"Winning is All That Matters': Jalen Hurts on Eagles Win over New England Patriots at NFL 2023

In the wake of the Philadelphia Eagles' narrow 25-20 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday, head coach Nick Sirianni expressed some regret regarding his preseason decisions. Sirianni acknowledged that not playing quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offensive starters during the preseason may have impacted the team's offensive performance in their season opener.
"I'll definitely re-evaluate some of the preseason stuff next year," Sirianni admitted. "Maybe I should have played (Hurts) a series or two this preseason, and I already wrote that in my notes. You know, second thought, if I had to do it over again right now, I would say, yeah, I would have played starters one or two drives in the preseason."
The Eagles' offense had a slow start, going three-and-out on four consecutive possessions in the first half. This performance was considerably bad when compared to last season when the Eagles had just one game with four three-and-outs, which occurred during their Week 17 loss to the Saints with Gardner Minshew at quarterback.
Hurts finished the game 22-of-33 for 170 yards with one touchdown and rushed nine times for 37 yards but also lost a fumble. However, the Eagles managed only one touchdown drive.
Despite the offensive struggles, Hurts mentioned that the most important aspect was securing the win. "Winning is the only thing that matters," Hurts emphasized. "I think we obviously have things that we need to work on and have to be better in those situations when the ball is in my hands, and I take full accountability for that."
The Eagles' decision to limit the preseason playing time of their starters, including Hurts, is part of a league-wide trend in recent years. Many teams prefer to conduct joint practices with other teams instead of playing their starters extensively in preseason games to minimize the risk of injuries.
However, teams that have refrained from playing their quarterbacks during the preseason have often faced early-season struggles, with a combined record of 7-13 over the past two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information.