Jalen Hurts had a playoff debut he'd like to forget, having one of his worst performances of the season in the Philadelphia Eagles' 31-15 wild card playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hurts threw two interceptions in the loss, completing 23 of 43 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles, but most of those completions and yards occurred in garbage time with the game out of hand.
Hurts was inaccurate throughout the game, making some questionable decisions with his arm and stepping into his throws. The result was the Eagles trailing, 31-0, after three quarters and raising questions whether Hurts should have to earn the starting job next year.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni shut down those talks -- for now.
"He didn't play his best game, as we all know, but you don't take the body of work that he had over 17 games and you don't put everything on this game," Sirianni said after the loss. "We're all judged on the last game that we play, and I understand that. I felt like Jalen grew throughout the year and he got better as a passer. He got better in reading the defenses, getting the ball to the right places, and developing the ability to extend plays not only with his feet, but getting the ball downfield.
"I feel really good with what he have in place right here at the quarterback position. I thought he had a great year and he came a long way. That's what I expect from Jalen from the type of football player he is, the character he has, the toughness he has. I can't say enough good things about Jalen the player and person.
"I feel good about him. I'm really pleased with how he came along this year and the leader he is on this football team."
Hurts improved as the season went on -- specifically over the last three regular season games he played. He completed a season-high 66.7% of his passes for 709 yards with three touchdowns to just one interception for a 101.3 passer rating in leading Philadelphia to the playoffs. He completed 61.3% of his passes for 3,144 yards with 16 touchdowns to nine interceptions for an 87.2 rating on the year, and he's just the second quarterback in Eagles history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 750 yards in a season -- and the eighth to reach those numbers in NFL history.
The Eagles have three first-round picks in 2022, so there will be some questions surrounding Hurts' future. But
