camp with âpassion to proveâ
Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts had just completed his first practice of the Eagles’ 2023 training camp on Wednesday. But the former Alabama standout was in midseason press-conference form as he spoke about his “passion to prove” and the “tangible benefits of experience” and explained that “if you fail, you want to fail forward” and “goals change, standards don’t.”
Hurts even helped the gathered media members get their stories started.
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“Right now, it’s about setting the identity for what this team will be,” Hurts said. “That’s my main thing. If you go write something about what I said, say that: It’s about setting the identity for this team, finding out what that will be because it’s different from year to year.”
Hurts wants the identity of this year’s Philadelphia team to be “whatever wins, as simple as that.”
The Eagles did a lot of winning in the 2022 campaign – reaching the most victories in one season in franchise history. But the new season, new identity theme of Hurts’ write-this remark was one he’d already touched on during the press conference.
Hurts called the 2023 season “a new journey” for Philadelphia.
“We still have to understand that we come here the first day, we’re trying to set the foundation of what the identity of this team will be,” Hurts said. “That’s the main thing. Anything that was done in the past, it really doesn’t matter. It’s about what we do now, the precedent we set now and the standards we set for ourselves moving forward. …
“Things have to happen for you to move forward, and if you fail, you want to fail forward. We know what our goals are, but it’s a day-by-day process in that. And that’s why times like this, this time of the year is the very foundation for what the team will be.”
The Eagles came up just short of the ultimate NFL goal last season, which ended for Philadelphia with a 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
“As you go through things, goals change, but standards don’t,” Hurts said. “In fact, the only thing that changes with the standard is it rises.”
Hurts became the starting quarterback for the Eagles as a second-round rookie with four games remaining in the 2020 season, when Philadelphia posted a 4-11-1 record.
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In 2021, the Eagles lost a first-round playoff game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-15.
Last season, Hurts finished second in the voting for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award, made second-team All-Pro, was chosen for the Pro Bowl and became the first NFL quarterback with a passer rating of more than 100 to score at least 10 touchdowns.
In Super Bowl LVII, Hurts had 304 passing yards, a touchdown pass, 70 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. No other player in NFL history has reached those four stats in the same game.
“I think there are tangible benefits of experience,” Hurts said. “Experience is the biggest teacher. I think personally that’s a testament of my career as itself from high school to college to where I am now. Just ongoing development, ongoing growth, ongoing understanding of the IQ part of it and more knowledge of the game and what we’re doing, so it all goes hand-in-hand in doing my job.”
In his fourth NFL training camp, Hurts is leading the Eagles toward their season-opener on Sept. 10 against the New England Patriots. Before that, Philadelphia has preseason games against the Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 12, Cleveland Browns on Aug. 17 and Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 24.
“It doesn’t get old,” Hurts said after the first practice. “A great day for us being back out there for the first time. Every time I step on the field, it’s a passion to prove and chase what I want, what we want, so every time we get on the field that’s what we’re doing.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.