Jalen Hurts enters the 2026 NFL season under immense pressure, as speculations about his future have continued throughout the offseason. After this year, he has no guarantees left on the five-year, $255 million contract extension he signed in 2023, and if the Eagles take a big step back, the team could make major changes, which include moving on from their current quarterback.
With new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion in place, Hurts and other Eagles players are adapting to the new system. One major change for the 28-year-old quarterback is that he is being asked to make more throws in the middle of the field than in previous seasons, and today, a video of his interception went viral on social media.
Jalen Hurts’ Interception in Practice Puts Eagles’ Social Media Team in SpotlightEarlier this week, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio noted that All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has yet to record an interception in the regular season, which is odd since he has already made four interceptions in five playoff games in his career.
However, on Wednesday, the Eagles’ social media team on X shared a video of Hurts throwing a pass to wideout Hollywood Brown, but it was intercepted by Mitchell.
The video went viral on social media, and many analysts and former players called out the team’s social media team for posting it, as it paints a bad picture of Hurts.
The throw from the Eagles quarterback was closer to the middle of the field, and given his lack of success in making plays there, the video was seen as something rival fans could use to troll Hurts.
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Here’s how the NFL world reacted to it:
“But why would the Eagles’ social media team post this? We know Quinyon is good; we didn’t need to see the pick,” former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho said on X.
In another post, Acho added, “I won’t guarantee somebody gets fired for this, but given my experience with the lengths people go to protect Jalen, somebody getting cussed out for sure and then may get fired.”
CBS Sports’ Todd Fuhrman wrote, “Putting your starting QB on blast when there are already rumblings he can’t use the middle of the field is a choice.”
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Eagles analyst Thomas R. Petersensaid, “Eagles admin needlessly providing ammo for Hurts slander to 31 other fanbases is certainly a choice.”
Denver Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright was also surprised by the Eagles’ decision to share the clip and wrote, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an NFL team’s social media account just firing up clips of their own QB getting picked off…”
Former New York Giants offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz said, “Odd choice for a social media clip.”
NFL reporter Connor Hughes commented on the quality of Hurts’ throw and posted, “This is a pretty terrible throw.”
An account named ‘Cowboys Fan Talk’ mocked Philadelphia’s social media team’s decision to share the video and wrote, “Do the Eagles Front office hate Hurts? 🤣🤔”
As mentioned earlier, Hurts is under a lot of pressure to perform this year, not only because the team lost in the Wild Card round last season, but also because they traded away A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, who constantly aired issues with the team’s offense and quarterback throughout the last season.
Even with Brown’s departure, Hurts still has good playmakers around him like Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Dontayvion Wicks, and rookie wideout Makai Lemon. The hope is that with Mannion, who is setting up more of a Sean McVay- and Kyle Shanahan-esque offense, the Eagles’ quarterback can play at his best.
According to PFN’s QB Impact Metric, Hurts posted an impact score of 76.2 last season and ranked 16th at his position. It was a big decline from his 2024 output when he ranked sixth in the league with an impact score of 85.3.
We have seen over the years that the Eagles organization and general manager Howie Roseman never hesitate before making big changes. As a result, it can be said that both Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni are playing for their jobs in the upcoming season, as the team could move on from both of them if they fail to make a deep playoff run.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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