DeSean Jackson says he lobbied for Jalen Hurts during Carson Wentz’s final season as Eagles QB

A longtime Philadelphia Eagle, DeSean Jackson had better than a bird’s-eye view of Jalen Hurts’ rookie season. That experience was enough to convince Jackson that the Eagles had something special in Hurts, who two years later would lead the franchise to the Super Bowl. 

Hurts replaced Carson Wentz as the team’s starting quarterback by season’s end. That was anything but a surprise to Jackson, who apparently sang Hurts’ praises to Eagles GM Howie Roseman during that season. 

“I was lobbying for Jalen Hurts back when we had Carson Wentz at that time,” Jackson said earlier this week, via Pro Football Talk. “When everyone was like, ‘Why would we take Jalen Hurts in the second round?’ I remember we were at practice and Jalen, he was the backup behind Wentz, we were sitting back, me, Howie, I think [former Eagles receiver] Alshon Jeffery, and Jalen was going versus the starting defense because when you’re the backup you go versus the ones, so sitting there watching him, I’m just seeing him slinging the ball and he’s making crazy plays, and I looked back at Howie and said, ‘Howie, I told you, that kid’s going to be special, man.’

“Just to see where he’s at now — one thing I can say, back when I was here in 2020, we trained in the offseason and he came to Tampa, and everyone was like, ‘Why is Jalen Hurts training with DeSean Jackson? Why isn’t Carson Wentz out there training?’ He just made it convenient because I trained in Tampa and he came out and trained with me, and we trained for a whole week, and we were able to build, and I could see his mentality was different then. You could see … how eager he was to win. … The game was never too big, his persona, his demeanor, he’s walking around, flipping the ball, I’m like, there’s something special about him. The game is not too big for him. I definitely saw Jalen Hurts before what the world sees now. … He’s going to have some special moments in…

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