Jason Kelce is keeping it centered when it comes to Jalen Hurts. The Eagles were handed a last-minute, 20-17 loss to the Drew Lock-led Seattle Seahawks on “Monday Night Football” in Week 15. While the loss was eyebrow-raising, what the Eagles QB said after the game maybe was more so.
During his postgame news conference, Hurts questioned the team’s “commitment,” leading to some questioning exactly what the passer meant by that. Kelce, another of the team’s offensive leaders, responded to Hurts’ comments on the Dec. 20 edition of the “New Heights” podcast. In essence, no big deal, according to the longtime Philly center
“That’s the attitude you have to have. When you’re not performing as a team, when you’re not winning games, the only thing you can do is go back and work that much more,” Kelce said. “Go back and commit yourself that much harder. We have great people in the building, we have people that want to win. I know that. There’s no question in my mind about that.
“For me, the commitment comment, that’s all you can do, is re-commit yourself even more than you already are. I think that, at the end of the day, all you can do is go back and work, go back and focus on the fundamentals, focus on where you’re making mistakes as an individual, focus on how you can help your teammate, assist your teammate. Be where you need to be.
Bring energy. I think, all these things, in the grand scheme of things, add up to you and your teammates playing better, if everybody has that mindset. I think that when you approach it with intention and approach it with the seriousness that it needs to be approached with, then generally things get corrected.”
Of course, it’s only customary for a center to have his quarterback’s back, so there’s no real surprise here from Kelce, who’s doing well not to rock the boat despite the Eagles wading through troubled waters right now. Hurts’ comments might have been a prime example of right message, wrong messenger, at least in the moment: The passer finished 17-of-31 passing for 143 yards and two interceptions in the loss, with both turnovers coming in the fourth quarter.
That said, Hurts did enter the matchup a bit wounded, with an illness nearly sidelining him for the game. Kelce revealed that even he was unsure of Hurts’ availability for “Monday Night Football.” Through it all, despite the Eagles’ three-game skid, it sounds like everyone is on board with the Eagles quarterback’s message.
