What's Really Up With Hurts and the Eagles

Jeremy Fowler breaks down his reporting on what is actually going on with Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, and the Eagles.

The reporting started with a simple observation. The Eagles passing offense has been a problem for two years. They won big because Saquon Barkley and the run game overwhelmed teams. AJ Brown showed visible frustration nearly every week. Fowler and his team talked to more than a dozen sources in and around the organization trying to figure out what was actually going wrong.

Hurts' name came up often. Despite his strengths, his clutch gene, the steely resolve, coachability was flagged as an issue. He can be rigid about what he wants.

On the AJ Brown relationship specifically, Fowler does not think they are in a terrible place. Hurts himself said after the season they had talked and were in a great place. Nobody Fowler spoke with saw a blowout fight between them. What he describes instead is two players with slightly different personalities who both internalize everything.

Hurts is an introvert. That can be hard to read inside a locker room full of personalities and ego. He is not a natural galvanizer, though Fowler notes he did try to change that later in the season and made progress. The real problem is that Hurts and Brown are not communicating productively. The airing of grievances in a healthy way is not happening.

Can they coexist? Maybe, Fowler says, but probably not best. Most people around the league still expect Brown to be traded. It depends on timing and offer. Philadelphia wanted a lot. New England or whoever else was involved could not match it. The draft may create urgency.

Rich asks the question sitting in the room. Is somebody in the building doing Hurts dirty?

Fowler answers carefully. He can only speak for his reporting. The offense on the field was the problem. The answers they got trying to explain why were consistent. To be fair to Hurts, he has had immense success and seems open to the changes coming with new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and Shawn Manion.

Fowler adds that there is some sympathy for Brown in parts of the building. The refrain when people talk about him: he's trying to work inside an offense with Hurts at quarterback, and that offense does not create layups for star receivers.