Video: Eagles’ Saquon Barkley Defends Jalen Hurts; Critics ‘Wrong’ About Leadership

Saquon Barkley hasn’t even played a game yet for the Philadelphia Eagles, but quarterback Jalen Hurts has already won him over through impressive leadership.

“A lot of people have this view of him, and I think they’re wrong,” Barkley said of Hurts during a conversation with Dianna Russini of The Athletic (49:20 mark) that was released Tuesday. “He’s a great leader. He works his ass off. Those two things to me are the most important things.

“A good leader is not just vocal. Everybody leads in different ways. Him, it’s like, you’re Jalen. It’s the truth. There’s guys in the locker room in every team, you go in the locker room—you go to Kansas City, it’s Patrick [Mahomes], it’s Travis [Kelce]. You go to Philly, it’s A.J. [Brown], it’s Jalen, it’s me—Guys are going to look to you and see, ‘Okay, how does this person work?’ And when you look and you see the work matches the talent, it’s nothing but respect.”

The Penn State product also called Hurts “probably one of the best vocal leaders I ever met in my life” and praised his mentality and competitiveness even in the weight room.

“And I see Jalen out there grinding,” Barkley said. “He’s pushing us. I’m not going to fall behind and vice versa. Like, we push each other. And when you have a guy like that, and if I’m able to come in and match that intensity, it just, it’s infectious throughout the whole team.”  Philadelphia will need that leadership from Hurts if it is going to bounce back from the end of last season.

It seemed like the Eagles were on their way to a second straight Super Bowl appearance when they started 10-1, but they lost five of their final six regular-season games before losing by 23 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.   While Hurts is a back-to-back Pro Bowler with the ability to beat opposing defenses with both his arm and his legs, there were serious question marks about Philadelphia for the first time in two seasons.

The front office responded by signing Barkley this offseason, giving the quarterback yet another weapon in an offense that already features Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

Defenses will have to pick their poison when deciding how to line up against so many playmakers, and Hurts is the type of quarterback who will make them pay when they make an incorrect decision.  And, to hear Barkley tell it, he will also lead the Eagles through any adversity they face as they chase a Super Bowl title.