Sirianni on Hurts: ‘We’re Hoping That he Takes the Reins’

The Philadelphia Eagles reported to training camp on Tuesday and were out on the field for the first time, as practice got underway on Wednesday.

Most people assume that second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts will be the teams starting quarterback this season, after the team traded Carson Wentz to Indianapolis this offseason.

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However, while new Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni sounded like he wants Hurts to be the guy, he stopped short of saying he would be the teams starter when the team opens the season in Atlanta on Sept 12. The coach reiterated the same stance both he and general manager Howie Roseman have held that they’d love for him to win the job.

"Right now, Jalen is in with the ones," said Sirianni. "He's working with the ones and he's earned that because he's worked his butt off. We're hoping that he takes the reins and rolls with it and continues to just get good reps with the ones."

If you remember when Sirianni was hired he stopped short of saying Hurts would be the teams starting quarterback, instead preaching competition would be the theme of his first ever training camp as a NFL head coach. On Wednesday he was asked if he had a timetable in mind when when he wanted to name a starting quarterback, if this is truly an open competition and if there is a chance Hurts could not be the starting quarterback.

"We have to be ready by Atlanta to have all the ones named and all the twos named," Sirianni explained. Nothing in mind as far as when we got to make these decisions. They'll play out. They'll play out as we go, right, with these practices."

"No timetable. Just really excited to work with the guys."

While the team has yet to officially name Hurts the unquestioned starter, they have consistently been one of the teams linked to Houston QB Deshaun Watson, but it doesn't seem to bother the second-year signal-caller.

"I'm above it all," Hurts said on Wednesday.

The Dolphins, Broncos, and Eagles have reported interest in going all in for Watson, one of the reasons Philadelphia could be mentioned is because of the amount of draft capitol they have at their disposal in the 2022 NFL Draft.

"One of the things that I always find kind of funny is whenever there's a name bandied about, the Eagles are kind of associated with that," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman stated. "I understand because we have more draft picks, high draft picks, going forward that that's probably going to be continual as players become available."