Hurts vows to grow from crushing Super Bowl loss

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Less than 48 hours after losing the Super Bowl, Jalen Hurts stood by his locker at the NovaCare Complex and thought back to another heartbreaking loss.

He remembered what he told himself in the wake of losing the National Championship to Clemson as a true freshman at Alabama in 2017: “My sophomore year starts tomorrow.”

“And nothing changes now,” Hurts said on Tuesday. “Nothing changes now.”

When Hurts woke up on Monday morning, he was moving on to his fourth season in the NFL. And by Tuesday, the 24-year-old vowed to grow from the Eagles’ 38-35 loss in the Super Bowl.

Even if the loss itself was painful.

“I always say the 24-hour rule,” Hurts said. “It’s a 24-hour rule. It stings, it stings. But I’m embracing everything that comes with it and I’m embracing the challenge ahead. And this team will have that mentality moving forward. I’m going to have that mentality and there’s a true eagerness to move forward with the right intensity, the right focus, the right time of fortitude.”

As the Eagles cleaned out their lockers on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex, some players were still obviously dejected after such a brutal loss in a game that got away. Sometimes it’s really tough for the team that loses the Super Bowl to rebound the next season.

If there’s one big thing these Eagles have going for them, it’s the leadership and mindset of their quarterback.

Hurts has already watched the Super Bowl back. And even though the magnitude of that game is enormous, he wants to learn from it like he would any other game.

“I think you have to look yourself in the mirror and assess it for what it is,” he said. “And do the things that need to be done to grow from it. So I think that’s my mentality going on and I think that will be the whole entire team’s mentality moving forward.”

It’s not like Hurts is the reason the Eagles lost the game. Sure, his fumble that was scooped up for a touchdown was a big mistake but he was incredible on the biggest stage in the sport. He threw for over 300 yards, ran for 70 and accounted for all four of the Eagles’ touchdowns.

"I think for me, I don’t do it for the approval of anyone else," Hurts said. "I appreciate everything that comes with it but I’m not campaigning to be loved, I’m campaigning to be hated. I’m just trying to be the best player I can be for this city, for my teammates, my family, the people around me and everyone that’s been along this journey."

His performance was a heck of a way to cap a season in which he finished second in MVP voting behind just Patrick Mahomes, who also won Super Bowl MVP.

And now that Hurts is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, it seems likely the Eagles work hard to get him locked up to a long-term deal. That contract will likely pay him $45 million or more in annual salary.

On Tuesday, Hurts was asked where contract talks stand.

“I think the thing that I’m most focused on is winning,” he said. “The only thing I care about is winning and ultimately winning a championship. There will be a day where that conversation can be had but today isn’t that day.”

It seems like that day is coming.

Because the Eagles have found their franchise quarterback. Not only did he play at an exceptional level in 2022, but he’s obsessed with getting better.

Even if that means watching back a painful loss in the biggest game of his life just to find a lesson buried in the tape.

“I’m going into Year 4 hungrier than ever, starving for more,” Hurts said. “And I just want to challenge myself to be the best quarterback, leader and man I can be for my teammates and this city and impact the people around me in the right way. So maybe the next time around we can finish it off the way we want to.”

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