Philadelphia Eagles

Mills' amazing story about Hurts should excite Eagles fans

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If the Eagles do indeed trade Carson Wentz over the next few days or weeks, there's a good chance second-year QB Jalen Hurts will be the starter come Week 1.

Hurts was a divisive topic among Eagles fans this past fall: did the Eagles undermine Wentz by picking Hurts? Did they wait too long to bench Wentz for Hurts? Once he got his shot, was Hurts actually any good? 

Say what you will about his stats across four starts and one relief performance in the benching game - 51% completion, 7.1 yards per attempt, 6 TD, 4 INT, 51 rushes, 301 yards, 3 rush TD. The Eagles absolutely showed more life as a team during Hurts' appearances, which bodes well for next season.

And at least one of Hurts' teammates saw something from the 22-year-old this past season that has him believing in Hurts' future.

Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills joined The Lefkoe Show on Tuesday to chat about the NFL, the Eagles, and all that jazz. At one point, while discussing Hurts and the future, Mills gave this fantastic story about Hurts' work ethic:

"LEFKOE: What do you mean when you said, 'The way he carries himself.' How does he carry himself?

"MILLS: [...] We played the Saints, what was it, Week 12 maybe, I think, before he started? [It was Week 13.] Up until that point of course Carson is the starter. I kid you not: after practice we have about, Doug would give us about two hours for recovery, to eat lunch, right before our meetings. An hour after practice, when I've showered, I've gotten a cold tub, I'm about to go eat lunch, an hour has passed by and I would - through out cafeteria there's a big glass [window] that looks out onto the practice field, and you would see him out there throwing the ball, still. Throwing the ball with one of the assistant quarterbacks coaches, working on his mechanics, working on his throws, working on rolling out, and I'm like, 'Yo, J, you've got 45 minutes to hurry up, eat, and shower to get to the meetings.' 

"But that just shows you he was preparing himself to where, if there ever was a moment where he got into the game, he wasn't the guy who was out there to be like, 'Okay, Carson's the starter, I'm just out here to be the backup, three to four plays a game I'm going to run the read option, run the ball.' It was, 'No, I'm preparing myself to be the starting quarterback, to make all of these throws.'"

Yeah, that's the good stuff right there. Hurts is a very boring quote, the kind of player who will give you platitudes about working harder than he did last week, about correcting mistakes and believing in his abilities. He's on auto-pilot at this point.

So when his teammates tell stories about him as a person, that's your best chance to get a glimpse of who Hurts really is. And this is exactly what you want to hear.

Hurts might not be the most gifted quarterback in the league in terms of mechanics, and his play in 2020 definitely has a ton of room for improvement.

But it sounds like Hurts is exactly the kind of person you can count on to try and seize those opportunities for improvement before next season begins.

Which is why a big jump in play from Year 1 to Year 2 wouldn't surprise me at all.

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