What still bothers Jalen Hurts about OT loss to Chargers

A couple days after one of the worst performances of his NFL career, one thing stood out to Jalen Hurts.

One thing was clearly still bothering him.

“The problem about the game is as ugly as it was throughout, I had an opportunity to win it at the end,” Hurts said at his Wednesday press conference back in Philly. “And so that’s something I take a lot of pride in and I didn’t come up for my team.”

Throughout his career, Hurts has shown the clutch gene, but he and the Eagles’ offense came up short in overtime in Los Angeles.

The Eagles lost to the Chargers 22-19 on Monday Night Football. In OT, after the Eagles’ defense held the Chargers to a 54-yard field goal, Hurts and the offense got the ball at their own 31-yard line and began to drive the field. They got it all the way to the Chargers’ 17-yard line when Hurts tried to layer a throw to Jahan Dotson that got picked off. Game over.

That was Hurts’ fourth interception and fifth turnover of the game. He also had a passer rating of 31.2 and the offense managed to score just one touchdown.

So how, after a game like that, does Hurts keep his confidence high?

“Wake up the next day, go back to work,” Hurts said.

Of course, it hasn’t been just one bad game for Hurts. In the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, Hurts has completed just 59.3% of his passes with 3 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a passer rating of 69.9.

Hurts on Wednesday was asked if quarterbacks can go into a slump.

“That’s a part of the game,” Hurts said. “Success or greatness, those things aren’t linear. You have your ups, you have your downs. But it’s about how you respond to it. I think about that. It’s nothing new that I haven’t faced before. It’s a matter of responding to it. I have a lot of confidence in how we’ll respond. I have a lot of confidence in how it will go.”

While Hurts has struggled recently, he has a body of work that should have built up some equity. But there’s no doubt that he needs to play better and the Eagles’ offense needs to play better. Not only to snap out of this losing streak but to potentially make another playoff run next month.

At least the Eagles on Monday night were able to run the ball a bit more effectively, although they probably veered away from the ground game a bit too much in the second half. Saquon Barkley did hit on a 52-yard score on a Tush Push wrinkle and finished with 117 yards.

But Hurts is still not much of a threat in the run game. He had just 8 yards on 4 attempts Monday night and hasn’t had more than 33 rushing yards in a game since Week 4.

Hurts has now gone nine games in a row without rushing for 50 yards, which is the longest such streak of his career. His previous high was five straight games. The lack of Hurts in the run game has been a big talking point this season as the Eagles search for an offensive identity and success to go with it.

What does Hurts make of it?

He admitted “there’s a flow to the run and gun” but said the lack of QB runs hasn’t been for lack of effort and has instead been a product of game flow.

“Right now, it’s just about finding ways to go out there and find a way to win the game,” Hurts said. “I don’t look at that and reflect on one area of my or everyone’s game. It’s just a matter of getting it done. You look at the game for what it is and judge it as it is, but you got an opportunity to win it at the end. I’d rather put my focus on that and trying to take advantage of those opportunities when they come.”