Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts “Does Not Love Having a Lot of Designed QB Runs”

Fresh off of blowing a 21-point lead to the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles followed it up with another stinker of a performance. Getting thoroughly outplayed by the Chicago Bears, the Eagles dropped to 8-4. It was another abysmal offensive performance, with Jalen Hurts playing one of his worst games in the NFL. Hurts inconsistency may not be the only issue, though. Rumors are starting to swirl about the Eagles’ quarterbacks’ unwillingness to participate in the offense.

After Another Disastrous Loss, Rumors about Philadelphia Eagles, Quarterback Jalen Hurts Swirling

After the loss against the Bears, Philly Voice reporter Jimmy Kempski offered an interesting quote regarding Hurts and his willingness to have designed QB runs in the game plan:

“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.“

This is an eye-opening comment about the Eagles’ franchise quarterback. Especially when the offense is struggling mightily, Hurts should be doing anything he can to help get something going.

The Eagles’ rushing attack has completely vanished this season. Last year, they obviously had one of the best teams in football, led by Saquon Barkley’s 2,000-yard season. It is true that Barkley and the offensive line as a whole have taken a massive step back. But Hurts has played a huge part in this decline from the run game as well.

Hurts became the Eagles’ starting QB in 2021 and has been a huge part of the run game ever since. In 2021-2024, the fewest rushing yards per game across a season were 35.6 in the 2023 season. His fewest rushing attempts per game were in the same season, with 9.2 attempts per game. Hurts is currently set to finish far below both of those totals. Through 12 games, he is currently averaging 27.4 yards per game on only seven carries. When Hurts is struggling as much as he currently is in the drop-back passing game, the Eagles offense needs to rely on his legs.

The most likely reasoning for Hurts to not want many QB runs in the game plan is to preserve his health. There is merit to this, as well. If the Eagles want to go on another deep playoff run, they will need Hurts, and need him healthy. At some point, though, they need to unleash Hurts as a runner for the offense to be its best version of itself. They simply cannot continue without it.

There is a way the Eagles can balance the two, though. Hurts only ran two designed QB runs against the Bears. One of them came on one of their lone touchdown drives, where he picked up 23 yards on the play. Hurts picked up his yardage and got out of bounds, ensuring he didn’t take any unnecessary hits. It is not a coincidence that the Eagles’ most productive drive of the day included a massive Hurts run. Hurts can pick up yardage, protect his health, and offer a different aspect to the Eagles offense, it is so desperately missing at the same time.

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ offense and Jalen Hurts are struggling right now. Nobody is playing up to their standard. There is no simple fix. Could there be a switch coming in the form of a play-caller change? Possibly. But outside of changing coaches or personnel, getting Hurts more involved in the run game is the biggest change the offense can currently make to try to get back on track.