It’s quite an honor being named by your NFL peers as the 3rd-best player in the entire league.
It’s an honor Jalen Hurts couldn’t care less about, according to his close friend and Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“As a friend, I’m extremely proud of him, what he accomplished this last season,” Brown said. “But as a teammate, I think nobody cares. And he doesn't care, either.”
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Hurts on Monday was named the No. 3 player on this year’s list behind Patrick Mahomes and Justin Jefferson. Last year, he wasn't among the 14 quarterbacks who made the top 100.
His No. 3 rating tied former teammate Carson Wentz for the highest landing spot of any Eagles player since NFL Network began compiling the top-100 list in 2011. Wentz was No. 3 entering the 2018 season, after going 11-2 with 33 TDs and seven interceptions in 13 starts during the 2017 Super Bowl season.
Hurts is notorious for shrugging off individual accolades, and Brown said Tuesday that will never change.
“We know what we want to achieve,” he said. “We're not in it for individual goals but only team goals. So we're excited for him with all the recognition he gets and everything, but just like him, we're trying to stay focused on the task at hand.”
NFL
Hurts, who turned 25 on Monday, completed 66.5 percent of his passes last year, threw for 3,701 yards with 22 TDs and six INTs and rushed for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns – 2nd-most in NFL history by a quarterback. In the postseason, he completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 579 yards with three passing TDs, no INTs, 143 rushing yards and five more TDs, by far the most ever by a QB in a single postseason.
Brown said he fully expects an even better version of Hurts in 2023, his fourth NFL season and third with Nick Sirianni.
“I don't want to put a ceiling on him, but I know what I can say is that he comes to work, he's one of the hardest workers in the building, I think everyone knows that,” Brown said. “He is just focused on being consistent as ever. He's leading the team and of course I would love to see him take another step because that means we all take another step. …
“But just like everybody got stuff to work on, I'm sure he'll tell you he got stuff to work on. He's not complacent.”
Dallas Goedert is the only skill player who’s been on the active roster since Hurts got here, and he echoed Brown’s sentiment.
“He doesn't care about any of that,” he said. “He's worried about one thing and that's winning and becoming a great player. Obviously getting the glory, getting MVP runner-up (last year), all that stuff, those are accolades that are incredible. And I'm sure he's very thankful for him, but they don't mean anything to him. He's got one thing and he wants to win, he wants to win Super Bowls, he wants to be a great quarterback that way.
“Super happy for him, I think he should have been No. 1. But I'm just really excited for him and excited to continually watch him grow because I think he's gonna take another step this year and he's gonna have a really, really big year.”
Goedert said he can already see an improved Hurts in training camp.
“His understanding of the game, his detail in the game is just getting better and better,” he said. “He's processing all the information before the snap, not during the snap, and I think that's a benefit to everybody on the offense.”