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The Jeffery Simmons Quote About Jalen Hurts is Kind of Dumb Whether it’s in Full Context or Half Context
By Matt Schultz
Published:
If Jalen Hurts was hoping for some bulletin board material heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Titans, Jeffery Simmons did him a favor: the Tennessee defensive tackle said that to secure the win, they “just need to make Jalen Hurts be a quarterback.”
#Titans Jeffery Simmons on Jalen Hurts: We just need to make Jalen Hurts be a QB. Stop his runs, make sure Hurts doesn't get out of the pocket and make plays.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) September 16, 2026
That’s not bad. There’s some pretty good inspiration stuff in there. I’m not saying it’s A+ bulletin board material or anything. Not when you see the full quote, at least. But it’s okay. And it’s easier to get mad about what Simmons says if you just see the truncated version — the purposely cut-down quote that makes Simmons seem like he’s being super disrespectful — like in this post:
But the second part of the quote — “Stop his runs, make sure Hurts doesn’t get out of the pocket and make plays” — is fair, I think. Sounds like Simmons is describing a pretty standard scouting report when you hear the full thing. But including the full quote doesn’t get people mad online… and that’s what it’s all about… Engagement… Rage… Et cetera…
It works, too. Look at the difference in engagement numbers between the half-quote tweet and the normal-reporting tweet with the extra context:
Ragebait… A method that cannot fail… Perhaps I should try to make more people mad with my blogs… Something to think about…
But I digress. In any event, Eagles fans online have taken offense to Simmons’ assessment of Jalen Hurts, and have responded by posting about how futile the Titans’ “make Jalen be a QB” approach has been for them in the past:
All in all, I’d say this is fine bulletin board material. B-/C+ range. But I could see Jalen Hurts using it to get himself hyped. He’s been doing a Michael Jordan cosplay thing for a while now, and this is way more than MJ would need. So thank you, Jeffery Simmons, for this kind-of-almost disrespect.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com