Nick Sirianni opened his team meeting on Tuesday with a message about the importance of the team sticking together and staying aligned, according to Jalen Hurts.
The Eagles head coach’s words compelled Hurts to jot down a phrase in his notebook, one that resonated with his own philosophy on how he seeks to build relationships with his teammates.
“100% alignment and zero entitlement,” Hurts recalled on Wednesday.
Hurts is bringing that mantra to life beyond the pages of his notebook. The sixth-year starting quarterback explained he has emphasized that approach ahead of camp with his teammates, a new-look group that is in the process of implementing a fresh offensive scheme under Sean Mannion.
A new-look group that, as of two months ago, no longer includes A.J. Brown, a former key piece of the Eagles’ passing attack.
In Hurts’ opening statement before taking questions at his news conference after the first practice of training camp, he outlined his own message of togetherness to his teammates, one that closely aligned with Sirianni’s.
“I’d say one of my main points coming in, especially talking to my teammates and getting a sense of where we are throughout the summer and where we’re going is just the importance of discipline and unity,” Hurts said. “And I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to carry and protect the intimacy of this team and what we do because it takes all of us, and we know that there are challenges that come throughout a year.”
Last year’s challenges, particularly on offense, are well-documented. The offense, which finished 23rd in the league in passing yards and 18th in rushing yards, never quite found its identity. Brown went public with his frustrations about the offense and his utilization within it, both in public comments and via social media, and was traded to the New England Patriots six months after the season ended.
New challenges await Hurts, who is tasked with adjusting to yet another offensive play-caller and a new scheme. He has plenty of new faces among his receiving corps, too, in Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks and Hollywood Brown.
But Hurts isn’t just preaching the importance of togetherness as he helps onboard his new teammates ahead of the new season. He’s living it, too, by spending time away from the facility with members of the offense this summer. Among the players he practiced with this offseason was Lemon, the Eagles’ first-rounder out of USC.
“I see his heart and I see his hunger,” Hurts said of the rookie receiver.
Hurts noted that he was playing in the NFL when Lemon was in high school back in 2022. While Hurts is in a self-described “vet role” as he answers Lemon’s questions, he acknowledged that he is also learning the new offense alongside the rookie.
“We’re both learning something new, onboarding something new, and we want to be able to own it and say it’s ours and we’re growing in that,” Hurts said. “So we’re growing together.”
Hurts noted the importance of kickstarting that growth in the summer with his receivers, as those offseason practice sessions are a “reflection of what comes in the season.”
“I think it was really good to have everybody all in on it, going into this offseason, and have everybody expressing and showing that hunger to build and learn each other’s personalities a bit, so we can go out there and thrive on the field,” Hurts said. “So I was definitely excited about that, and I think it’ll pay forward. The work will show.”
Hurts and the rest of the offense had the opportunity to show the fruits of their offseason work on the first day of training camp. While the offense may experience some growing pains in a new scheme, Nick Sirianni said that the “standard remains the standard” as far as his evaluation of his players, Hurts included.
The offense displayed some of those new wrinkles on Day 1, including the increased frequency of Hurts lining up under center, the emphasis on the play-action passing game, and the utilization of pre-snap motion. Hurts, according to Saquon Barkley, has embraced all of the intricacies of the offense.
“Jalen is willing and able to do whatever we ask him to do,” Barkley said. “And he has that competitive mindset of just wanting to be great and doing whatever it takes to win. But also always trying to find ways to improve his game. And he’s doing that. It’s Day 1 and we’ve only had OTAs and we’ll all just keep getting better and better.”
While the scheme may change, Hurts’ approach to training camp remains the same. He said that every summer, he strives to get on the same page with his offensive coordinator and his teammates.
“I’m always seeking alignment, and I think with different pieces that come and go, it can make that challenging or it can make it easier,” Hurts said.
Once alignment is achieved, Hurts will aim to make the most of the tools at his disposal, he explained.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to go out there and win,” Hurts said. “So we’ve got to prepare ourselves to be able to do that.”
