The Philadelphia Eagles want a quarterback competition. That's the message rookie head coach Nick Sirianni stressed when he declined to name dual-threat sophomore Jalen Hurts this season's starter during a press conference on Wednesday.
"To name any starters at this particular time, we've been working with these guys for two days," Sirianni told reporters. "My biggest thing is competition. We've talked a little bit about my core values, [and] it's my second core value, it's this team's second core value. Competition is a huge thing, and we're going to have competition at every position."
At the moment, the Eagles only have two quarterbacks on the roster: Hurts and veteran Joe Flacco, who signed a one-year deal with the team back in March. Philadelphia could add another quarterback during next week's NFL Draft, but with the No. 12 overall pick, it'd behoove them to address glaring needs at other positions.
During Wednesday's edition of the JR SportBrief show, JR shared his thoughts on the Eagles' quarterback situation, and how the team should approach the draft.
"The Eagles here... yeah, I understand, you want competition. You don't want to go out and declare that Jalen Hurts is your starter, you want him to earn it," JR said. "Some other things that you probably don't want -- besides not naming him a starter -- you don't want to see Joe Flacco on the field. You don't want to see a disaster, with a quarterback you selected last year to compete -- I guess potentially with Carson Wentz -- you don't want to see him on the sidelines, looking at a rookie, looking at how your time has been wasted. Because if you do select a quarterback in this first round, with the No. 12 pick, I can't see this team having success with a rookie QB.
"I don't even see this team having a lot of success with Jalen Hurts. I see the Eagles being a disaster. I think Jalen Hurts is going to be your best option, and I think the best thing to do is get him a solid receiver... It's time for the Eagles to get a wideout who can actually help out a quarterback, so Jalen Hurts isn't running for his life. And if Joe Flacco gets an opportunity, at this point in his career, he would basically be a sitting duck. The Eagles, they need help everywhere on the football field... The least you can do is get Jalen Hurts someone to work with so he can develop. Get a quarterback later on in the draft. Sit tight.
"But the reality is, it doesn't matter who starts for the Eagles at quarterback. This team, because of its management, because of [general manager] Howie Roseman, is likely to still be a disaster. I just hope that no one -- including new head coach Nick Sirianni -- I hope no one gets eaten alive, because that's the way it looks right now. I would stay away from drafting a quarterback, and complicating this situation even further. Because the Eagles, they already look like a joke."
Hurts, who was selected by Philadelphia in the second round of last year's draft, completed 77-of-148 passes for 1,061 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions in 2020 (15 games, four starts), and ran for 354 yards on 63 carries with three scores on the ground.
JR's complete thoughts on the Eagles can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.