Titans DT Jeffrey Simmons defends controversial Jalen Hurts quarterback comments, and Jalen Hurts addresses them too after Eagles 24-20 win
Simmons clarified his pregame remarks in a passionate locker room response, and ESPN captured a telling moment between him and Hurts on the field.
The Tennessee Titans fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 in a hard-fought Week 2 matchup, but the final score wasn’t the only storyline coming out of Nashville. Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts both addressed the controversial comments Simmons made earlier in the week, comments that sparked debate on social media and gave Philadelphia potential bulletin board material heading into the game.
Simmons’ pregame comments and the fallout
During the week leading up to the game, the way Simmons talked about game planning for Jalen Hurts rubbed some people the wrong way.
“We just need to make Jalen Hurts be a quarterback. Stop his runs, make sure Hurts doesn’t get out of the pocket and make plays,” Simmons said.
That can be interpreted in more than one way, and Eagles players and fans chose to take it as a direct shot at Hurts (naturally). Titans fans, meanwhile, were frustrated that Simmons would hand the eagles bulletin board material on a silver platter.
Here’s the thing about those comments, though: Simmons wasn’t wrong! Hurts is one of the more polarizing quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s a Super Bowl winner and Super Bowl MVP, and yet he’s constantly under fire because he is quite limited when made one-dimensional. What Simmons said may have been controversial to some, but the principle behind it was perfectlu sound defensive strategy in my opinion.
The Eagles did escape with the win, but Hurts threw 2 interceptions and was inconsistent throughout the game. He made some fantastic throws from the pocket, but it took every last completion down to the final seconds after those 2 turnovers for Philadelphia to pull it out.
Simmons’ passionate postgame response
After the loss dropped the Titans to 0-2, Simmons was asked to revisit his comments. His response in the locker room was raw and unfiltered:
“I’m frustrated. We’re losing. We’re 0-2. So I mean, it is what it is. We’re 1-2. Or we, we owe in 2. I mean, I’m frustrated as hell right now. That was not a shot at Jalen that he can’t throw the ball down the field. We saw he could throw the ball down the field. He’s a Super Bowl MVP. That wasn’t my shot at Jalen. The thing is, if we could keep him in a pocket and eliminate him from scrambling and making him go sideways, like, we could be successful, especially getting him to third down, because we saw on second downs what that was like. Jalen was trying to find something downfield, he takes off running. You see that all over the tape. And that was my point of making Jalen Hurts stay in the pocket and just be a quarterback. It wasn’t, oh, he can’t be a quarterback in the pocket. But when it really mattered, we weren’t our best today, and that was at the 2-minute drive most of all.”
Simmons made two things clear. First, his original comments were about defensive game-planning, not disrespecting Hurts as a passer. Second, he believes the Titans executed that plan well for most of the afternoon.
Where is he wrong?
The second Hurts interception was a perfect example. Simmons impacted the quarterback while keeping him in the pocket, arriving early enough to affect the throw. The ball came out underthrown, and cornerback Marcus Harris recorded his first career interception.
All love between Simmons and Hurts
For all the noise the comments generated, the aftermath was nothing but mutual respect. Hurts was asked about Simmons’ remarks in his postgame press conference and repeatedly gave the same short answer with a bit of wry sarcasm: he saw the comments, and he was glad they won. He let the game speak for itself.
ESPN then captured a moment between the two on the field after the game. As Hurts was wrapping up his on-field interview, Simmons came up and dapped him up. Hurts’ response was direct.
“You started that s**t. I had to finish it,” Hurts told Simmons.
Simmons was also caught on fan video during the game gesturing toward the Eagles-heavy crowd from the sideline after Tennessee either took or was in the process of taking the lead. And when I say Eagles-heavy, I mean it was basically an away game atmosphere for the Titans in their own stadium. To all those Eagles fans, he had a, uh… message to send!
Simmons backed up his words with his play, Hurts responded with a win, and both moved on with mutual respect.
