Eagles

Marcus Hayes Getting Hammered for Saying Jalen Hurts is “Insecure”

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jun 23rd, 2023 · 1:37 PM EDT

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This is going around on Twitter, with people more or less obliterating Marcus Hayes:

“He’s probably the most insecure athlete in Philadelphia, who uses the insecurity to his advantage. I think he knows what his physical limitations are and always has been, and that’s one reason he works so hard to optimize every bit of ability he has.”

– @inkstainedretch on… pic.twitter.com/GGtGMWpS03

— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) June 23, 2023

Full answer:

“My observation, and John (McMullen) has been around him more, but my observation with Jalen Hurts is he’s probably the most insecure athlete in Philadelphia, who uses the insecurity to his advantage. I think he knows what his limitations are and always have been. That’s one reason he works so hard, to optimize every bit of ability he has. That’s one reason he works so hard to be in the best physical shape he can be in. And he works so hard to understand the league, whatever system he’s running offensively, what his own teammates can do. You hear this all the time – “I’ve never seen a player work as hard as player X.” Jalen Hurts works as hard as Michael Jordan, you know? He really does.”

“Insecure” is not the correct word here. Surely Marcus meant to say “self-aware.” That would make a lot more sense and fit the context of the quote, because he’s actually paying Hurts a compliment here. He works hard, he understands his limitations, he optimizes his ability, etc. That sounds like the definition of being self-aware. If you’re “insecure” it means you lack confidence and have a lot of self doubt, which does not describe Jalen Hurts at all.

The only other thing we can take from this quote is the thought that Hurts even has limitations in 2023. Sure he did before, like accuracy issues when throwing the ball, the ability to read a defense, and his heavy deployment as a running quarterback. But fast forward a bit and the guy becomes MVP runner up while doing enough to win the Super Bowl. There’s very little, if anything, limiting him at this current phase of his NFL career.