National Football League

Jalen Hurts doesn’t care what you think of his stats: ‘I don't play for numbers’

Updated Jan. 28, 2025 4:24 p.m. ET

Jalen Hurts' season wasn't what you thought it was.

Looking at the numbers, it wasn't what any of us thought it was.

It seems objectively like a bad year. Over 15 games, the Philadelphia Eagles QB threw for 2,903 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. Of course, he did add 630 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns. That's a hefty scoring total. For a rookie, that all might be acceptable. And frankly, those stats are comparable in many ways to Hurts' first full season as a starter in 2021.

But when, earlier this year, A.J. Brown said the Eagles' biggest problem was "passing," it was hard to argue with him. Wasn't it?

Well, maybe not.

In the following week against the Steelers' supposedly vaunted defense, Hurts completed 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns.

"Just because we don't doesn't mean we can't," Hurts said postgame on FOX after beating Pittsburgh.

Want more proof?

In the NFC Championship Game, Hurts completed 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown. He also added three rushing touchdowns. After the game, he fielded a question about what made the passing game work so well.

"I think we need to change our focus, our approach to all of this," Hurts told reporters. "I don't play the game for stats. I don't play the game for numbers, any statistical approval from anyone else. And I understand that everyone has a preconceived notion on how they want it to look, or how they expect it to look. I told you guys that success is defined by that particular individual, and it's all relative to the person. And what I define it as is: winning. So the number one goal is always to come out here and win."

So when and how did he decide that numbers don't matter?

"By losing," Hurt said. "Failure has to be used as a source of pain to go take that next step, and there's always learning opportunities in everything. It's human nature to be ignited by the shortcomings."

The simplest explanation for why Hurts' stats are so low: Saquon Barkley.

He tallied 2,005 rushing yards, 278 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns. The Eagles have turned Barkley into the most crucial part of their offense, a unique role for a running back in today's passing-focused league. It's so extraordinary that Barkley entered the MVP conversation.

Can the Chiefs limit the Eagles' rush offense?

[Prepare for the epic Eagles-Chiefs matchup on FOX Sports' Super Bowl LIX hub]

But Barkley's success came with an implicit question: Does Hurts need someone else to carry the offense? When the Eagles need Hurts to step away from game manager and do something transcendent, can he?

Over the first four weeks of the season, when the Eagles were 2-2, Hurts had seven turnovers. From Week 3 through the NFC Championship, he has just three. Perhaps Hurts wasn't the QB that Philly needed. At least that was the storyline — amplified by the $225 million contract he signed just a few years ago. (And when he signed that deal, he iconically said: "Money is nice, championships are better.")

Were the Eagles asking him to do too much?

Head coach Nick Siriani would argue: No. And it seems like that's beside the point.

"Winning at quarterback is more important than any stat," Sirianni said Sunday after winning the NFC Championship Game. "If we rush for 300 and pass for one and we win, great. If we rush for one and pass for 300, great. Who cares? … We've just continued to win. He's just continued to win.

"I think the criticism is — yeah, whatever. He just wins. I said what I said after the game and that's kind of how I feel."

There's a compare-and-contrast to be done with what Josh Allen did for the Buffalo Bills this year. The Bills finished second in their conference with a 13-4 record — not unlike the Eagles, who finished second in their conference with a 14-3 record. Allen had a season that wasn't his best, statistically. It might have even been one of his worst, not unlike Hurts' season.

The difference is that Allen drew praise for his performances because he elevated a supporting cast of unknown or unproven skill players. There's hesitance to do that with Hurts, because of his enviable supporting cast: Barkley, Brown and DeVonta Smith.

The other difference is that Hurts is in the Super Bowl. And the Bills aren't.

"I'm sure it'll be the same [criticism]. ‘Oh, he's got great players around him.' Well, you tell me a quarterback that's won like this that has s--- around him," Sirianni said.

"It doesn't happen, right?

"Talk about Joe Montana. Who is he throwing to? Oh, Jerry Rice … [Tom] Brady with the defense early on in his career or [Julian] Edelman or Gronk. You don't win in this game unless you have great players around you. … Sometimes I feel like it's a negative on [Hurts]. It kind of blows your mind. He wins. He's a winner. I don't want anyone else leading us other than Jalen Hurts."

To Sirianni's point, even the statistical criticisms are undue.

There's one metric where Hurts has never been better. He put up .12 expected points added per dropback, the highest of his career.

Hurts isn't on par with Allen (.25 EPA/dropback) or Lamar Jackson (.3). But Hurts' EPA/dropback is better than Mahomes' (.11). And guess what: The Chiefs QB has also faced criticism for an overly run-reliant offense. But guess what again: Mahomes is also in the Super Bowl. With Hurts.

This year, Hurts also put up 52.1 expected points added, the second-best season of his career, per Next Gen Stats. His completion percentage over expected (6.6%) is by far the best of his career. His success percentage (48.6) is the best of his career. He had just 24 pass attempts per game this year — down from 31.6 per game last year. His 361 attempts are the lowest since his rookie year, when he was not the starter.

This is far from his most prolific season. But this is the most efficient season of his career.

No, the Eagles are not asking Hurts to contribute as often. They're asking him to do more with every throw. That's arguably harder than throwing 500 times in a season.

"The guy has been clutch," Sirianni said.

If you count the postseason, the Eagles have as many wins as any team in the NFL. They're tied with — who else? — the Chiefs with 17. To get that 18th win, Hurts probably won't throw for 300 yards. He probably won't throw three touchdowns.

In Super Bowl LIX, he'll just keep doing what he's been doing: whatever it takes, whether you like it or not.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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