Here’s an important lesson that Jalen Hurts can learn from Nick Foles

Over the course of Jalen Hurts‘ short stint with the Philadelphia Eagles as their starting quarterback, he’s given us both reason to cheer at the top of our lungs and scratch our heads in disbelief as we try and figure out what in the heck he’s doing. Here’s where we all can reach common ground on Hurts though. He has the mindset of a winner, even though his career winning percentage is well below .500 at 6-10.

We entered the 2021-2022 NFL campaign knowing two things about QB1. One, this was his show, and second, the entire Eagles campaign was a season-long audition for the keys to the franchise. Still, even before that, it seemed as though we were robbed of certain things that could have helped in the evaluation process.

In last year’s season finale, Hurts had a shot at delivering a victory in what was unfolding as a slugfest versus the Washington Football Team. When it looked like he might win, he was shut down. We know why. We knew why then.

A win could alter draft positioning in ways that the team’s leadership (and some of the fans and media) didn’t want to see. It would have been nice to see how Hurts responded under the pressure though.

Fast forward to the present, and following the worst performance of his career, a three-interception outing versus an inferior New York Giants squad, there was an opportunity for something else.

Everyone was curious about how he’d respond the next week, but when the next week came, it was Gardner Minshew at the helm of Philly’s offense as Jalen Hurts could only watch, but we haven’t given up on that hope though. In the meantime, until Hurts has healed to the point where he can return to the field, there’s something that he can learn from another team legend to play quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

You guessed it. We’re talking about Nick Foles.

Here’s something Jalen Hurts can take from the Nick Foles school of quarterback play.

Play the quarterback position long enough, and there’s sure to be an issue or two. Donovan McNabb experienced struggle. He was even benched in Baltimore versus the Ravens for Kevin Kolb once. Yes, that was the game where Kolb threw the pick that Ed Reed took 107 yards in the other direction for a touchdown.

That’s beside the point. The point is McNabb bounced back. Carson Wentz experienced a setback. He was benched for Jalen Hurts. Then again, Carson folded under the pressure like a lawn chair, behaved like an infant, took his ball, and ran. Maybe that’s a bad example, so we’ll reference a Nick Foles story.

It was Week 7 of the 2013 NFL season. Foles led the Birds to defeat in a 17-3 rear-end whooping by the Dallas Cowboys. Then, like Jalen Hurts, he was inactive for the next game, a 15-7 loss to the Giants. Questions were asked about how Nick might respond, and boy did he ever.

Week 9 came, and Foles delivered a performance for the ages. He completed 22 of 28 passes for 406 yards versus the then-Oakland Raiders and tossed seven touchdowns in the process. That’s still tied for the most touchdowns in a game ever. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Joe Kapp, Y.A. Tittle, George Blanda, Adrian Burk, and Sid Luckman all threw for seven scores as well.

Here’s the point. Bad games come, but like Nick Foles, Jalen Hurts can have his bounce-back moment. It’s all up to him and how he responds. The loss at MetLife Stadium was, indeed a setback, but like Thomas Wayne once said to a young lad that would eventually become one of the greatest crimefighters ever, we fall so we can pick ourselves up.

We were robbed of seeing how Hurts might respond a year ago in the finale. Something tells us that Jalen Hurts will get the job done in his return. The only questions now are about when that return might occur.