A handful of words could have sparked the firestorm Jalen Hurts set off this week.

Spotlighting the effort, pride or integrity he expects from his team would have done the trick.

The often-philosophical Philadelphia Eagles quarterback instead discussed their commitment.

“We’ve been talking about execution all year,” Hurts said Monday night after a 20-17 deficit to the Seattle Seahawks marked the Eagles’ third-straight loss. “Being on the same page. We didn’t execute.

He’d again say minutes later that turning around the Eagles’ season “starts with the little things, how committed we are to doing what we’re doing.”

Then, Hurts added the overlooked part of his Monday remarks that became the rallying cry of his Thursday press conference: “That starts with me.”

Context and nuance are unpopular in much of society today, so the NFL world ran with Hurts’ use of a term that challenges not ability but willingness. They seized on his use of the plural “we,” some even seeming to interpret it as a subject that did not include himself.

Talking heads wonder: Was the always-intentional Hurts sending a public message to his team? Was he shifting blame from himself, and doubling down when he declined to elaborate what he meant by “commitment”?

“I don’t have a dictionary on me now,” Hurts said when asked to expound. “Excuse me. I don’t know how else to say that.”

The out-of-character response (from a player whose physical illness had cast in doubt his availability and triggered a separate flight from teammates, mind you) fueled flames even more.

And yet: Just before Hurts made his initial remark that his 10-4 team needed to consider its commitment, he had said “I didn’t do my job good enough.”

The No. 1 subject of Hurts’ critique, following a two-interception and 40.1 passer rating night, was always Jalen Hurts.

(Hurts did rush for 82 yards and two touchdowns to offset his 143 yards and zero scores passing.)

Still, if questions about Hurts’ public messaging lingered after the Eagles’ flight east, he quieted them Thursday.

Hurts’ message wasn’t new three days later, but it was much more heavily emphasized.

Hurts repeated those exact words not once but six times when meeting with reporters on Thursday ahead of the Eagles’ Christmas Day game against the New York Giants.

Other no-doubt-intentionally-repeated messages included Hurts taking “ownership” and setting “the tone” and “the temperature.”

Practice, execution and chemistry must improve to lift the Eagles over not only the Giants (twice) and Arizona Cardinals whom they face to close the regular season, but also the playoff opponents that await in a season when Philadelphia has its eyes on defending an NFC title and this time triumphing in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles arguably need even more from Hurts this year, as the team’s defense is in disarray.

A year after the Eagles ranked third in defensive DVOA, second in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed, the unit has plummeted to 23rd in defensive DVOA, 22nd in yards allowed and 26th in points allowed.

Philadelphia demoted Sean Desai from defensive coordinator last week, replacing him with in-house consultant Matt Patricia. Even with Patricia’s prior experience as coordinator and head coach, the move was highly unusual for a 10-win team to make in December.