Jalen Hurts declines to say if he wants Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo to return next season
Jalen Hurts was asked on Monday if he wants Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo to return next season, a day after Philadelphia lost a wild-card game at home to the San Francisco 49ers.
Here's his answer:
"It's too soon to think about that," Hurts said. "Like I said, I put my trust in Howie, Nick and Mr. Lurie."
That's not a yes.
Hurts instead deflected to general manager Howie Roseman, head coach Nick Sirianni and owner Jeffrey Lurie. Whoever ultimately makes the decision on Patullo's future with the Eagles will do so without an endorsement from Philadelphia's starting quarterback.
Hurts was also asked about his feelings on wide receiver A.J. Brown, who had multiple drops and another sideline incident while tallying three catches for 25 yards in Sunday's 23-19 loss. While he also didn't say yes to that question, Hurts was quick to offer a more encouraging response.
Jalen Hurts was asked straight up if he wanted Kevin Patullo back next year and then if he wanted AJ Brown back
- Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 12, 2026
Said Patullo is up to Howie/Lurie/etc
Said he and AJ are in a great place pic.twitter.com/WBQNHa5UyQ
"A.J. and I have talked," Hurts said. "We're in a great place. Maybe y'all can talk to him and ask."
Saquon Barkley's thoughts on PatulloHurts wasn't the only prominent offensive Eagles player asked about Patullo on Monday as players cleaned out their lockers for the season. Saquon Barkley also addressed his offensive coordinator's future. He also declined to offer an explicit endorsement for bringing Patullo back.
Saquon Barkley on Kevin Patullo's first season and if he thinks he should be back: pic.twitter.com/ZPPCo1J9hX
- Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg) January 12, 2026
"I think you have to point the finger at one person, like that's what you guys have to do in your job," Barkley said. "Somebody's got to catch the blame, especially when we had the season we had the year before.
"Do I think that's fair? No, I don't think that's fair at all."
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Barkley did shoulder the blame for Philadelphia's offensive struggles on himself and his teammates while touting Patullo as "a man and a coach."
"I'll be the first one to say, did I play to the level that I played last year? I don't think so," Barkley continued. "So I let him down. I let my teammates down. We all - it's a group thing. I know you guys are going to point at one person and say this, say that, but it's a group effort.
"I've got nothing but positive things to say about KP as a man as a coach. Just, we fell short. We as a collective. I want to make sure we get this - as a collective didn't do enough."
Patullo's on the hot seat thanks to a significant offensive decline in Philadelphia from last season's top 10 unit that won a Super Bowl. There's plenty of blame to go around but Sirianni appears to be escaping the brunt of it, thanks largely to coaching the Eagles to last season's Super Bowl victory.
Patullo was also on that Super Bowl team, but as the pass game coordinator. This season, he replaced Kellen Moore, who left his post as Philadelphia's offensive coordinator to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
And under Patullo's watch, the Eagles' offense took a significant step back They finished 24th in the NFL in yards per game. They also ranked 24th in third-down conversions. That they ranked that high in either category might come as a surprise to those who regularly watched the team.
Eagles games were frequently a struggle to watch. Their offensive shortcomings paired with an elite defense regularly resulted in games devolving into punting contests. Punter Braden Moore was tied for the fourth-most punts in the league as the Eagles repeatedly failed to move the ball.
Despite those struggles, Philadelphia managed to win 11 games and secured a second consecutive NFC East title. But their offensive failures proved too much to overcome against the 49ers Sunday and were further magnified when they failed on a must-have fourth down late that sealed their fate.
Is this Patullo's fault? It's difficult to pinpoint precisely. But as Barkley alluded to, it's an easy conclusion to reach given that this season was Patullo's first on the job.
But Barkley was also correct in concluding that there's plenty of blame to go around - from Hurts' limitations as a passer to Brown's repeated disappearing acts (six games with fewer than 50 yards) to his own inevitable decline from the historic highs of his 2024 campaign. And then there's Sirianni's frequently questionable game-management decisions.
Those issues all came to a head in Sunday's loss to the 49ers. How they play out in Philadelphia's offseason decisions is yet to be seen.