When Doug Pederson named Jalen Hurts the starter for this week’s game against the Saints, he stressed that it was for this week’s game, without really getting into the rest of the season.
“I don't have a crystal ball, I can't predict the future, right?” Pederson said on Wednesday. “All I can focus on is today and getting our team prepared today and getting our guys ready for Sunday.”
But according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, it sounds like Hurts is the starter for the rest of the 2020 season.
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Mort also adds that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is supporting Doug Pederson’s choice and “won’t intervene on in-season decisions.”
For this game, Hurts is the starter and Carson Wentz is the backup after running scout team all week. Hurts is making his first-career start against one of the best defenses in the NFL, so it’s only fair that he gets more than one start. It wouldn’t have been fair to pull him back out if he has one bad game. After all, Wentz got 12 games before he got benched.
Another ESPN report on Sunday morning said the Eagles intend to keep Wentz for the 2021 season and they have faith he can return to his previous form.
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There are some obvious roadblocks in the way of a trade, but even if the Eagles did intend to trade Wentz, they wouldn’t want anyone to know right now.
Wentz’s contract makes this whole thing tricky. They can’t cut him because of it and it makes a trade tough. Because even with a trade, he’d account for a ton of dead cap space. So the Eagles’ best bet is to probably figure out how to fix Wentz.
“He's got to take ownership, we got to take ownership, and we got to continue to be collaborative and talkative through it, continue to work and build,” Pederson said.
“And I said this earlier in the week, and I'm going to continue to say it: I truly believe that he can get back to the type of quarterback that he was even a year ago. I just think we can get him there, and I look forward to that opportunity.”
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