Ex-Eagles HC Doug Pederson weighs in on Jalen Hurts’ career after Sean Mannion hiring

If there’s anyone who saw the potential in Jalen Hurts early on to become the player he is today for the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s Doug Pederson.

The Eagles’ head coach during his rookie season, Pederson witnessed firsthand as Hurts overtook Carson Wentz on the depth chart and became the player he is today, with a nine-figure contract and multiple Pro Bowl nods on his resume.

So how does Pederson feel about Hurts’ situation in 2026? Well, for some lucky fans on an airplane before the Super Bowl, the former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach explained just that, on the plane’s intercom system for good measure.

“You know, we drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason, and we saw something in Jalen Hurts that we felt like he was going to be the starter at some point. He was going to be the franchise quarterback at some point, sooner obviously than later. And in his defense, I think this will be the sixth offensive coordinator in his career. And that’s hard. That’s hard,” Pederson said.

“But yet you look at the success of what the Eagles have had over the course of the last, really since he started. They’ve won a Super Bowl. They’ve been in another Super Bowl. They’ve been to many playoff games. They’ve won a ton of football games. And every year they’ve had a different offensive coordinator. So I don’t know a ton about the new one. I just know that he’s got to come in, and he’s got to work with Jalen. He’s got to figure out what Jalen does best. Utilize his strength. Utilize the talent on offense. Get the run game back to where it was a year ago when they won the Super Bowl. If he does that, then they’re going to have a lot of success moving forward.”

On paper, everything Pederson is saying is correct, but will the Eagles be able to get their running game back on track in 2026 if two of their offensive linemen are seemingly on the verge of retirement? Fans will find out soon enough.

TRENDING: Former #Eagles HC Doug Pederson was asked about the team‘s new OC and instead spent over a minute talking about how amazing Jalen Hurts is.

“You know, we drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason.”

Every Philadelphia fan should watch this.
pic.twitter.com/COU0MLULgY

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) February 6, 2026

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