Jalen Hurts has all-time response to Titans' Jeffrey Simmons after beef: 'I had to finish it'

Thanks to Jalen Hurts' clutch plays on Sunday, the Eagles won another game that wasn't pretty, but got the job done.

Hurts' touchdown pass to Darius Cooper with nine seconds remaining lifted Philadelphia to a 24-20 win over the Titans in Week 2. Tennessee put up a fight, picking off Hurts twice, but the star quarterback responded late with the go-ahead drive.

It wasn't only on the field that Hurts had time for responses, however. During his postgame interview, he acknowledged some controversial pregame comments from Tennessee's star defensive tackle, Jeffrey Simmons, about making Hurts "be a quarterback."

Here's what Simmons originally said about Hurts and how the Eagles quarterback responded.

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Jalen Hurts responds to Jeffrey Simmons' 'quarterback' comments

Ahead of Eagles vs. Titans this week, Simmons spoke to reporters about stopping Philadelphia's offense. In the process, he phrased things in a way that riled up the Eagles' fanbase, appearing to call out Hurts' passing capabilities.

"We just need to make Jalen Hurts be a QB," Simmons said, per Turron Davenport. "Stop his runs, make sure Hurts doesn't get out of the pocket and make plays."

Hurts seemed to let his play do the talking first — though the Eagles did get a scare from the Titans. After throwing two interceptions, Hurts bounced back to finish with 264 yards and two touchdown passes through the air, finishing it off with the go-ahead drive.

— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2026

Not long afterward, during a postgame interview with Fox's Kristina Pink, Simmons approached Hurts, who told him with a smile: "You started that s---, I had to finish it."

A dramatic road victory for Philadelphia 🦅@JalenHurts caught up with our @Kristina_Pink after the @Eagles completed the comeback in the final seconds pic.twitter.com/OGCnBKXUnT

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 20, 2026

Simmons also addressed his previous Hurts comments after the Titans' loss, saying they weren't a "shot at Jalen."

"He's a Super Bowl MVP," Simmons said. "The thing was, if we could keep him in the pocket and eliminate scrambling and running -- which, I think we did a hell of a job with that, making him go sideways -- we could be successful."

Jeffery Simmons addresses his viral Jalen Hurts comment… pic.twitter.com/AEvow61muW

— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) September 20, 2026

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni also spoke about Simmons' comments.

"We all have phones, we all hear that," Sirianni said. "My natural instinct is, 'Oh, I wanna fight.' But when you get wrapped up into the battle of words, or revenge, whatever it is, anger, that s--- lasts about two minutes. ... That all fades."

— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) September 20, 2026