The Josh Innes Show - Jalen Hurts Is The Greatest Enigma Ever

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

There is more Jalen Hurts drama in Philly. It's truly remarkable that a guy that has won so much, been to multiple Super Bowls and seems like a good dude can be such a divisive character. But, here's the thing...he is. I have no clue what to feel about the guy. It's mind blowing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So I am fascinated by the drama surrounding Jalen Hertz because the obvious thing to say about Hertz is all they do is win football games when the guy plays. Guy's been to two Super Bowls. Can you imagine if you're in a city like Houston that's never been to a Super Bowl or Cleveland who's never been to a Super Bowl or a Jacksonville or one of these places that constantly has quarterback drama and shitty quarterback play? And you told them, hey, we got a quarterback who's been to, two Super Bowls and won one of them.

And we don't really like him, and some of the players won him gone. Like, that's why that's almost an only Philly thing. Like, you want to compare it to a different situation. Like, look at Eli Manning. Like, Eli Manning in New York is held in, like, such high regard by a lot of people, and he went to two Super Bowls, and he won both of them, but it's kind of similar. Was never a guy that anybody viewed as some sort of all-time great quarterback by any means, but he's kind of held in high regard because he played.

in New York and they went to two Super Bowls. Like, if you look at the seasons surrounding those two Super Bowl seasons for the Giants, like how many playoff games did Eli Manning win outside of the two Super Bowl years? I understand, like, hey, other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln? I'm fully aware. But it's pretty, like, when you think about it, you've got cities that have either been starving for a Super Bowl forever or cities who've never been to a Super Bowl or cities that have never won a Super Bowl.

There are a lot more of those than the cities who have won them. Right? Like it's one thing if you're Pittsburgh or you're Philadelphia or you're the Patriots of this quarter century. It's a whole other thing when you're the city of Houston for football or what the Eagles were, if we're going to go real talk prior to about eight years ago, what the Eagles were. And look, I understand that it's easy and maybe even lazy to say like, hey, like think about what you have and what you used to be. Because obviously expectations change with success. So this isn't like, oh, God, we're just desperate to get to. a Super Bowl. Now it's we've got to win 10 of them. But it's pretty crazy to think about the fact that Jalen Hertz has more success than almost all of the quarterbacks currently playing in the

NFL. How many quarterbacks postseason are more successful than Jalen Hurd? And by the way, this isn't like a fluky, well, first of all, let me play a couple commercials and we'll continue. First of all, this isn't like a fluky situation like a foals who wasn't good and Foles would just hit the lottery in the playoffs and it worked out. You know, Foles proved with every other team he played for that Foles wasn't very good. Like it was this miraculous playoff success. And really, he won the Super Bowl, should have beaten the Saints that other year that Alshan Jeffrey let the pass go through his hands.

They were driving to go down and tie that game. so like it's not like that though this is a guy that consistently wins a shit ton of regular season football and you can tell me it's because of the coordinator and you can tell me it's all these factors and probably true you can say that i say the coordinator it's the defense it's all of these factors i'm with you man it could be that the division's been bad forever that's fine i'm with you i'll entertain that i don't think you're wrong i don't think jalen hurts is very good and i don't like to watch him play football i hate watching the eagles offense play. And I actually hate the drama that surrounds it all the time. I would rather

just be exciting shit that's good football to watch. It is not most of the time. I mean, see that last game they played. See the game against Detroit. Like it was an awful football game. But every week, there's some sort of drama surrounding a dude and all he's done has been to two Super Bowls. These Philadelphia people suck the farts out of the asshole of Buddy Ryan, who never won a fucking thing. They blow all these people that have never done anything, but they liked them. Jalen Hertz goes to two Super Bowls, wins one of them, and somehow, like, every week, there's some sort of referendum on Jalen Hertz. But then on one hand, I'm ripping them, and on the other hand, I get it because I don't think he's any good. But like, at what point do you have

to cut the bullshit of, well, we just don't think he's all that good, but he keeps winning and just say, then write it until he doesn't win anymore. There you go. But anyway, so here's audio of Jalen Hertz talking about this report that some of the Eagles players are frustrated with Jalen Hertz. Let's see. Let's play some of this. I mean, you know, this is kind of the nature of the position, like I said, but, you know, I put my energy and I put my focus zone,

try and go out there and do my best and go to work every day and continue to go out there and try and do my best. I mean, can you argue that this is the most ridiculous thing the planet. You have to, right? Like, again, are they going to win the Super Bowl this year? I don't know. I don't know that their offense is good enough to do that. But I don't know if it's him or if the bigger issue is the people and where they're putting him in what positions they're putting this team in. The guy's been to two Super Bowls. It just, like, it is such a weird thing because

I get both sides. I know you're not supposed to get both sides. I know you're supposed to have an opinion and stick with an opinion. I'm fully aware of that. But think about this. sitting here and I'm like, you know, I don't know if Jailen Hertz is all that good or not, but he's been to Super Bowls. It's absurd that like every week is some sort of big media story about how Jalen Hertz isn't all that good. It is nuts. I get

a lot of attention when things are going well and when things are not going so well and so I never run away from holding myself accountable. And I think you know, I think that's exactly what I've taken the approach of doing. You know, even when I look at this last game

and I take a great pride and what we do on the offense. I take great pride. Well, I don't get, and I understand matchups are important. And so certain teams you play in certain situations dictate things. But like, go back to the Rams game, right? If you look at what they did against the Rams, I think

it was the Rams game. They were up, they were down big on the Rams, and then just started slinging it. And I get it when you're behind. Things are a little bit different. I'm fully aware of that. Teams play things differently. But go back to that Rams game that they ended up winning by seven because of the blocked field goal at the end of the game. It was a game they should have lost,

You can't ignore in victory, what you would otherwise, not ignore in defeat. I mean, look, you look at what you've done this year and you've had a lot of one-score games. Like, the majority of their games have been one-score games. I'm aware of it. I get it. Fine. The last two weeks have been pretty brutal offensively. They scored 26 total points in those two games.

But go back to when they're rallying against the Rams. And I know I'm oversimplifying this here. Because I watched it with, because it's very similar to what we used to see with Matt Schaub in Houston. Like they'd get down 17 to 3. it changes the way the defense plays and all of a sudden Matt Schaub throws for 400 yards and looks like Tom Brady. So I get it. The game is different whenever you're trailing and you have to come back. But in that game, at one point they were down 26 to 7. And then their next handful of drives, five plays 79 yards, 13 plays 87 yards. Both of those touchdown drives,

they cut it to five. Next drive, four plays, they turn it over on downs, fine. They get the ball back down 26-21 and they put together a 17-play 91-yard 7-minute drive to put themselves in position to win the game. They take a one-point lead. Ram should have won it. They didn't find. It's not like

they don't have the ability. It's not like, so that's the thing. It's not like you watch them every week or in every situation and go, they're just useless. You know, like you don't watch it and go, okay, this team has... It's not like watching Justin Fields. Justin Fields is a shitty football player and the Jets offense is always shitty and there are never any redeemable moments when you watch the Jets play. There's never a time I watch the Jets play and go, hey, maybe they figured it out.

I don't. They fucking suck. We know they fucking suck. But there are enough moments of Jalen Hertz when you go, dude, slinging it. So what is the issue? You know, and then you go a couple weeks later and they're playing the Giants. I get that it's the Giants. I'm fully aware.

So whatever, they stink. But she got hurts, played well. Barclay ran the ball well in that game. They played Minnesota before that Giants game. Dude threw for 326 yards against the Vikings. And they were up at one point in that game 14 to 3. Again, you look at the drives they put together early in that game. 12 play, 75 yards, go up 7 to nothing.

Now, it's a weird game also because they had to pick 6 to put them on the board in that game as well. Second half, again, it's all. kind of misleading. Two plays 84 yards. Nine plays 47 yards. Seven plays 70 yards. So like my point is, it's not like it's not there. It's not like you watch them and think, okay, this is hopeless. Because this is a guy that's been to two Super Bowls. This is a guy that's won one Super Bowl. It's a guy that's won the vast majority of the games he's played at at every level. It's baffling. Because it's not like it doesn't exist and it's not like it's in them. It's not like it's a lost cause.

And that's why this is such a weird thing to talk about. Like you look at his career. The dude is 54 and 22. Let's do this. NFL QB winning percentage all time. Let's see where he ranks among quarterbacks all time. Not just wins. I want winning percentage. Quarterbacks with the best winning percentage all time. Here we go. Autogram. Who gives a shit? Otto Graham played in 72 games, 181% of them.

Jalen Hertz is number 20, all time. He has the same winning percentage as Joe Montana. And again, that's not apples to apples, I get it. He has a better winning percentage, or the same winning percentage as Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler. The people, and again, some of these, like Steve Bono, for instance,

has a 682 winning percentage. So I get that there will be outliers where you, you go, huh, interesting. But this dude has played in 87, at least according to this side, 87 games. His winning percentage as a quarterback is 6-61. You know, there's only a notch above that, in a lot more games, of course. Ben Ralthusberger.

Jim McMahon is ahead of that. Played in slightly more games. Point being in all of this, Tom Brady is above that. Roger Stauback is above that. Lamar, Peyton Manning. Taysam Hill. That's not, Taysam Hill has not started 8K. This site may be a little bit off too because I got Taysam Hill with the best way.

Like, he didn't start 81 games as a quarterback. But Steve Young, Josh Allen, Ben Ralthusberger, Joe Montana. So it is a weird scenario. Like there's no way to dispute that, right? Like this is a bizarre world where you've got a dude who is an anomaly. Like he is a, what's the word I'm really? looking for. Like he's an enigma. It is a weird thing where

like you can see where one group of people thinks he sucks and where the other guys would think he sucks and think that he's a touchdown vulture and think that he's holding them back and you can go, yeah, I get it. But then on the other hand, the guy wins 68% of its games and has been to the Super Bowl and won one

and should have won two. It is truly baffling. Let's play a little bit more of this audio here. Let's see here. More from Jalen Hertz. There we go. Here we we go. I would go out there and play as a team and what our flow is. And so we obviously got work to do.

And I think that's starting. Also, my man sounds dower. Like, I would be tired of this shit too. Because at the end of the day, like, I know that I'm making multiple cases here. But at the end of the day, the name of the game is winning the game. And I don't think he wins in such terrible ways over the course of his career that you would go. This isn't sustainable. Like when Tim Tebow, good example.

When Tim Tebow was winning games, you'd be like, well, this guy just went like, you know, five of 19 or some shit. But he completes a 70-yard pass in overtime where a guy breaks 10 tackles. And you're like, holy shit, all he does is win. Like, we get that kind of shit all the time. Oh, my God. All this guy does is wins. But then you're like, huh, he sucks. Like, Jalen Hertz does not suck.

Their offense sucks. It's unwatchable. But you cannot tell me a guy who is once. has the 20th best winning percentage of all time and you can't tell me a guy that's been to two Super Bowls and won one of them sucks. Like I think

Eli Manning kind of sucks. But like statistics and Super Bowl appearances would bear out that he didn't suck. He wasn't as good as he gets blown for, but he didn't suck, right? Like, there's no way that Jalen Hertz sucks. There's too many good things that happen

with him for me to say he sucks. But there's too much bad to happen for me to think he's great. It is mind-blowing. And I know other, I get that Philly, like, Philly people have to feel this way. This has to be the issue these people deal with every day. It obviously starts with me. That's always my approach. That's always me looking internally first and everything that we do. And then in due time rising above. It's about coming in here and working and leading and bringing good energy and going out there and showing about how you work. You know, at the end of the day, we come out here to, to, we are here to

play. In a way, I feel bad for this cat. Not that he gets criticism because they only win 10 to 7 against a shitty team or like they could have, should have would have blown out the Lions. The Lions defense is not as good as what you might have seen or thought they were in that game because of the result. The Lions defense is fine. They're beat up. Their secondary was beat up. There was a lot of issues with the Lions defense. So like you could watch that game and be like, how the hell did you only win that game the way you won that game? Or how did you only beat Green Bay 10 to 7. I get it. I respect that and I get it. But there are enough games that Jalen Hertz plays where you go, dude's a baller. Like there's too much of that. With guys who

suck, you never see it. With Tim Tebow, you never saw it. I know that that's the example I keep using. But everybody, when you hear all he does is win, that's like the go-to. That is the goat of all he does is win conversation. Like, ignore everything, but remember that all he does is when. Like, at what point do you just shut the fuck up about it and enjoy being 8 and 2? At what point do you just shut the fuck up about it and go, this dude has won 66, 67% of his games? This dude has gone to the Super Bowl twice. Like, at what point do you just accept that and say, cut the shit? At what point do you start saying, oh, are the people who think the offense sucks and are bitching about it

and are talking behind the scenes about how they don't like Jalen Hertz? How many of those are guys like A.J. Brown who aren't getting the ball as much as they think they should get the ball? Like, who is the source? The source matters. I mean, you've got a dude who is six and three in the postseason in his career. A dude has been to two Super Bowls in his crease. He's played four years of playoff football. He's been in the league for six years.

Four of those years they've made the postseason. As a starter, he's about to have his fourth consecutive double-digit win season. Like, it's so bizarre. It's hard for, like, can you imagine if you're an alien that comes down from the planet Vulcan and an alien comes down and they're watching this and they're like, wait a minute, you mean to tell me that the main objective in the NFL is to win games, yes. And all this dude has done in his career is 154 of those games and lost 22 in the regular season and won six of those games and lost three in the postseason.

Yes. Then what's the fucking problem? But it's a weird world. It is a fascinating world. It is a stat world. It is a prop bet world. It is a fantasy world. But on the other hand, again, and here I go.

On the other hand, for every game that they, like, we can throw out the record and say they're eight and two, they're eight and two. It would not be unfair to go, well, they're eight and two, but they should have lost to the Rams. They had to get a miracle block field goal. And you could blame Hertz in that game, too, and say they were down way early. They were down 19 to 7 or 26 to 7, and they had to rally. Part of that is because their offense is inept.

like this causes me so much strife internally that it's wild it's nuts because again you beat the cowboys by four you beat the chiefs by three you beat the rams by seven and really beat them by one it was a block kick at the end of the game you beat tampa by six your first four games you won by a combined what 13 16 like 20 points over four games Vikings by six you blowout Minnesota, Green Bay by three, Detroit by seven. Like, I get it. Because they could be, instead of eight and two, they couldn't be two and eight, but could they be five and five?

Yeah, they could. So I get it. This is truly one of the most unique situations. Like, I lived there during the first part of Foles. I wasn't there for the Super Bowl Foles. But I was there and I saw Foles stuff. Like Fools, you knew that it was fool's goal. Like you knew that it was an, like a, you knew that he was not a guy that was going to win you a ton of football games outside of these miracle playoff runs.

Because you saw it with other teams. And I don't know that if you sent Jalen Hertz to the Raiders today, they're a better team. I don't know that. But I don't know that they're not. So it's, I really, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around this whole thing. I have a difficult time with this. I've never seen anything like this ever. You know, this isn't Linsanity.

You know, or Jimmer Fredet or something like that that's a brief thing that lasts a year. People get hyped over it. They buy T-shirts. And then it's over. This is just a guy who's about to have his fourth consecutive double-digit win season. And this is a dude that's about to go to the playoffs again.

And this is a dude that's six and three in the playoffs. And this is a dude that's won 30 more games than he's lost in the NFL. and it's top 20 all-time and winning percentage. It's also a dude who's offense the last two weeks has scored 10 and 16 points, but they've won so you can ignore it. I've never seen anything like this.

I cannot. Baseball, those things don't exist in baseball. Those are difficult things to do. Baseball's not a sport that lends itself to that. Football, basketball, I don't know what to do. I truly don't because I can see both sides, and that never usually happens.

Usually you're like, I hate watching the Eagles play offensive football. It's offensive. Like, I hate watching it. That is a fact. I do not believe their offense is good. And I believe they are winning in spite of their offense, but they're winning. And I'm sure there were plenty of games that they won in that Super Bowl year, the two years they've gone to the Super Bowl with Hertz. I guarantee there were games in both of those years that they should have lost that they found a way to win because the defense made a play or whatever happened. It's bizarre. I truly cannot wrap my brain around it. It's nuts. Anyway, All right, more to come.