The Eagles might be 10-2 and the top seed in the NFC, but one former quarterback thinks it’s time for Philadelphia to consider a change under center.
Speaking on “NFL Total Access” on Tuesday night, former signal-caller David Carr believes now is the time for the Eagles to have a “conversation” about taking Jalen Hurts out of the starting role in favor of backup Marcus Mariota.
Hurts, who was evaluated for a concussion before coming back in during the Eagles’ 42-19 loss to the 49ers on Sunday afternoon, threw for 298 yards and a touchdown in the defeat.
“I feel like we started with good rhythm, good tempo, good execution for the most part,” Hurts said after the loss, according to the Associated Press. “We just kind of weren’t able to connect and execute like we wanted to in the end zone. When you’re playing a good team like that, every little thing matters.”
Still, Carr, the brother of Saints QB Derek Carr and a former Giants passer, believes it should be Mariota — who completed 2 of 3 passes in relief — who should lead the way for the Eagles until Hurts is “100 percent” and can make a difference in the run game.
“Clearly, Jalen is uncomfortable reading through a defense in a drop-back pass scenario, some would say he’s not even good at it,” Carr said. “You have to have a serious conversation if you’re Philly and you have to really say ‘Is it better for us to play Marcus Mariota right now and let Jalen get fully healthy?’
Carr added that it does not matter if the Eagles are the top seed and have home-field advantage because of the way the 49ers dominated this past week.
So, in keeping that in mind, the former 10-year NFL quarterback said the Eagles should consider putting Mariota in to help Philly round out its passing and ground attack.
“Put Marcus in there, win a couple of games, maybe you have the No. 1 seed still, you might have it,” Carr said.”I’d say [Mariota] is better at playing quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles right now. Right now, he’d be more productive.”
Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, largely hasn’t lived up to the hype since he entered the league, going 34-40 as a starter with 15,672 passing yards overall with 92 touchdowns and 54 interceptions.
Hurts, who finished second in the MVP voting last year, has thrown for 19 touchdowns — rushing for 12 more — against 10 picks.
His 93.8 passer rating ranks 13th out of 32 qualified quarterbacks this season.