As Jalen Hurts addressed the media from the Philadelphia Eagles’ locker clean-out last week, the quarterback expressed belief in franchise continuity.
“I believe in everyone here,” he said. “We plan on fixing everything that we’ve done and growing together — Coach Sirianni, Brian, everyone.”
A week later, the Eagles confirmed the return of head coach Nick Sirianni for a fourth year, as Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman met with reporters Wednesday. But the franchise has released offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, whom Hurts has known since childhood, after one year of coordinating and two more as Hurts’ quarterbacks coach.
The decision was complicated. On one hand, releasing Johnson positions Hurts to work with his whopping ninth play-caller in the past 10 seasons, dating to his high school years. Perhaps not coincidentally, Hurts’ strongest, MVP-caliber campaign in that stretch was the season he did not have to adapt to a new coordinator. In Hurts’ Year 2 with Shane Steichen, the Eagles went to the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, the Eagles were clearly headed toward organizational change. They lost as many games in the last six weeks of the 2023 regular season (five) as they lost in the 24 months prior. Hurts also regressed from 2022 to 2023, his passer rating falling from 101.5 to 89.1 as he threw interceptions on 2.8% of passes (15 total), up from 1.3% (six).
After their playoff loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hurts questioned the Eagles’ lack of offensive identity. Like the defense, his unit needed new direction. And so, one year after losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators to head-coaching roles, the Eagles are again in the market for both positions.
