Contrary To Popular Belief, It Appears Jalen Hurts Can Actually Have Fun While Playing Football
Megan Briggs. Getty Images.One of the biggest knocks on Jalen Hurts this past season was that he wasn't enough of an emotional leader. Not enough of a "rah-rah" guy. Personally I don't see any issue with having the most important player on your football team being solely focused on winning, and so dialed in on the game that it doesn't allow him the luxury of trying to lift the spirits of his teammates around him. Jalen Hurts was molded by Nick Saban. You're not going to get an overly vocal leader in the locker room from a guy like that. You're just going to get a man who is laser locked on winning, and nothing else matters besides getting the job done. He's got the stoic meter dialed up to a 10. Seems like that is a better way to lead than being an unofficial cheerleader, but I guess some people think differently.
But anyways, you'd be hard pressed to find a single moment during the season where Jalen Hurts is smiling. I'm sure he snuck in a little smile here and there, but very rarely. You'd find it to be an even more impossible task to find a single moment during the season where Jalen Hurts was giggling like a little school girl. I was starting to worry that his cheeks muscles don't even work in a way in which producing a hearty laugh is possible. But during yesterday's Pro Bowl, it looked like Jalen Hurts was actually feeling emotions of joy and glee while playing football for the first time.
Look at that smile! Listen to that laugh!
Dare we say that Jalen was having fun? Even though he dropped the pass and the play didn't work out? That's not the Jalen Hurts we've seen over the past few years in Philly. But maybe the Pro Bowl is exactly what Jalen needed. A quick break from every single snap being another piece of an unfinished puzzle. A way to hit the reset button and maybe just shake off a little bit of the Nick Saban armor he's built around himself.
I've never had more confidence in a Jalen Hurts bounce back year. Just as long as Kellen Moore gets his eyes on this clip and realizes he needs to burn any thought he's ever had of calling up a Philly Special for Jalen.