Hurts shrugs – Jalen Hurts’ casual reaction to the Eagles’ Week 11 home date with the Steelers on Nov. 22 turned into a wink at Aaron Rodgers’ ongoing offseason storyline.
When the Philadelphia Eagles opened their envelope for the 2026 schedule, the room didn’t feel like a formal announcement so much as a shared moment of NFL mischief.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts. along with Saquon Barkley. defensive tackle Jordan Davis. linebacker Jihaad Campbell. and offensive tackle Jordan Mailata sat at a conference table as they filmed live reactions to each game.. The vibe stayed relaxed. but Hurts’ brief. dismissive shrug about Aaron Rodgers quickly did what the schedule release couldn’t: it turned into a joke with a real subtext.
The envelope revealed the Eagles will host the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11 on Nov. 22. Campbell asked, “They still got A-Rod?” Hurts answered with a half-laughing shrug, rolling his eyes as he mumbled, “Who knows.”
For anyone who has watched the NFL news cycle for the past four months. it was the kind of response that didn’t require much explanation.. Rodgers is 42, and the expectation has been that he will be the Steelers’ starting quarterback next season.. The only wrinkle is that. despite widespread agreement among NFL reporters that he’s headed to Pittsburgh. he still hasn’t signed.
The offseason narrative has kept spinning anyway. in part because the timeline Rodgers is rumored to follow keeps reading like a familiar rerun.. Tom Pelissero laid out the latest version of that story with Rich Eisen this week. saying the “target date was never the draft” and “it was not the start of free agency.”
Pelissero pointed instead to May 18 for Rodgers, describing it as “the first day of OTAs.” The reasoning, he said, was straightforward: “You want to max out the reps that you get on the field.”
Pelissero added that. based on what he knows about Mike McCarthy’s approach. the goal is to have your starting quarterback in place early.. He traced it back to McCarthy’s Packers years in Green Bay. pointing to Brett Favre’s presence in 2007 after spending much of the decade in Mississippi. and said that even then. the pattern was about being there when the work starts.
This offseason is reportedly following last offseason’s script.. Rodgers didn’t sign his one-year contract with the Steelers until June.. After he committed, he led Pittsburgh to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth.. The run ended quickly in the AFC Wild Card, where the Steelers were beaten 30-6 by the Houston Texans.
That loss came with another big domino: longtime head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down after it. The Steelers then hired McCarthy later in January. McCarthy coached the Packers from 2006 to 2018, including all 13 seasons that Rodgers was in Green Bay. They won a Super Bowl together in February 2011.
So when Hurts rolled his eyes at “A-Rod” and shrugged, it landed on a bigger question still hanging over the NFL landscape. Who’s really going to be the Steelers’ quarterback when the games start? Hurts didn’t answer it. He just made the wait feel a little more entertaining.
Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers 2026 NFL schedule Week 11 Nov. 22 Mike McCarthy Tomlin steps down OTAs