Bill Belichick says Jalen Hurts is 'arguably the best player' in the NFL

The Patriots used rookie quarterback Malik Cunningham to impersonate Jalen Hurts during practices this past week as the team preps for the Eagles.

But although Cunningham is super athletic and is a terrific running QB, coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots didn’t get a good feel for Hurts’ game. There’s no way a green rookie is going to be as good as the possibly the top player in the league. he said. It’s difficult to mimic the talents of a quarterback who threw for 3,701 yards and rushed for 760 a year ago.

“Malik’s got some good skills,” Belichick said in his press availability this week. “I think it would be a stretch to compare Malik Cunningham to Jalen Hurts now. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who was second in MVP voting last year or whatever he was. Athletically, there’s some similarities, but you’re talking about arguably the best player in the league, or one of the top two or three best players in the league. Nobody has anybody that can be him, and if they do, that guy’s probably not playing on the scout team for that team anyway.”

Belichick added: “I mean, it is what it is. We go through that every week. Every team’s got a few good players, and some great players, and it’s hard to replicate those players. If you have one, your guy’s probably not on the scout team doing that for that guy anyway. You do the best you can. We’ll have somebody to try to simulate the best we can what Hurts does, but we don’t have anybody like Hurts, and, probably, neither does anybody else.”

Maybe Mac Jones can share some scoop on Jalen Hurts

At least the Patriots get Jalen Hurts at their place Sunday afternoon. The Eagles are trying to get back to the Super Bowl, while the Patriots’ desire is to get back to the playoffs. It’ll be a festive atmosphere, too. After all, the Patriots are honoring Tom Brady at halftime. Brady retired earlier this year. Although he played his final three seasons in Tampa Bay, he’s still beloved in New England.

Now, getting back to Jalen Hurts, maybe Patriots starting quarterback Mac Jones has some intell. They were teammates at Alabama for two years before Hurts transferred to Oklahoma. But Jones says he was the one doing the learning, soaking in anything Hurts could teach him.

“Me and him were always running against each other,” Jones said. “He is definitely faster than me, but I feel like I gave him a good run for his money. I learned a lot from him, just stuff like that, leading off the field and like the fourth-quarter program we had. He just always did such a good job running, leading, never showed a lot of emotion, just did his thing, and I actually learned a lot from him there. Then, obviously, on the field there is a bunch of stuff, too, so I really appreciate him.”