Donovan McNabb defends Jalen Hurts against ‘lazy’ criticisms, says Eagles will return to Super Bowl form

The Philadelphia Eagles endured a historic collapse in 2023, leading plenty to question the team’s chances of a return to the Super Bowl. Franchise great Donovan McNabb isn’t among them, telling CBS Sports this week he envisions a quick turnaround after a “restart” from Jalen Hurts, while defending the quarterback against what he deemed “lazy” criticisms.

“I think for Jalen it’s really just a restart,” McNabb said of Hurts. “Obviously a new offense, a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore coming in. I’m sure he’s gonna work with him individually and make sure they’re on the same page. And maybe he’ll get a chance to put up some of those Dak Prescott numbers that Kellen was a part of (in Dallas).”

But didn’t Hurts regress in 2023, one year after an MVP-level breakout that ended with a Super Bowl defeat to Mahomes?

“He’s growing,” McNabb said. “(Even) guys like Patrick Mahomes, they’re growing. This is just his seventh year and we’re already talking about G.O.A.T. conversation with Patrick. And he’s still understanding the game and things that he’s able to do in this game. And when you look at the landscape of these young quarterbacks — and Jalen is in that as well — everyone is still trying to work on consistency in (their) game.”

One thing McNabb is especially confident Hurts doesn’t need to “reset”? His leadership.

“It’s lazy when (critics are) talking about, ‘He needs to be more animated, more vocal.’ And it’s like, wait a minute, you want your leaders to be rah-rah, head-banging guys that are bouncing around, but if they’re not winning, you’re gonna say, ‘Well he’s not a leader, he’s not a guy that people listen to.’ Now you’ve got a guy who just eight, nine months ago was in the Super Bowl. And everybody was talking about how great a leader he is — ‘He’s a little stoic but people love following him, love his interviews, blah, blah, blah.’ Now all of a sudden they’re losing…


Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/donovan-mcnabb-defends-jalen-hurts-against-lazy-criticisms-says-eagles-will-return-to-super-bowl-form/

Author : Cody Benjamin

Publish date : 2024-03-08 18:53:14

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