NFL News: Bill Belichick surrenders to Jalen Hurts

The 2023 NFL season is just around the corner. Week 1 will bring us a number of can’t-miss games, including a highly-anticipated meeting between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

These teams got completely different results last year, with one making the Super Bowl while the other didn’t even make the playoffs. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what we can expect of them this time.

Of course, the Eagles head to Foxborough as strong favorites as they were close to tasting the ultimate glory in February. In fact, Bill Belichick had nothing but praise for quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Bill Belichick heaps praise on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts

Hurts looked unstoppable last season and it’s hard to see how opponents can control him. When asked if the Patriots would develop Malik Cunningham to imitate what Hurts is capable of doing, Belichick made it clear there’s no other QB like the Eagles star.

“Yeah, I mean Malik’s got some good skills,” Belichick said, via ProFootballTalk. “I think it would be a stretch to compare Malik Cunningham to Jalen Hurts now. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who was second in MVP voting last year, or whatever he was. Athletically, there’s some similarities, but you’re talking about arguably the best player in the league, or one of the top two or three best players in the league.

“Nobody has anybody that can be him, and if they do, that guy’s probably not playing on the scout team for that team anyway. I mean, it is what it is. We go through that every week. Every team’s got a few good players, and some great players, and it’s hard to replicate those players. If you have one, your guy’s probably not on the scout team doing that for that guy anyway. You do the best you can. We’ll have somebody to try to simulate the best we can what Hurts does, but we don’t have anybody like Hurts, and probably, neither does anybody else.”

When was Jalen Hurts drafted?

Jalen Hurts was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 53rd overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

see also

Bill Belichick explains how Mac Jones won Patriots QB1 job, why Bailey Zappe was cut

When was the last time the Patriots made the playoffs?

The New England Patriots haven’t made the playoffs since the 2021 season, when they lost to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round.