Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts was ‘having fun' with straightjacket comment

Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts was ‘having fun’ with straightjacket comment

Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts was ‘having fun’ with straightjacket comment originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said Jalen Hurts was just having fun on Sunday night with his “straitjacket” comment.

Hurts had one of his best games in an Eagles uniform in the NFC Championship Game as the Eagles crushed the Commanders 55-23.

After the game, Hurts was asked about playing for Sirianni and said this: “He’s done a great job. He’s done a great job. I guess he let me out of my straight jacket a little bit today.”

For most of the season, the Eagles haven’t needed to pass very much to win games. Hurts on Sunday needed to air it out a bit more and the passing offense came through to send the Eagles to Super Bowl LIX.

What did Sirianni think about the “straightjacket” comment?

“Yeah, I think he was having fun after the game,” Sirianni said on Tuesday. “We’ve been winning a couple different ways this year. I think he was just having fun after the game. I know this, and he’s said this plenty of times: He doesn’t care how we win. I don’t care how we win, as long as we win. We do everything we can do to be able to win. As we’ve talked [about] a lot, there have been different circumstances of how games have gone and where we’ve been at late in games.

“I thought he was having fun with that after the game. Just loved how he went out and executed and prepared for this game. I always admire that.”

Early in the 2024 season, Hurts averaged 33 passing attempts through the first four games but the Eagles’ offense wasn’t working at maximum efficiency and they took a disappointing 2-2 record into the bye week. Hurts also had seven turnovers.

Coming back from that early bye, the Eagles began to lean heavily on their incredible offensive line and superstar running back Saquon Barkley and it has worked. They rattled off 10 straight wins and have now won 13 of their last 14 games. Hurts has thrown 30 passes just once in those 14 games.

The biggest questions came after the close 22-16 win over the Panthers in early December when several Eagles offensive players expressed some frustration about the passing offense. In the next game, Hurts threw for 290 and 2 touchdowns against the Steelers but then suffered a concussion the next week that kept him out until the playoffs. The Eagles won their first two playoff games without needing to air it out.

But Sunday’s game was different. Hurts threw 28 times, tied for second-highest total since the bye week. In the NFC Championship Game, Hurts completed 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. He also had 10 rushes for 16 yards and 3 touchdowns.

There was plenty of angst about whether or not the passing game would show up in a moment when the Eagles needed it, but that element was great on Sunday against the Commanders. In fact, the Eagles put together one of their most complete games of the season to punch their ticket to New Orleans.

And after facing a lot of criticism this season, Hurts led the way.

“I always admire the heck out of how hard he works regardless of the situation,” Sirianni said. “Same guy every day. His mentality, his work ethic. We had to win a different way this game, and we did. We showed that we can win in multiple ways. I think that shows the type of team we have and the type of selflessness we have on our team, starting with Jalen.”

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