PHILADELPHIA — The 20th team I’ve seen is the NFL’s champion. On this steamy Wednesday, the Eagles spent their first of two days in joint practices with the Browns at their facility around the corner from Lincoln Financial Field. Here’s what we gathered …
• There are challenges, to be sure, that come after winning a championship. There’s wear and tear from a longer year, the parade of well-deserved attaboys to go around, and the reality that everyone naturally might want a bigger piece of the pie than they did in getting to the mountaintop the year before. So for the Eagles, a big key to this offseason has been the professional approach of veterans such as Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Zack Baun and Reed Blankenship has snuffed most of those concerns out—without much discussion at all on what the team is “defending”. One staffer said the lateness of the ring ceremony (July 18, four days before the team reported to camp) helped, too, in that it gave the players a capstone ahead of really building toward the 2025 season. With his team in camp, Nick Sirianni hasn’t brought up last year’s Lombardi Trophy once, and that, of course, is intentional (he did address it in the spring).
• Jalen Hurts is at the point where his next steps as a quarterback will be granular. As such, one area he’s worked on is getting quicker with his footwork, so that he can get through his progressions faster. With a veteran offense around him, health permitting, the biggest question on offense might boil down to the OC spot, with Kevin Patullo the fourth guy to hold that position in Philly in as many years. He’ll be the play-caller, and the good news is that he was there to see what the offense looked like under Shane Steichen, Brian Johnson, and, last year, Kellen Moore, and he’s already had some play-calling experience. Last year, working with Moore, there were situational areas where Patullo had the responsibility, which, the Eagles hope, was good on-the-job training for this year. He was also, for what it’s worth, leaned on in helping Moore to marry his offensive scheme to what the Eagles already were doing. So it’s a logical hire, and one the Eagles had thoroughly prepared Patullo for. Now he has to do it.
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• The most significant position battle on offense is at guard. Mekhi Becton signed with the Chargers in free agency, and to this point, his replacement, third-year man Tyler Steen, has had a fantastic summer. Until the other day, Philly felt good about where it was at the position. Then, Landon Dickerson went down, and the news resulting was pretty good—he needed a meniscus trim rather than a complete repair that would have put him out for the season. Still, he’s iffy for Week 1, so the Eagles’ depth at the position could be tested in the opener on Sept. 5, with former first-round Texan Kenyon Green also nicked up. It’s undoubtedly possible Matt Pryor gets the start against Dallas in the opener.
• There’s much less status quo on defense. Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Milton Williams, Oren Burks, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Darius Slay are gone from Vic Fangio’s first unit as Eagles DC. That’s meant, in camp, a younger group, a little bit of a need for Fangio to reset (rather than build off his first year), and a lot of competition in the front seven. Moro Ojomo has looked the part of a replacement for the disruptive Williams on the interior. There’s more projecting on the edge, with Nolan Smith Jr. looking to build on a breakout year, and Jalyx Hunt stepping into a bigger role (with Josh Uche also flashing in camp at the position). At linebacker, injuries have sidelined Baun for parts of camp, and Nakobe Dean is still working his way back from a torn patellar tendon sustained in the playoffs. Still, competition has been amped up with rookie Jihaad Campbell, second-year man Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and darkhorse Dallas Gant in the mix. Which is to say the Eagles are probably deeper there than they have been in a while.
• The other questions are in the secondary. At safety, replacing Gardner-Johnson will have to come down to the Eagles leaning on their pipeline like they will with Ojomo and Steen on the lines. The 66th pick from last year, Sydney Brown, and the 64th pick from this year, Andrew Mukuba, locked in a battle for that spot, with Tristin McCollum hanging in a competition that hasn’t had a clear answer emerge. At the corner opposite Quinyon Mitchell (who’s had a great camp and has built the flexibility to play on both sides in his second year), with Cooper DeJean in the slot, the Eagles are pulling a lot of levers, having brought in veteran Adoree Jackson, trading for Jakorian Bennett ( last week), and brought along third-year man Eli Ricks—all three are alive in the chase, with rookie Mac McWilliams competing as well.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Eagles Training Camp 2025: Jalen Hurts’s Next Step As a Quarterback.
