All the talk this season about the Philadelphia Eagles has been about the ineffectiveness of their offense and how much they are regressing in the regular season.
The Eagles are coming off a 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday, in which the offense posted one of its worst performances of the season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts had two ill-timed turnovers in the second half, and the offense only gained 317 yards total.
One of the biggest complaints about the Eagles' offense has been the lack of quarterback-designed runs for Hurts that have helped the unit over the last few years. Everyone was pinning that on Patullo and his predictable play calls. It turns out that it was Hurts who had put a stop to the QB runs.
Hurts stepped up and said no more to those QB runs
Over the weekend, two Eagles beat reporters shared the same commentary that Hurts had asked the team before the season to do fewer run-designed plays for him. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane had mentioned this on his "Uncovering the Birds" podcast.
"Yeah, well, I mean, I've been beating his drum all year. I was beating it before the season because I had heard that Hurts didn't want to run as much and I heard that the Eagles were on board with that because we saw him get hurt in that Washington game, the concussion, two of the last four years he got hurt late in the year on runs."
In his latest podcast, @Jeff_McLane reports that he heard in the offseason that Jalen Hurts did not want to run as much this season because of the two injuries he suffered running the football.
— Patrick (@PhillyPMC) November 30, 2025
While understandable, it has limited the effectiveness of the run game and the… https://t.co/Z3PpWeKrwb pic.twitter.com/McUynk9XKj
Philly Voice Eagles reporter Jimmy Kempski added that same exact note in his postgame Eagles-Bears article.
"The Eagles had one of the best rushing attacks in league history last season. That's gone. Saquon Barkley simply isn't the same runner he was a year ago, and he's not being helped by Hurts, who I'm told does not love having a lot of designed QB runs in the gameplan."
The stats show that Hurts is not nearly where he was with his rushing stats. This season, he only has 84 carries for 329 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry.
This is in no way an attempt to say the Eagles fan base owes Patullo an apology, but it's clear the offensive coordinator is being limited in what he can call. The Eagles are better when Hurts can run the ball more, so when the threat of him taking off on a play designed for him isn't there, it makes it easier for Barkley to get hit behind the line of scrimmage.
Fans can understand Hurts' point of view, though, on trying to protect his body late in the season. It's now crunch time, and something has to give, so for someone who is being characterized as wanting to do whatever it takes to win, this isn't exactly showing that.
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With the Eagles desperate to get out of their funk in the two-game losing streak, does Hurts let Patullo give him more running plays to help the offense?