NFC Notes: Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, Eagles, Giants

Eagles

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts went from sitting in the Chiefs confetti during defeat to holding the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the Super Bowl MVP in a dominant victory over Kansas City. His play earned high praise from HC Nick Sirianni, who was emotional following the win.

“He just keeps he just keeps getting better,” Sirianni said of Hurts, via NFL.com. “He knows how to win. He does a great job of being able to block out all the outside noise. I find it funny when it’s like, you know, ‘Well, Jalen is good because he’s got a good team around him.’ Like, that’s football — you cannot be great without the greatness of others. Jalen can’t do it by himself. He needs A.J. ( Brown) . He needs that offensive line. He needs Saquon ( Barkley) and vice versa. The reason Saquon has a special year is not only the offensive line, but the attention that Jalen commands for the run game. Jalen is special and the criticism just blows my mind because I think he’s so special and has won so many games and works his butt off and just continues to get better.”

“God is good — even in the highs and the lows,” Hurts said upon receiving the trophy. “Couldn’t be here without my teammates. The effort, the determination everybody displayed to get to this point. It’s never been about what any one of us does, it’s always been about what we do and how we’re responding to certain things. Hell of a game today.”

• Eagles WR A.J. Brown following the win: “Our defense played unbelievable. They played lights out. That’s a good team. That’s a good quarterback [in Patrick Mahomes]. He’s probably the best quarterback in the game and we just made him look average. And we know he’s not average.” (Dianna Russini)

Eagles

With the Super Bowl on the horizon, Eagles RB Saquon Barkley looks back at his departure from the Giants and feels a slight sadness that he will never be inducted into the team’s ring of honor after six years with the organization. Now he is focused on his career with Philadelphia instead.

“My message to Giants fans would be, ‘It’s nothing but love,’” Barkley said, via Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. “I’d be naive to think that they weren’t supportive to me over the last six years. Obviously, a few of them were disappointed with my decision, but the way I look at it, all the things that happened over there and the love I have for them is the reason that I’m able to have the success I’m having now.”

“I definitely thought about that,” Barkley said of losing out on a spot in the team’s ring of honor. “That’s what you want to do when you come to a place: Leave your legacy, have an impact. Thankful for the first six years I had in New York, but I can still be in [Philadelphia’s] Ring of Honor and be known as a great Eagle.”

After over 15 offers were exchanged,  Giants GM Joe Schoen expected Barkley to be paid like a running back while Eagles GM Howie Roseman viewed Barkley as a positionless weapon.

“We were really aggressive with him,” Roseman commented on Barkley. “It wasn’t like we were dating other people. We were trying to get him from the minute the clock struck 12.”

Several teams including the Eagles, Packers, Bears, and Texans drove the price up, on Barkley and eventually, the Giants were counted out of the situation.

“Me and my family literally had a sheet. We did pros and cons,” Barkley noted. “The only con about Philly was I might get some slack because I played in New York.”

“There was a time when a lot of people wrote him off,” Barkley’s friend Cowboys LB Micah Parsons said. “I’m happy he made the decision that was going to benefit his future. It was the best thing that ever happened to him.”

“One thing I think we did show is that if you are an elite player at any position, you can help your team win,” Barkley mentioned on his successful season. “If you have a chance to have elite players, if you have a chance to draft good players, you probably should do that.”

Giants

Giants DB Tyler Nubin eyes a leadership role as he enters his second season in the NFL.

“For me, just making sure that I come back the most ready of anybody in this whole organization and making sure that I come back ready to lead,” he said, via Giants Wire.

Nubin still has to recover from an ankle injury before he returns to the field. He said the mental aspect of rehab is the hardest part.

“It’s really more of a mental thing, especially in trying to get back and really get back into it, but also being away from the game because you put so much into it,” he said. “I’ve been doing this my whole life, and it’s really hard to be away from the game that you love, so it’s really more of a mental thing than physical because you’re always going to be working. I’m young, and I feel like I’m going to recover well, but the mental part is what’s been the toughest.”

• The Giants are hiring Chad Hall as their assistant quarterbacks coach. (Art Stapleton)