Jalen Hurts ‘could not have played worse’ — and there’s even more reason for Eagles to be worried

Jalen Hurts is moving like Eli Manning on the gridiron.

Not only did the Eagles’ quarterback have one of the worst performances of his career by tallying five turnovers in the 22-19 road loss to the Chargers on Monday, including the game-ending interception in overtime, he had no effect on the game as a rusher.

Hurts tallied just four rushes for eight yards on “Monday Night Football,” his third-lowest performance of the season, a stark contrast to injured Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s 10-rush, 66-yard performance on the ground.

The staggering difference between the two caught the eye of Philadelphia’s 94 WIP host Jon Ritchie.

“Jalen could not have played worse seemingly,” Ritchie said after the game. “The thing that really troubled me last night was I thought I saw a difference in the way he applied himself. The overtime burst was different than the regular duration burst and that’s a problem.

“Dude, the guy across the way (Herbert) is (6-foot-6) and gawky basketball type with a broken hand that just had to have plates and screws put in it a week ago and he’s leading his team in rushing. He’s a big part of why that rushing game chewed clock, why they controlled that game… Jalen, that’s supposed to be you, man. That’s supposed to be your forte. That’s supposed to be the way we can just milk the clock to our advantage, which I quite honestly have not seen enough ever.”

Jon Ritchie on Jalen Hurts’ performance against the Chargers: “Jalen could not have played worse seemingly. The thing that really troubled me last night was I thought I saw a difference in the way he applied himself. You know, the overtime burst was different than the regular… pic.twitter.com/Kb6H1XyYh0

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) December 9, 2025

Hurts is only roughly 10 months removed from being named Super Bowl MVP, yet he looked more like a quarterback likely to be benched Monday than a championship-caliber signal-caller.

While Hurts has been inconsistent as a passer throughout his career, he’s made up for it by being one of the league’s most dangerous rushers at the position.

This year, though, Hurts isn’t the same runner.

He’s averaging a career-low 3.8 yards per attempt, along with career-worst averages in rushing yards (25.9) and attempts per game (6.8) for any season in which he’s started the majority of the games.

Ritchie’s remark about the difference in burst seemingly stemmed from how Hurts barely did anything as a rusher in regulation, before notching a 17-yard rush that got negated by a penalty in overtime.

The Eagles could have used those type of rushes while struggling to score, largely due to Hurts continuously giving the Chargers the ball.

“I didn’t play well enough,” said Hurts, who threw four interceptions and lost a fumble after picking up a loose ball following one of his interceptions. “Too many turnovers. Lots of opportunities, especially when we get on the other side of the (50-yard line) and I wasn’t able to get us in the box.”

The Eagles (8-5) still lead the NFC East with four games remaining, but they have now lost three straight games and don’t look the part of a Super Bowl favorite.

It would be foolish to count this team out, especially with its championship pedigree and three get-right games upcoming against Washington (twice) and Las Vegas.

If Hurts is not going to be a difference-making quarterback, though, especially with his legs, it drastically changes this team’s ceiling.

“This game is the ultimate team call, so it’s never just on one person,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Now, ultimately, he always has the ball in his hands and I know he’ll wear and a lot of that and own that and I have to do a better job of helping him in those scenarios.

“Obviously, never want to turn the ball over. We’ve been pretty good of that. And tonight was a little uncharacteristic of that.”