Nobody is going to deny that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had the worst game of his NFL career in the 22-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17. It doesn't mean it was all that bad.
Crazy to say, right? Not for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
When speaking with the media, Sirianni, obviously, acknowledged that the five turnovers that Hurts had cannot happen in games. There were some encouraging signs with the offense, though, that Sirianni was happy to see with Hurts leading them.
"I never want the turnovers, but he did some really good things," Sirianni said via The Athletic's Zach Berman. "I'm always going to look at the win-loss, the turnovers, and look at that and say that, but there were a lot of good things on offense. We were able to move the football against a really good defense. Now, we didn't finish drives for multiple different reasons, and we turned the ball over for multiple different reasons, but there was a lot to be encouraged by that we're continuing to go into the right direction that we need to go [in.] That will be something that we talk about today in our meetings. But I thought he did a good job taking what they gave him. And again, for different reasons, there were some plays that didn't work out, and there were some plays that were explosive."
Improvement is needed with Hurts quickly
Sirianni has had to spend more time in the last few weeks defending Hurts with multiple reports about him and how the team feels about him. That reached an all-time low when he had to actually answer a question about whether Hurts would start in Week 15 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
While it is criminal to start having those thoughts, Hurts is well-deserving of the criticism that has come his way. He has turned the ball over eight times in the last three games. Hurts has had one game out of five since the bye week in which he has completed over 60% of his passes.
It's clear something is off with Hurts, and his confidence is rattled, at least on the field. Off the field, he remains cool, calm, and collected, which is at least a good sign.
What's not a good sign is that he is starting to look too much like the quarterback from 2023 who was forcing passes to try to make a big play. That is not the kind of play this Eagles team needs right now.
Read more: Eagles' first Week 15 injury report doesn't ease fans' minds about top linemen
The team is still supporting Hurts, which is good. Now it's about whether Hurts can gain the public's support again with a solid performance against Las Vegas.