Robert Griffin III reacts to David Carr calling for Jalen Hurts' benching for Week 14
The Philadelphia Eagles lost their first game in six weeks last week against the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Jalen Hurts briefly exited the game due to a potential concussion but returned to close out the loss after backup Marcus Mariota threw a couple of completions.
This week, NFL Network analyst David Carr suggested that the Eagles bench Hurts in favor of backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, at least until the starter returns to full health. The QB has also been dealing with a knee injury this season, for which he wears a brace.
Former quarterback Robert Griffin III reacted to Carr’s suggestion when he joined the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday.
“Are the Eagles 10-2 or did I miss something?” Griffin said. “I can agree with the fact that the Eagles offense isn’t as dominant as it was last year. I don’t really care about that, I just care about the wins. The thing the Eagles need to focus on is that they’ve moved away from their identity of being a run-first football team. It was 14-6 at halftime and they had only 25 drop back passes and seven rushes by the running backs.
“To me, that’s them trying to attack the 49ers because they have A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and you have a QB in Jalen Hurts who they paid a lot of money to. But just because you paid him all that money, doesn’t mean you have to move away from your identity. For me, it starts with Jason Kelce in the middle of the OL.”
Carr believes Eagles can win with Mariota
Marcus Mariota may not be the run-of-the-mill backup that some teams have on the roster, but Carr’s suggestion to voluntarily bench Hurts is poorly timed. Especially considering the Eagles play NFC East rival Dallas on Sunday night.
“Why play Marcus? I don’t know, to give Jalen a chance to rest, to sit,” Carr said. “You can’t win with a backup quarterback? You can’t win with [Cincinnati Bengals quarterback] Jake Browning? With [Indianapolis Colts quarterback] Gardner Minshew? Gardner did it on this team, Philly, last season, when Jalen sat, right? He’s doing it right now in Indy.
“You can definitely do it with Marcus, who can run the football. You can give Marcus 25 carries on Sunday, 25. Go at it, create one and ones on the outside, I think that would be fantastic. if that’s the case and Jalen has to sit, great. And if he’s healthy, fully rested into the playoffs, they have a chance to win the Super Bowl.”
Hurts, leading the Eagles to their 10-2 record this season, has 2,995 passing yards, 430 rushing yards and 31 total touchdowns. He’s also thrown 10 interceptions and taken 32 sacks.