Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts faces his most scrutinised offseason yet as he prepares for the 2026 NFL season, with questions swirling around his ability to lead an offence and his relationship with teammates, according to Sky Sports NFL analyst Neil Reynolds.
The Eagles captured the NFC East title last season largely through the dominance of Vic Fangio's defence, while their offensive attack sputtered throughout the campaign. That foundation cracked in the playoffs when San Francisco's 49ers eliminated them, prompting the team to fire offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and orchestrate the departure of star receiver AJ Brown following what appeared to be a fractured connection with Hurts both on and off the field.
Only Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have accounted for more offensive touchdowns than Jalen Hurts in the last five years, Reynolds noted on Inside the Huddle, highlighting the quarterback's elite production despite the noise surrounding him.
Hurts earned Super Bowl MVP honours two years ago after a dominant showing that carried the Eagles past Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs and denied them a historic three-peat. Yet that career pinnacle has been overshadowed by a laboured 2025 campaign and mounting criticism about his limitations.
It's hard, I think he can be a polarizing character at times because he's actually just so stoic throughout or almost maintains the same emotions. And people want to see him get happy or mad or anything like that, said Sky Sports NFL's Phoebe Schecter.
I feel like there's so much of other people applying how they feel he should think or feel. Then you have people looking at his career in terms of criticising the run game, criticising his passing game, criticising who he throws the football to, and Philadelphia is not an easy place to play.
The pressure from Eagles fans and external voices has intensified scrutiny of every decision the offence makes.
We know that there's a lot of external pressure from the Eagles fans, whether you're winning or losing, but it feels like a team that has consistently been driven by what the outside noise wants, or maybe the coordinators are allowing that to happen where they think, 'oh, they think we need to pass it to this person, they think we should throw it', Schecter explained.
However, a significant shift is underway. According to USA Today's Eagles Wire, Hurts has embraced Sean Mannion's new offensive system, which prioritises precision, timing and rhythm over the Eagles' previous approach. The new scheme represents a major departure from their prior structure, shifting toward a West Coast-style attack with more pure progression reads and less of the vertical, power-based framework that defined earlier campaigns.
The fresh offensive philosophy includes Hurts operating under centre more frequently, according to ESPN, with motion deployed on nearly every play, heavy play-action and a wide-zone blocking scheme. This represents a fundamental reimagining of how the Eagles deploy their quarterback.
It almost just needs all those doors shut, which is probably why Jalen Hurts is very much like that. Even spending time with him this offseason he pretty much is exactly the same. He doesn't really get too excited, Schecter added, suggesting Hurts' stoic demeanour may actually serve him well in tuning out external noise.
The Eagles' offseason overhaul extended beyond the coaching change. The team traded AJ Brown to the New England Patriots on 1 June for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, marking a definitive end to their partnership. To compensate for Brown's departure, Philadelphia acquired receiver depth through Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore.
Will it be that addition by subtraction when it comes to AJ Brown, what does the offense look like?Schecter posed, raising the central question facing the Eagles' new era.
Hurts is making more throws over the middle in the new system, and training camp reports indicated the offence was still calibrating, with more designed quarterback runs being installed alongside the increased under-centre snaps. Early camp work revealed some growing pains as Hurts adjusted to the new progressions.
Washington's Daniels faces his own questions
The Eagles' season opener pits them against another quarterback navigating significant scrutiny. Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders missed 10 games last season, failing to build momentum from his Offensive Rookie of the Year-winning debut campaign.
He told me in the summer he was going to learn to live to fight another down, Reynolds recalled of Daniels.
I will believe it when I see it, once you get in the heat of the battle. There's a lot of questions about Jayden Daniels, because if he's healthy, let's not forget two seasons ago, they were in the NFC championship game against these very Eagles.
Jayden Daniels is so fascinating because he does have such a slim fit frame and we've seen how that can have a negative impact, but we've also seen how his speed and athleticism has really helped the team at times is evasive moves in the pocket, or even just when he's scrambling or running down field, Schecter observed.
And then you've got on top of it, the amount of off-field work that he does from a preparation perspective. The extra meetings that he's doing in the morning to walk through the play script or the virtual reality that he's watching, not every quarterback does that.
Its just making sure that his offensive line can protect him long enough against an Eagles defense and especially an Eagles defensive line that are just known for their aggression, she added.
What's next for the Eagles
The Eagles open their regular season at home against Washington on Sunday, 13 September, at Lincoln Financial Field at 4:25 PM ET. Week 2 follows on Sunday, 20 September, at Tennessee, providing an early road test of Mannion's new offensive system.
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