National Football League

DeSean Jackson recalls first meeting Jalen Hurts: 'Something's special about him'

Published Dec. 1, 2023 5:10 p.m. ET

Jalen Hurts is one of the best quarterbacks in all of football.

He's the main man behind the Philadelphia Eagles' terrific 10-1 start, and currently tops FOX Sports' MVP ladder with the highest odds of winning the award. But Hurts wasn't always regarded as one of the NFL's elite, and early in his career, many questioned whether he was capable of leading Philly long-term.

DeSean Jackson wasn't one of those people, and the three-time Pro Bowl receiver revealed he knew Hurts was built for excellence when he first touched down in Philly.

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"I was lobbying for Jalen Hurts back when we had Carson Wentz starting at that time," Jackson recalled of the 2020 season, "when everybody was like ‘why would we pick Jalen Hurts in the second round?’ I remember we was at practice, and Jalen was the backup behind Wentz. … Jalen was going against the starting defense … I'm just seeing him sling the ball, and he making crazy plays. … I tapped [general manager] Howie [Roseman] and said ‘Howie, that kid is gonna be special.’

"We trained [in 2020], and I just seen his mentality was different then. You could tell, him coming from Alabama, just his mentality, just how eager he was to win. He had like, an older mentality. It was like he was an uncle, or like an old father. … The game was never too big, just his persona, his demeanor. He walking around, flicking the ball. I'm like ‘something's special about him.’ … It's like he had been here before, so I definitely saw Jalen Hurts before what the world sees now. I feel like he's just starting, and he's gonna be here for a long time, and he's gonna have some special moments here in Philadelphia. As you can see, he's QB1 for a reason."

Few players have had better starts to their career than Hurts, who sports a 26-3 record in his last 29 games. He'll have a chance to continue his dominance following a five-TD performance against Buffalo, in what's perhaps the most anticipated matchup of the regular season against San Francisco Sunday.