As Jalen Hurts has grown over his first five seasons as the Eagles' quarterback, he's leaned on a number of mentors, from NBA legend Michael Jordan to Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning.
Manning shared recently on Pro Football Focus with Cris Collinsworth that Hurts regularly calls him with questions about various plays—one of several habits and qualities that impresses him about Hurts.
"He's played so well in both of the Super Bowls, but I like the way he goes about it," Manning told Collinsworth. "He calls me a lot and asks me lots of questions. ... And he calls me with very specific questions about certain plays. So he's a student of the game. Here's another example—he squats 600 pounds, he can run over guys, he can throw it a mile. But his appreciation of the cerebral part of the game is what's impressive to me and how he's taken his game to the next level. I think the sky is the limit for this guy."
Peyton Manning says Eagles QB Jalen Hurts calls him and asks “very specific questions.”
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Manning adds that Hurts’ “appreciation of the cerebral part of the game is what is impressive” to him.
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Along with Hurts's athletic abilities and cerebral approach to the game, Manning also has come away impressed by his toughness, like how he handled being benched during the College Football Playoff national championship game at Alabama.
Manning added that outside of those qualities, he hasn't met a more serious person than Hurts. He quipped: "We do a lot of texting and a lot of voice memos. I imagine he's reading them with a very straight, serious face. I don't crack any jokes with him ... I'd imagine that I would hear crickets."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Peyton Manning Breaks Down What Impresses Him About Jalen Hurts.
