PHOENIX – The Eagles said all along that the second season in the system for Jalen Hurts would help him make a huge jump. That's exactly what happened for Hurts, who accounted for 35 touchdowns from the quarterback position in the regular season and another four in the two NFC playoff games. Quarterbacks Coach Brian Johnson talked about Hurts' rise on Opening Night at the Super Bowl.

"He's done a great job so far. It's been a really, really long season and he's obviously put in a lot of work to get himself ready to play," Johnson said. "He's battled and I'm excited to get to this point and watch him play on Sunday. He's done an excellent job in terms of understanding the system and being more comfortable. He's put himself in a position to play really well on a consistent basis.

"When we started this thing and wanted to come into Year 2, one of the main things was consistency down in and down out and he's been able to do that, so I'm really excited and proud that he's been able to play really well this season."

Johnson said it was apparent right away that Hurts was advanced in the system, and that had the coaching staff excited.

"You could tell right away," Johnson said. "Jalen has always been very intentional and we were very, very intentional with what we wanted to improve coming into this season and he took that to heart. The way he works, and the way he is as a person, it's not a surprise at all."