Jalen Hurts is closing in on becoming the first Philadelphia Eagles player to capture league MVP honors since 1960, turning in excellent performances every week for the team with the best record in the NFL.
While Hurts has been playing at an elite level every week, the Eagles are off to their best start since 2004 (12-1) and have full control of the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. A.J. Brown has played a significant role in the team's 12-1 start and Hurts emerging into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Appearing on CBS Sports' "All Things Covered" podcast this week, Brown told former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden that he wants to get Hurts his MVP trophy -- even if Hurts won't stress over actually winning the award or not.
"He doesn't really care about the MVP, but we're all rooting for him to win it," Brown said. "We're definitely trying to do our part and make sure we keep this thing rolling. We have to keep winning games, because that's a deciding factor in it, too.
"He's just been locked in. A couple weeks ago they took away the pass and he ran. The other week it was vice versa. That just tells you how locked in he is. I know it's a tight race between him and (Patrick) Mahomes and Mahomes is a good quarterback, too, but half the games that we played in Jalen Hurts didn't play in the second half. That has to be the edge."
Hurts has been one of the league's best quarterbacks in 2022, completing 68% of his passes for 3,157 yards with 22 touchdowns to three interceptions for a 108.4 passer rating -- which leads the NFL. He also has 686 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, the first quarterback in NFL history to have 10 rushing touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
Since the Eagles' bye week (Week 8), Hurts leads the NFL in passer rating (117.3), touchdown passes (16), touchdown rate (7.8%) and combined passing and rushing touchdowns (20). He's also second in interception rate (0.4%) and combined passing and rushing yards (2,036).
Through it all, Hurts takes a business-like approach to the game. Hurts demonstrated that in Sunday's game after a touchdown pass to Brown, sitting on the bench with a serious face while Brown and Quez Watkins were celebrating the score.
Up 21-0 and Jalen Hurts is still LOCKED in 👀 pic.twitter.com/7CKtu3zbKQ
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) December 11, 2022
"I think the quarterback and receiver play the game for different reasons. We wanna get in the end zone and score a touchdown and have fun," Brown said. "With him, it is all business. He wants to win. He's so determined to win.
"He celebrates in the moment, but when it's over -- it's over. It doesn't continue on. He's back locked in. We're the same way [in that] we know we got a little time to be have fun, but once we back on that field we locked in. We dialed back in, too."
