Titans’ Jeffery Simmons fuels the fire of Jalen Hurts disrespect right before the Eagles travel to Nashville
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts had a strong performance in the season opener against the Washington Commanders. The disrespect continues, however.
The Philadelphia Eagles opened the 2026 season with a win against the Washington Commanders, but the performance raised as many questions as it answered.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles quarterback, carried the offense through an up and down debut for new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who called plays for the first time in his career. Philadelphia’s passing attack featured chunk plays and explosive moments, but the 3-and-out rate was alarming, and the offensive line struggled to create any consistency in the running game for running back Saquon Barkley.
From the first snap under Mannion’s direction, the Eagles offense looked different. There was pre-snap motion, players shifting around, and the kind of structural changes fans had been asking to see throughout last season.
It was not perfect. There were high highs and low lows, stretches that felt like painful flashbacks to 2025. But the overall structure felt more sound, and for Week 1, that was enough.
Hurts silenced the doubters
According to RB of A to Z Sports, Hurts was phenomenal. He commented on him hitting a bomb downfield to quiet critics who claimed he could not throw deep. He zipped one over the middle to tight end Dallas Goedert, who proved once again just how important he is to this offense.
Hurts did not put the ball in harm’s way and simply won the football game the way he always does. The disrespect toward Hurts entering this season was at an all-time high, and his response was emphatic.
What made the performance even more impressive was the context surrounding it. The offensive line was atrocious.
Barkley had a 42-yard run, but outside of that, he managed roughly 41 yards on his other 14 carries. There was no rhythm on the ground. Hurts had to scramble constantly, facing pressure on what felt like every snap. That he produced the way he did while dealing with a leaky pocket only strengthened the case for how valuable he is to Philadelphia.
The wide receiver room showed promise
DeVonta Smith remains the clear No. 1 option, though it would have been nice to see him schemed into the game earlier. Dontayvion Wicks flashed with a 64-yard reception, the biggest play of his career, showcasing downfield separation he was never asked to provide in previous stops.
Rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon finished with negative yardage in his debut, an odd stat line on the surface. However, a postgame graphic revealed he posted the second or third highest separation grade among all rookie wide receivers in Week 1. Lemon was getting open but simply was not targeted beyond a few designed touches behind the line of scrimmage.
Lemon also contributed one of the sneakiest big plays of the game.
Late in the contest, with the Eagles losing momentum, Hurts scrambled 22 yards on 3rd-and-18 to pick up a critical first down. The very next play was a Goedert touchdown that sealed the win. On that scramble, the biggest factor was Lemon delivering a monster block that sprung Hurts free.
If the negative-yardage stat line repeats for five weeks, a real conversation needs to happen. For now, it appears Lemon simply does not have enough plays designed for him in the playbook yet, partly because of a preseason injury that put him behind.
The 3-and-out problem and offensive line concerns
Philadelphia posted the second highest 3-and-out percentage in the NFL during Week 1, trailing only the Tennessee Titans. Seven punts is a lot, and several drives went backwards from the start. Penalties, sacks on first down, and negative-yardage plays consistently put the Eagles behind the sticks.
One drive featured a 10-yard penalty followed by a minus-5-yard pass to Lemon, then a sack, leaving the offense facing 3rd-and-12. Another included a sack on 1st-and-10 that immediately killed momentum.
The lack of efficiency traced directly back to the offensive line’s inability to create positive plays on first down. When you cannot run the football effectively or generate early-down gains, third-and-medium and third-and-long situations pile up, and conversion rates plummet.
Still, there is plenty of reason to hold off on panic. This was the first real game for Mannion as a play-caller at any level. Week 1 performances lie to us every single year, and the Eagles spent plenty of time this offseason acknowledging that reality.
The structure looked better, Hurts looked elite, and Philadelphia got out of Nashville with a win. That counts for something, even if the box score tells a messier story.
Is the Hurts’ disrespect really gone?
Most left the game against the Commanders feeling good about Hurts’ progress. He played a good game under center, but yet, the doubt continues.
Titans star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons spoke to the local media on Wednesday ahead of their matchup against the Eagles this weekend, where he spoke about ways to stop Hurts and this Eagles offense. According to Simmons, the Titans “need to make Jalen Hurts a quarterback. Stop the runs, make sure Hurts doesn’t get out of the pocket and make plays.”
Whether intentional or not, that does come off as an insult to Hurts. This presents another opportunity for Hurts to show his progress as a passer inside of this new look offense. Depending on how it goes, Simmons will have to revisit his commentary, whether he was right or wrong about his analysis.
