What we've learned about Jalen Hurts | Birds Huddle
What we've learned about Jalen Hurts | Birds Huddle originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Video Transcript
Jalen Hurts has won everywhere he's been, but he, you know, we're wondering, can he keep racking up the wins at the elite clip we've seen?
Barrett's gonna answer that.
Plus, running backs don't generally age well, but we explore why Saquon Barkley is poised to defy Father Time.
And Jordan Davis had a breakout season in 2025.
He sits down with our John Clark ahead of what could be an even bigger season for the big man.
With that, we welcome you here to Birds Huddle, presented by Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.
Alongside Barrett Brooks, I'm Amy Fadool.
And it sure seems like Jalen Hurts is kind of making a point to open up a little bit more this year.
You've seen him in some interviews.
He's having some quotes out there, and kind of being maybe a little bit more personable as a quarterback.
Well, he may just be having a good day simply because we don't have the same people we had in the locker room.
You know, it, it might be something to that nature.
Like a certain wide receiver.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm not saying Yeah, yeah.
Yep, yeah.
That might be the case.
But also, you know, I just, Jalen's just not that type of person, you know?
It's not that he's a bad guy, but he's just not a social guy.
So to me, that's good, you know?
That's good for him to be that way.
Yeah, it is good.
It's nice to see this other side of him.
Right.
When asked about some of the criticisms, about Jalen Hurts, Jalen Hurts, told GQ Magazine, quote, "I take ownership because it's my job.
It's my responsibility, my job.
I've always, I always saw it from a perspective of go out there and lead the team.
Find a way to win, most importantly."
And so we're being judged off of that.
And I think accountability and ownership and responsibility, those are all important factors when you play the quarterback position.
You have those qua- have to have those qualities.
You have to be able to own it, which is very, very true.
And that brings us to our three-point stance presented by Toyota.
First up, Jalen Hurts is only focused on winning, and Barrett, he's done that quite often in the NFL.
Only Josh Allen has more wins than Hurts over the last four season, and it's only by one victory.
And of course, Jalen Hurts has that Super Bowl.
Yeah, I mean, he's been to the Super Bowl twice.
Mm-hmm.
Won a Super Bowl.
Yes, you know, you look over in Buffalo, they pretty good, but hey, I'd rather have the two Super Bowls than just be pretty good.
Yep.
You look at the stats, they're very comparable.
Jalen Hurts is just one of those guys that, you know, he just goes about the unconventional way, and that's just him looking, making the main thing the main thing.
And the main thing is him to be not human sometimes, but you know, to be a guy that's focusing on just being a, a football player, just being the best at his position, not being the guy that's gonna go out there and be the engine of this car.
You know, I kinda equate him, you know I like cars a little bit, so I, I equate him to a, you know, a 1996 Impala.
And in that 1996 Impala, you got one of the best engines ever made.
It's a Corvette engine they put in a big body.
And when you have that, it's a, it's an LT1, and he's the LT1 motor.
5.7 liter, 350 horse, 260 horsepower, 350 cubic inches.
You know, he's that guy.
He is the motor that gets this whole car going, and that's a big car, so you gotta pull a lot.
Well, he's pulling a lot with this organization.
He's the face of the franchise, and he doesn't necessarily want to be a guy that's out in front, but he understands it comes with, you know, the territory of being the main guy, and he makes the main thing the main thing.
So I like the fact that he does that.
He has done a lot in his sh- you know, not really short career, but in a career in which he has taken over the reins and really made this organization the gold standard in the NFL, especially in this division.
I mean, he's won at a clip that's, you know, that's crazy.
And when you ask him, you know, w- what it was all about, you know, who he is as a person, he's gonna let you know.
I like the fact that I can go out there and be out with my guys and, and on the field and, you know, command, you know, the game and, and, and dictate the game the way it's supposed to be done.
But when it comes down to it, once I leave there, I'm gonna make sure that I'm gonna go and I'm gonna practice harder than I can practice.
I'm gonna get guys involved a- 'cause I want to win.
Winning is number one to me.
So I, I mean, I can't be mad at that.
He wants to be a winner.
Let him keep doing what he's doing.
Make yourself available for guys on the team.
But anything after that, I'm like, "Eh, blah," you know?
I don't care.
You know, just keep winning, Jalen.
That's all I care about.
Yeah, and that's all he's been doing.
S- speaking of winning, stance number two is concerning Saquon Barkley.
He's gonna be staying ahead of the aging curve.
He's about to play this season at 29 years of age.
Check out this stat from our Reuben Frank.
Only four running backs who are 29 or older have had over 1,300 rushing yards in a season in the last 20 years.
Wow.
Derrick Henry's done it twice.
You can see that, the last two years for him.
Can you see him?
Yep.
Thomas Jones did it twice.
Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner both doing it once.
Can Barkley join this, what is a very elite club?
And this is a good sample size.
20 years, and only four guys have done it at age 29 or older.
I mean, you got two of the best backs there, Derrick Henry and Adrian Peterson- Adrian on that list.
I forgot about Michael Turner.
Michael Turner, right?
I didn't even know that.
That was a really good year.
You know, but I mean, yes.
He, I think he's gonna be even better this year.
Agreed.
I think he's gonna way, have way more than 1,300 yards simply 'cause he had a bad year last year and he had 1,300 yards.
And for us, a bad year.
That, that, that's crazy to think that a bad year for him is 1,300 yards.
Saquon came into this year in great shape.
He's ready to rock and roll.
He works really hard.
You can see he trained really hard for this season.
He's got a heavy responsibility of being the focal point of this offense.
Yes, everybody's talking about Jalen Hurts and the offense has to run through Jalen Hurts.
Yeah, it does.
He's the quarterback.
But we will be a great offense if that young man right there, Saquon Barkley, is going into this season and he is the primary target for this team.
Mm-hmm.
He can, you know, he can dictate, dictate which, you know, way this offense is going.
You gotta have a run game to open up the passing game in this offense, and I believe Saquon Barkley's gonna be fine as long as the big fellas up front stay healthy.
If those guys stay healthy, they're coming off the rock, and he doesn't have to, you know, elude tackles, you know, as soon as he grabs the ball like he was last year, these guys stay healthy enough, I believe they can set the tone, and he can be, you know, wait- he won't be getting hit until, like, the second or, or, or third part of, of the field.
Mm-hmm.
You know, let him get hit by maybe safeties and get hit, instead of getting hit by big defensive linemen.
Get him to that second level.
I'd rather him go against a linebacker than to go- Yeah against a defensive lineman.
Last year it was a lot of times he was getting the h- ball handed off and he had to spin out or do something crazy.
This year will be great because I think they'll take care of him.
This running scheme is just what the doctor ordered for him.
He can set things up from being an eye-back position.
This ga- I mean, he- I think he's gonna have a better year because it's gonna be the focal point of this offense going forward.
Where he goes, this team goes, and this team is gonna go exactly where Manion, running the rock, puts us there.
I love it.
Stance number three, Lane Johnson.
He's emptying the tank this season.
Eagles' right tackle was on WIP today and discussed what he has said is likely gonna be his final season.
He said, quote, "I can be at peace because I am emptying the tank.
At practice, I give it all I got."
Barrett, we know this guy is an elite.
He's a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame person.
He has been tremendous for the Eagles.
Is he a guy that can be back to that All-Pro level?
All-Pro Lane.
Lane Johnson is gonna leave it all on the field.
It will be no coulda, shoulda, or woulda- Yeah in his vocabulary this year.
If it's, it's g- he's gonna spend it all on this field, so I'm, I'm not worried about it, you know?
And let the chips fall where they may.
He will go down as one of the best, if not the best, offensive lineman to ever put on an Eagles uniform.
That's how good Lane has been his entire career, and going to the I mean, he's gonna have a gold jacket.
There's no question he's gonna have a gold jacket.
He's gonna accomplish things, he's accomplished things that I have never seen before.
I mean, they've gone one-on-one in an offense his entire career.
That's kind of crazy when you think about it.
He's been one-on-one against the best in the business, and fought and become the best player out of that position battle.
Lane Johnson is by far one of the best guys I've seen and broken down in my entirety of watching football.
Period.
Period.
It's been so great to watch him go out there and watch him roll.
I mean, even the snap count, how he gets off on the snap count.
He's kind of passed that on to everybody, on the offensive line.
You look at Jordan Mailata does it.
I saw the big rookie do it this year.
Big Bill's getting off the same way.
Mm-hmm.
Just that slight, slight tick before.
When that ball moves, he's moving at the same time.
All the things that he's passed down, all the things he's done in his career, he will definitely have a gold jacket.
So right now, he's gonna go out there, put it all on the line, go win us a Super Bowl, and then he's gonna sit back and hurry up and wait- Yeah for his gold jacket.
For his gold jacket.
Five years?
Forget five years.
They just give it to him when he retires.
Yeah.
Just give it to him.
'Cause we know he's getting it.
Oh, for sure.
Absolutely.
Eagles kick off a season a week from this Sunday.
Woo!
We have you covered.
Woo is right.
Let's go.
Birds No Huddle gets things started at 2:30, followed by Eagles Pre-Game Live.
Then after the Eagles and Commanders square off, and the Eagles win- flip it back over to Eagles Post-Game Live.
Barrett will be there, along with a host of others.
It's always the best day of the year.
Also, could it be the start of another big year for the big man?
Jordan Davis had a career year in 2025 and was rewarded with a big contract.
So what's in store for 2026?
He sat down recently for an episode of the Take Off!
Podcast with our very own John Clark to discuss.
I mean, when you start to get to less than two weeks to go before the regular season, I mean, how much do the s- juices start flowing inside of you?
Definitely a lot of anticipation.
But the veteran in me now says, you know, you have to calm down and keep going.
This is the time where we get back to our process, our schedule.
You know, just kind of scouting ahead, and we have an extra week to prepare for week one, so, you know, you just take it day by day and enjoy the moment.
I like how you say veteran now.
So if you were to go back and tell that Jordan Davis that was coming out of the draft, coming here to Philly, what it's gonna be like, what did, what have you learned from this whole thing?
It's a grind.
It's a grind, it's a process, and each day isn't gonna be the same, but your effort and your attitude has to be the same.
And, you know, it goes by quicker than you think, but it's also day-to-day.
It's a day-to-day process and you have to take it each day.
I think it's pretty cool that you guys, a lot of the young guys on this team, are now going into year three with Vic Fangio.
Yeah.
And we have seen the success in the first two years.
How is this defense different or better going into year three?
It's just the rapport that we have.
You know, getting the chance to be in the playbook.
A lot of our players are kind of, we know on the back of our hand, we know in situations, Coach Vic doesn't have to call the play.
We know which play to go to, and I think that's just really special, and that's just a testament to the guys that's been here long.
You know, I'm one of the longest tenured Eagles on the defense, so you know, seeing that process, going from Gannon to Desai to Patricia and now Vic, you know, all that experience, it accumulates.
And you know, it's a definitely a year-to-year thing that you think about, but at the same time, that rapport is one of the things that kind of keep us gelled together.
I, I, I saw, like, Vic Fangio and the way he talked to you.
And he wanted you to get in better shape, and you did.
And we saw the kind of year you had.
Now Jalen Carter says, like, okay, Vic wanted him at a certain weight when he showed up- for mini camp.
Did he have the same thing for you this year?
Oh yeah, for sure.
Vic will call you in the middle of off-season and be like, "Hey, how's it going?
What you doing?"
More often than not, he calls around workout time, so I gotta call him back.
But you know, it's just funny that he, you know, he takes pride in that.
That's something that Sirianni takes pride in.
You know, he's been around long enough to see the type of effect that it has on the players and, you know, we just gotta, gotta abide by it.
And I think that makes us truly better players as well.
So when Jalen Carter showed up and he had made the weight Vic wanted, he said they had a big hug, they dapped it up.
Like, did you have a moment like that?
Oh yeah, for sure.
You know, when you at your weight, Vic could actually put his hands around you when you hug.
So you know, it's a little, incentive to get, down to your weight.
So, but you know, it's just one of those things that you just keep in the back of your mind.
Also, just being a pro.
Yeah.
And, and we saw what kind of year you had.
Um- Jalen Carter now is getting into that kind of shape and seeing, like, you're the great example for him.
How much have you helped him, and have you helped each other- Definitely kind of stay at that, in shape and, and the weight you're at?
This is one of the things that we have as a D lineman.
Not even just us two, but everybody.
With Mo, he doesn't really have to worry.
His problem is just working up to his weight.
And, you know, a couple of other players, but, you know, it all keeps us accountable, and I think that's one of the things that, that we love about our D linemen, is how accountable we are.
Coach Clint really doesn't have to say a lot to us because we already said it to ourselves.
And, you know, we go with each other.
When we're out on the field, it's all of us, it's us against them.
We're on the field.
Coach Clint can only do so much from the sideline, so, you know, we know we have each other's backs when we go out there.
It's about us, and we be fought.
Love it.
I do love it.
Good s- guys focused for 2026.
Let's check out the dominance from Jordan Davis last year.
72 tackles.
9 of those 72 for loss.
Four and a half sacks, six quarterback hits, six pass deflections.
That led to a three-year, $78 million contract extension- I don't know this past off-season.
Yeah.
I don't know is right.
Barrett, so how impressed were you by the leap?
Here's a guy that you heard him talking to John.
He was focused, but he had to, you know, kind of back up, walk the walk after talking the talk, get his body right, get his mind right, play all the downs.
How fo- how impressed are you that he was able to do all that, and then you saw the production from 2024 to 2025?
He's just a totally different player now.
Totally different player.
When he's out there now, he used to just be a first and second down player, meaning he'd only play in run downs.
Now he's an every down player.
He could play first or second down, go out there, stop the run, but he also now capable of being a great pass rusher.
So not only he has the size to get up the field and rush the passer, and then he's got the, you know, the, the, the, the quickness to get off the ball like that.
And that's the biggest thing.
He lost the weight, became more quicker.
He wasn't tired half the time.
He'd stay out there and play all the plays that he, that he couldn't play before.
I remember he used to average, like, maybe 30, 40, plays, you know.
And now The, well, 30, the 40% of the plays.
Now he can play all the plays.
It's gonna be just like, you know, what, the, the progression that you saw with, with him and his body.
You saw the progression and how he was able to go out there.
I mean, he saved us.
He actually won that Rams game for us.
Yes.
He won it for us.
That's a big one.
Yeah, so, I mean, it For him to take that progression, and now guys see, you go out there, you ready, you get the money.
You get the money.
That's the biggest thing.
He got the money, he got the bread.
Now he's gotta go show everybody, "Yeah, I deserve this.
I earned this.
So watch what I do now since I have this."
Well, he's not only become so much better on the field, but off of it.
He's really taken on that role, and I know he's talked about a lot of guys in that locker room who have influenced him, but he's become a big time leader for the team.
How surprised are you by that aspect?
Well, you know, he is now what, would you would call one of the, the, the, the, the pillars in every locker room now.
You know, they had pillars.
Lane, you know, was a pillar.
Kelsey, BG, those are pillars that people used to go to when they need to figure out- Fletcher what was going on.
And Fletcher, yeah.
What was going on in the locker room?
What's going on?
What's the pulse of the team?
Now he has become that guy.
He is now a pillar.
They see the pulse of the team through him and, you know, you can see the maturity level in him.
His body mature, his mind mature.
Even his conversation when he's out, you know, talking to media.
It's all matured.
So yes, he is taking that next step into being one of the most dominant, you know, players in the middle of that defense, number one.
But number two, he's in the locker room and being that guy they need in the locker room, too.
Mm-hmm.
They need that from him
