NFL Week 3: Jalen Hurts Loses His Voice, But Still Has Something To Say

After Philadelphia lost to the Atlanta Falcons 22-21 on Monday night, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had something to say to his teammates, even though an illness left him with little voice after yelling throughout the game.

But what Hurts did manage to say, Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said, was so fitting for the moment that the coach didn’t feel the need to tell the team anything else.

“Jalen is a tremendous leader,” Sirianni said during an appearance on WIP-FM in Philadelphia on Wednesday. “I’m sitting here thinking about what I was going to say after the game. He spoke from the heart. I thought his message was spot on, spot on. Obviously, we’ll always keep things internal, but at the end of the day, Jalen talked about the details, the little things that we did and we’ve all done — coaching, playing — that ended up losing this game. This is a game that we have to get back on our feet — learn from it, move forward and keep that same motivation because we have to get up and have that motivation to do the exact same process that we did last week, because our process was good, and be ready to play a really good football team next week.”

“I think he was absolutely right in what he said. His passion was unbelievable. When a player says everything you would say, I have no reason to talk afterward, so we got down on our knees after that and prayed because we still had a lot to be thankful for. But, man, it was perfect. Like I said, when your leaders preach the same message that I do and that I believe in, and we’re all on the same page, it’s huge.

“Honestly, I talk a lot. I have a lot of media that the players hear. I’ve spent a lot of time in front of the team that the players hear. So I loved it, and I know it helped us get back to reality a little bit: Hey, it’s just one game, let’s move on and get better from here.”

Hurts did not elaborate on what he said or why he said it.

“Right now,” Hurts said when asked in his postgame news conference where he was headed.

In his press conference Wednesday, Hurts’ voice sounded closer to normal, but he still didn’t have much to say about his conversation with his teammates.

“I haven’t made a decision about it,” Hurts said. “It just happened.”

The Falcons scored a touchdown with 34 seconds left to take the lead over the Eagles. Philadelphia has lost three of its last nine games when an opponent scores a touchdown with 34 seconds or less left.

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Hurts said Wednesday the Eagles must quickly recover from the latest loss or face the prospect of a 1-2 record after Sunday.

Philadelphia will face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at noon (Central Time). The Saints opened the season by beating the Carolina Panthers 47-10 and the Dallas Cowboys 44-19.

Although Hurts’ first game as an NFL starter came against the Saints on Dec. 13, 2020, Sunday’s game will be his first as an NFL quarterback in New Orleans.

Hurts’ previous game in the building now called Caesars Superdome was at the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2018. In Alabama’s 24-6 victory over Clemson in a CFP semifinal game, Hurts threw touchdown passes to current Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley and current Washington Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne.

“It feels like a long time ago, playing in the bowl game, the Sugar Bowl,” Hurts said, “and obviously the environment is great, and there’s a lot of pride in this city. It’s a great place in New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana. And it’s going to be a great opportunity for us, a great challenge and a great team to play against that’s rolling and clicking right now, led by a great defense, a great offense, and they’re doing a great job, so it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”