FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts – The Eagles offense has more bells and whistles this year.
After Nick Sirianni’s 2023 scheme stalled, the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator, and the differences are obvious. Whether it’s pre-snap motion, play-action, or a different formation, it looks different.
One thing has not changed.
The passing offense will continue to run through AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, and Hurts’ connection with his two top receivers will clearly carry over into the new system.
“I think you have that rapport,” Hurts said after the Eagles’ joint practice with the Patriots on Tuesday. “The first thing I said when I came here was I want to learn their way of doing things and then make it mine and ours. I think it’s that intersection of all those great things, but we just have to make it our thing and find our new rhythm in it.”
“I think when there’s some continuity from player to player, it’s time for some things to carry over. But you just want to make something new out of it. This is this year’s team. It’s nothing from the past, it’s nothing that’s happened in the past or anyone else’s experience. Everyone’s experience is going to come together to try to create a beautiful product for us on the field.”
The idea is that the Eagles keep what has made their offense good over the past few seasons, but at the same time innovate enough to turn good into elite. These bells and whistles should help freshen up the offense, but the ball still goes to No. 11 and No. 6.
We’ve seen it all summer, and we saw it again in New England on Tuesday. In the first 7-on-7 session of joint practice, the Eagles’ first offense ran six plays — four of the passes went to Brown and two to Smith. Only one was incomplete.
This continued during the team part.
As much as reporters and fans have talked about the WR3 position and the need there, the Eagles are still in a pretty good position at receiver. Hell, a few years ago you would have paid one Players like Brown or Smith.
While the Eagles have assembled an elite group of talented players, that’s not always enough. The connection Hurts seems to have with Brown and Smith is what makes this group so special. Hurts has now played three seasons with Smith in the NFL and was his teammate at Alabama. And Hurts played two seasons in the NFL with Brown, but considered him a best friend even before he arrived in Philly.
In his two seasons with Hurts, Brown has caught 194 passes for 2,952 yards and 18 touchdowns. In Smith’s two full seasons with Hurts, he has caught 176 passes for 2,262 yards and 14 touchdowns.
These three are also all under contract with the Eagles until the 2028 season.
As good as the connection was between Hurts and his two best receivers on Tuesday, the offense wasn’t perfect. Far from it. The Eagles had some trouble protecting Hurts, had some trouble stopping blitzes and even got some pre-snap penalties. Matt Judon and the rest of the Patriots defense looked good.
“I’ve learned that we’re still in the development phase when it comes to taking the steps we want in the right direction,” Hurts said. “I think there are a lot of good things and a lot of things to learn from.”
After Tuesday’s practice, Hurts seemed especially eager to watch the video of the practice. There were things he needed to see, and he knew there were things that needed to be corrected.
But that’s why they train, and that’s why Nick Sirianni loves joint training sessions. On Tuesday, the Patriots offered the Eagles many different opportunities that they don’t get every day from Vic Fangio.
“It’s always helpful,” Hurts said. “It’s always helpful to see different angles when an opponent, an opponent, is facing different things and you can try different things. You’ve got to continue to grow in those things. I think I’m most looking forward to watching the tape again and talking through those things.”
“I think the most important thing during this time is just the dialogue that we have about it and continue to communicate to be on the same page about everything. I think there are good examples of that. I think there will be great conversations that we can grow from.”
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