Welcome to The Linc, the daily Philadelphia Eagles links roundup at Bleeding Green Nation!
Remember the “Let Russ Cook” movement? When Russell Wilson was in his prime as a passer but the Seattle Seahawks insisted on the running the ball over and over, even if it wasn’t working? Feels like we’re reaching that point in Philly. The run game isn’t there for the Eagles right now. Maybe it’ll eventually come together … but maybe not. Hurts is looking great. Lean into that on early downs instead of regularly
forcing him to bail the offense out on 3rd-and-long!
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
The Day After – Hurts So Good – Iggles Blitz
It sure feels like that could be happening again. Hurts has a new scheme and a new OC in Sean Mannion. Hurts is driven to show the world, especially his doubters, that he can be a top flight QB in the NFL. He’s thrown 5 TDs so far this year. He didn’t hit that number until Week 4 last season. The Eagles came into the season expecting to rely on their 2024 formula. Combine a top OL with a dominant run game and a stifling defense. That idea hasn’t worked so far. The Eagles coaches need to consider changing their approach. They should lean on Hurts and the passing game more. Attack on early downs instead of running into loaded boxes. I don’t know that Nick Sirianni would be willing to do this, but he really ought to consider it. Hurts is the team’s best player right now. Embrace that and see what he can do in a more aggressive offense. He’s shown in the past that he can thrive in the right situation.
Seven things Solak thinks entering NFL Week 3 – ESPN
I think … Jalen Hurts is settling into the Sean Mannion offense. At a team level, I do not love what I’m seeing from the Eagles’ offense. The offensive line looks worse even than it did in 2025, and the running game is suffering as a result — fifth-lowest yards before contact per rush among all teams through two weeks. For the amount of money poured into that unit, that’s scary. Hopefully, guard Landon Dickerson comes back from his injury looking back to form, but we haven’t seen that form in a while; same for center/guard Cam Jurgens. I’m not holding my breath. But Hurts’ Week 2 performance against the Titans was about as good of a game a quarterback can have with a dead-in-the-water rushing attack. Hurts had nine third-down conversions in this game, the most single-game third-down conversions he has had. With no running game, Hurts averaged 7.9 yards to go on third down, well above his career average, and still got big gains in the air, converting three third-and-12 or longer downs (the most in a game in his career). Perhaps most notable of these late conversions was the first one. Hurts hits an intermediate in-breaker to Dontayvion Wicks between the layers of the defense.
Updated: Caleb Williams avoided serious injury; is likely ‘week-to-week’ – Windy City Gridiron
Hard to imagine Williams playing if he doesn’t even practice for the game at all.
UPDATE: Johnson said Williams probably won’t practice this week, but he won’t rule him out for Monday night against the Eagles, adding, “We’re saying week to week with him right now. We’ll see where he’s at as the week progresses and how long that means… It was somewhat encouraging, the report we got.” “He’s right now working through every avenue that he’s got available to get back on track here,” Johnson said about Williams. “We’ll see what that looks like. Here’s what I know. This guy’s a little bit different than the average human being. I said that last night, I’ll double down on that. He gets back – he has in the past – a lot faster than what people can anticipate and so I’m not putting a timeline on this. We’re going to say week to week. He’s going to attack this with everything that he knows.”
NFC Hierarchy/Obituary: Week 3 edition – PhillyVoice
4) Eagles (2-0): The Eagles have significant issues, most notably that their run game stinks and the offensive line in general is not playing well. Also, the defense has underwhelmed, although that’s not out of the ordinary early in the season under Vic Fangio. BUT… the major box that has been checked so far is the play of Jalen Hurts, which is kind of a big deal.
Zach Ertz arrives in Philly, ‘honored’ to be back in Eagles green – NBCSP
“My mom was in tears. My wife was ecstatic,” Ertz said. “My kids, they don’t really understand but I already had the boys practicing the E-A-G-L-E-S chant. So overall it was good. It’s exciting times and, like I said, just really happy to be back. And honored to be back in the Eagles green. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to go earn whatever role I can. So that’s the goal right now.” Ertz, 35, is signing to the Eagles’ practice squad to start. But his arrival comes as we learned on Monday that starting tight end Dallas Goedert will miss the next few weeks with an MCL sprain. If Ertz can get caught up to speed quickly, he’s going to have a chance to contribute as early as Monday night in Chicago.
Bowen: Maybe the Eagles could just try to be normal, for once? – PHLY Eagles
One consequence of this is that the Eagles are constantly in third-and-long, asking Jalen Hurts to bail them out. So far, he has done that, but an offense that lives in third-and-long is an offense that is ripe for disaster. Comrade EJ Smith’s excellent postgame piece from Nashville noted the SumerSports observation that the Eagles have the largest difference between early-down offensive success rate vs. Late-down success rate to start a season since 2022. It’s 31.5% on first down, 60.6% on third down, a tribute to Hurts and to his receiving corps. (Which now seems likely to be missing Dallas Goedert, at least for a little while). Left tackle Jordan Mailata’s postgame comments were encouraging, pointing out that an O-line needs continuity, and that presumably, the current unit can now get some time on task.
Eagles survive Titans behind Jalen Hurts. Here’s what Philadelphia must fix next – The Athletic
The Eagles averaged 2.5 yards on their stretch run concepts. The tape again showed blockers failing to secure the seam that could break a big run. Cam Jurgens, playing left guard for the first time, whiffed on linebacker Cody Barton, who limited Tank Bigsby to a 4-yard gain on a play that had room to be much more. The Eagles later attempted two stretch plays behind right guard Tyler Steen. The runs totaled three yards. The plodding concepts seemed to lead the Eagles into a first-and-10 toss play in the second quarter in which Will Shipley gained seven yards. Mannion also ran the pistol for the first time — apparently to stimulate the run game. They ran four plays in the set. They brought in a tight end as a fullback on two of the plays. Mundt was in the backfield when Hurts pulled a third-and-4 zone-read keeper and gained the four yards he needed. Bigsby gained 11 yards on three rushes. At times, the Eagles found more success running the ball inside from the shotgun. Bigsby gained four yards on a second-and-10 run on the first drive. Shipley later gained five yards on a similar first-down run. The offensive line also wasn’t always at fault. Running backs seemed to shift away from intended holes in search of the big run. Barkley cut rightward into the backs of blockers on the first play. Bigsby did a similar thing on a later second-and-8 run, cutting rightward into traffic when a narrow hole was available to the left. The Eagles had no rushes of 10 or more yards for only the fifth time since 2021. Such explosive runs are vital to a system that intends to play pass and run off each other by creating similar looks. “Our runs are all three or four yards,” Johnson said. “Hardly any explosives, which was tough for us. When you don’t have the explosives, it’s hard to sell the play action and all that. We had to make it work there in the second half.”
NFL Week 2 Sunday aftermath: Surprising Raiders, soaring Chiefs and sinking Chargers in spotlight – NFL.com
While we’re here, this is how I’d rank the eight 2-0 teams — with the Giants looking to join the list by beating the Rams on Monday night — starting with the most impressive through two weeks: 1) Buffalo Bills, 2) San Francisco 49ers, 3) Seattle Seahawks, 4) Kansas City Chiefs, 5) Minnesota Vikings, 6) Cincinnati Bengals, 7) Las Vegas Raiders, and 8) Philadelphia Eagles.
Spadaro: The wide receivers? They are delivering – PhiladelphiaEagles.com
This was, without question, the biggest conversation point of the entire offseason. Who would step up and be the producer(s) in the wide receiver room for the Philadelphia Eagles? The lineup changed, but how would that impact the offense? Two games into the season isn’t a full-scale sample size, but it’s enough to feel really good about where the Eagles are in that department. DeVonta Smith, coming off a 10-catch, 117-yard, 1-touchdown game, dressed next to Dontayvion Wicks, who caught 5 passes for 74 yards, and who dressed next to Darius Cooper, who caught the game-winning pass in the back of the end zone, as the Eagles worked their way out of Nissan Stadium in Nashville to return to Philadelphia on Sunday night after the thrilling 24-20 win over Tennessee. The wide receivers? They are delivering. “We’re all talented players. Getting a chance to show what you can do, that’s what you want in the NFL,” said Wicks, who has 7 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown in the two Eagles wins. “This offense gives us opportunities to make plays. We go out there and do our jobs. Every player in our room is capable of going out there and doing it. For Coop to make that catch, we’re all happy for him. He works hard and he’s a great player.”
The Eagles Have Thrown Seven Screen Passes This Season for -15 Yards – Crossing Broad
With that caveat, the Eagles have now run seven screen this year for a total of -15 yards. They’ve completed 5 of these 7 passes and the other two were blown up by defensive linemen. They’re averaging -2.1 yards per screen attempt.
Eagles’ silence on their role in the Macklemore mess has become deafening – Inquirer
But honestly, I found it even more disturbing that neither Lurie nor anyone from the Eagles organization feels they owe any explanation at all to the city, let alone thousands of people who drained their bank accounts for a concert that was nothing like it had been advertised. To be sure, there’s no harder dialogue in the world than the conflict in the Middle East, but the Birds committed two penalties against open expression — one of alleged censorship, and one of their own public silence. On Thursday, I texted Bob Lange, the Eagles’ senior vice president for communications, with questions about Lurie’s reported role in collaborating with Kraft and for a clarification on what their policies are around free speech at football games, concerts, and other events that take place at the stadium they operate. “If we have anything to share, we will let you know,” Lange responded.
The play call Brian Daboll probably wants back – Music City Miracles
Instead, Brian Daboll called a bootleg that ended in a sack back at the 18-yard line. JC Latham whiffed on Jalen Carter, who had apparently picked up a tell from Ward when watching tape.
Jaxson Dart injury: NY Giants’ QB suffers left knee injury vs. Rams – Big Blue View
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart went down with a left knee injury on the team’s first drive Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Initial reports are that the injury is believed to be a sprained MCL. Dart will undergo an MRI on Tuesday. “We’ll know tomorrow,” head coach John harbaugh said after the game. “That’s [MCL sprain] in the neighborhood of it, I would say.” Dart was sandwiched between Rams defenders Byron Young and Josaiah Stewer on a third-and-8 incompletion to Theo Johnson from the Rams’ 41-yard line. Dart did walk slowly off the field under his own power. Dart has been ruled out. GM Joe Schoen told ESPN that the quarterback is “going to be OK.” ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan reported that Dart wanted to return to the game. After the game, Giants running back Cam Skattebo confirmed that Dart wanted to get back into the game. He added that he thinks Dart will be back on the field ‘In the next few weeks’.
Cowboys vs. Commanders Stock Report: Dak Prescott and offense up, defense still shaky – Blogging The Boys
Stock Down: Christian Parker. It is difficult to say that Christian Parker’s stock is “down” relative to last week because it was about as low as it can be. From Game 1 to Game 2 I suppose you could argue he even improved in a vacuum, but we are talking about going from an F to an F+ here. Consider that the Cowboys have played 16 defensive possessions so far this season. The New York Giants managed to infiltrate the Cowboys’ 40-yard line on six of their seven, and the Washington Commanders crossed that territory on seven of their nine. The Cowboys have allowed opposing offenses to get into field goal range on 13 of these 16 possessions! It is early in his career, he is still figuring it out, and all of that jazz, but that is in no way an excuse. The Cowboys clearly have an offense that can lead to the team accomplishing some serious things, but if the defense can’t even hold their own on the other side then it is going to be a disaster similar to last year.
Commanders vs. Cowboys (game one) – Studs and Duds – Hogs Haven
HC Dan Quinn: Talk about being on the Hot Seat! Dan Quinn’s backside might be so hot right now, that if he tried to wipe with extra-soft Charmin, he’d likely go up in flames! But Mark, that’s not very professional of you… You know what — we’re past that point! He’s officially a lame duck!
Lions bring back veteran safety to practice squad – Pride Of Detroit
The Detroit Lions made a minor move on Monday, signing safety Jalen Mills to their practice squad. He takes up the vacant spot on the 16-man squad after the Lions signed Levi Onwuzurike to the 53-man roster over the weekend. Mills’ signing is a direct reaction to the Lions losing starting safety Avonte Maddox for the entire season due to a foot injury that will require surgery. On Monday afternoon, Lions coach Dan Campbell noted that the team was in the market for a veteran safety—and possibly more.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has gone from can’t-miss prospect to Cardinals’ afterthought – SB Nation
Marvin Harrison Jr. was different. He fell on the other end of the spectrum. Everything in the pre-draft process made him look like a home run pick, a player with every single trait needed to succeed in the NFL. There was nothing about how he played at Ohio State or looked at the combine that could ever indicate he would struggle in the NFL — and in picking him it seemed like the Cardinals were destined to find their next Larry Fitzgerald. Three years in and the dream has collapsed. Against the Seahawks on Sunday he didn’t register a single catch, locking his season statistics at a paltry two catches for 44 yards. In addition, he’s being phased out of Mike LaFleur’s offense, as Harrison is being pulled off the field on rushing downs, and getting fewer snaps as Michael Wilson has passed by him as the team’s No. 1 receiver, and now even 31-year-old Kendrick Bourne is being more involved in the offense than Harrison is.
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