Jalen Hurts officially named Eagles starter for Week 1

Jalen Hurts has remained relatively quiet in an offseason where the Philadelphia Eagles were attached to other quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson. This week, they added Garner Minshew, who has started 20 NFL games for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

On Tuesday amidst the NFL madness surrounding the 4 p.m. ET deadline for teams to finalize their 53-man roster, the former Alabama quarterback was finally slated as the Eagles’ starting signal caller.

“Jalen will be our starter, he’s earned that right,” first-year Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni said on Tuesday afternoon.

While Hurts eventually took over for Carson Wentz in Philly last season, he entered camp feeling like an underdog.

Hurts continues his climb

Selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Hurts had to earn the right to start at quarterback for the Eagles, and he finally received his chance to hold the starting role towards the end of the season. He ended up winning the job from then-starter Carson Wentz, and Hurts finished the season with 1,061 passing yards, six passing touchdowns and four interceptions while holding a 52 percent completion rate. Meanwhile, in those four games started, Hurts had 354 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

He’ll look to adjust to the pace of the NFL in his second season, after most of his first season was spent as a second-string quarterback amid a COVID-impacted season.

“At times, I’ve felt like a rookie again with the new things I’m experiencing just because I couldn’t experience it last year,” he said. “It’s been really fun and I’m just taking things as they come and trying to be in the moment but I’m excited about what’s to come.”

Hurts spent three seasons as a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide before Tua Tagovailoa won the starting job following his comeback victory in the 2017 national championship. Hurts then transferred to Oklahoma, where in 2019 he finished as a Heisman Trophy runner-up. He finished his collegiate career starting three of his four years, tallying 9,477 passing yards and completing 65.1 percent of his passes, while throwing 80 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

Jalen Hurts lands massive endorsement deal

Clearly the fine folks at Eastbay had no doubts about Hurts as the focal point of the Eagles for the 2021 NFL season.

Before the Philadelphia Eagles kick off the 2021 regular season against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 12, Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts signed a significant off-field deal with Eastbay. The two-year partnership with Eastbay makes him the online athletic retailer’s first-ever brand ambassador.

According to a report from Forbes’ Chris Cason, part of Hurts’ deal means he’ll be the face of the company’s brand-new performance line titled “Game, Train, Live” that is set to launch in September. Additionally, some of Hurts’ own personal phrases will be used in the branding: “rare breed” and “untamed” will be included in the line’s pre-sale advertising. Hurts will also be featured on Eastbay advertising campaigns as well as the company’s social channels, per Forbes.

“This is a something that’s very authentic for me,” Hurts said. “I’m one of those kids that Eastbay played a key factor in my life while growing up, especially every fall when football season came around and I was searching for new football cleats. Eastbay always came through in the clutch. I’m happy to be where I’m at today and be able to partner with them and be their first brand ambassador.”

Hurts’ favorite pieces from the new athletic wear line are the shorts, tech fleece hoodies and pants, he said, according to Forbes.

Philadelphia can be a tough fan base and the Eagles schedule is far from a cakewalk, but for now, Philly is riding with Hurts for 2021.