As the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5, we exchanged questions with Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to learn more about the opposing side.
Question 1: Future Hall of Fame right tackle Lane Johnson announced his retirement on Tuesday. Did the news catch you off guard? What will the on-field fallout look like?
It didn’t catch me off guard. It caught me off tackle! (Boooooooooooooo.)
But, no, I can’t say it was a *total* surprise. Johnson has given weight
to retiring in the past, including back in the offseason and then seemingly again in training camp as he spent an excused absence away from the team. Upon returning, he talked about his changing values and how 2026 was probably going to be his last season.
It was surprising to see Johnson scratched for Week 4 with very little advance notice. But then there were murmurs that he could indeed retire. And he did. Which is a really big deal because he’s an awesome player and the Eagles have always been significantly worse when he’s been unavailable.
I wrote about the Eagles’ offensive line outlook more in-depth at BGN, so, I’ll shamelessly plug that here.
Of course, the Eagles have also traded Cam Jurgens since then. He wasn’t playing very well at left guard, which wasn’t a surprise since he had literally never played that position before. The Eagles moved him to that spot in desperation after having to put Landon Dickerson, who looked cooked in the season opener, after Week 1.
The Eagles’ starting offensive line against the Jags could look like this:
LT Jordan Mailata
LG Willie Lampkin
C Drew Kendall
RG Tyler Steen
RT Markel BellI can’t say with 100% certainty that this will be the configuration. There’s some talk that they could move Kendall to left guard and put the smaller Lampkin at center. But it would be weird to move Kendall to guard since most of his experience has come at center and the Eagles could’ve kept Jurgens at center and put Kendall at guard previously. But, who knows. Also, Kendall apparently missed Wednesday’s practice, so his situation is something to continue to monitor.
Mailata and Steen are definitely locked in at their spots. The rookie Bell is probably going to start at right tackle … but there’s a non-zero chance that veteran swing tackle (and former Jag!) Fred Johnson could factor in.
Fred Johnson and Micah Morris are currently the only two backup blockers on the roster. The Eagles will probably look to call up some of their practice squad offensive linemen (John Ojukwu, Jake Majors, Kiran Amegadjie).
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Question 2: Through four weeks, Philadelphia’s offense has averaged 269.8 yards per game (29th) and 18.8 points per game (26th). Is it time to have a serious conversation about Jalen Hurts, or has he truly been dealt a poor hand of playcallers throughout his career?
It’s beyond time to have a serious conversation with the entire offensive operation. Head coach, quarterback, offensive coordinator, the players. This isn’t just about one person. You don’t go 0/17 on third down over the last six quarters without collective failure.
My criticism goes first and foremost to Nick Sirianni, who had to give up play-calling several games into his head coaching tenure back in 2021 because he was so bad at it. And while the Super Bowl-winning head coach has a track record of winning, it’s more than fair to question the extent to which he’s been driving this team’s success. I’d make the case that he’s greatly benefited from Howie Roseman’s personnel prowess and Vic Fangio’s mastermind defensive savvy. With the Eagles needing Sirianni to have answers on offense, the head coach hasn’t been able to provide any. That much has been apparent since the start of the 2025 season.
This isn’t to absolve Hurts by any means. He deserves criticism as well. It’s pretty hard to win when your quarterback only has 68 net passing yards, which was the case in Week 4. But Hurts also played pretty well in the first two games of this season and even the first half of Week 3. The offense as a whole wasn’t functioning properly but Hurts was bailing that unit out by making big plays on third down. Not a great way to sustain success.
So, if the offense only looked good at times this season because the QB played well in high-leverage situations, I can’t say it’s all his fault that it’s bad.
Question 3: On the other side of the ball, Philadelphia’s defense has allowed 344.0 yards per game (21st) and 23.3 points per game (16th). What’s holding that unit back from being among the league’s best?
Yeah, the defense has been a disappointment. Given the presence of Fangio and the talent on that side of the ball, expectations were very high. There was thought they’d be one of the best defense in the NFL, if not the very best.
Clearly hasn’t been the case. A big reason why? The Eagles aren’t nearly as strong up front as we expected them to be. The highly-paid defensive line isn’t generating pressure at a high rate. Jalen Carter is playing with a cast on his hand that is neutering his ability to play at the top of his game.
Elsewhere, Jihaad Campbell has been a downgrade from Nakobe Dean. Cooper DeJean had an uncharacteristically bad game in Week 1; he doesn’t seem to be totally healthy. The Eagles’ safety situation is a weak point. Tackling has been an issue.
I think there’s hope for this unit yet. This isn’t the first time a Fangio defense had a slow start to a season. I think some of these players can and will play better. The Eagles also won’t have to go up against Ben Johnson, who seems to have Fangio’s number, every week.
Will they be an awesome defense? Maybe not. But do they have the ability to make games winnable? Yes, although it’s hard to believe the offense will live up to their end of the bargain.
Question 4: Who is an under-the-radar player Jaguars fans should know about before Sunday?
Darius Cooper.
With five receptions resulting in three touchdowns this season, he’s less under-the-radar than he used to be. But I’m guessing most Jags fans don’t know much about him.
The skinny is that he was a star at Division I FCS Tarleton State, leading all college football wide receivers at every level (D1 FBS, D1 FCS, D2, D3) in total receiving yards and yards per route run before signing with the Eagles after not being selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Cooper caught my eye in training camp practices, which led to me hyping him up prior to last year’s preseason games, where he also shined. Cooper didn’t play much as a rookie and he entered this season as a “dirty work” role guy who was mostly limited to special teams duty.
But my calls for Cooper to have a bigger role were answered. He caught a game-winning touchdown pass in Week 2 and then took advantage of increased playing time with DeVonta Smith out in Week 4. Cooper actually played more snaps than 2026 first-round pick Makai Lemon against the Rams.
Put simply, good things happen when Hurts throws the ball to Cooper. He can get open, he can make tough catches, he can block, he can contribute on special teams. He’s a nice player and he would’ve been more celebrated coming out of Week 4 had the Eagles not blown a 10-point fourth quarter lead to LA.
Thank you for allowing me to further the Darius Cooper agenda. Keep an eye out for him in the No. 80 jersey.
Question 5: Do you expect the Eagles to cover as 7-point underdogs, and do you have a favorite player prop for the game?
The Eagles are now 7.5-point underdogs as of me typing this sentence. I’m not expecting them to merely roll over. They fought hard against the Rams. I think this group still has a lot of pride.
But they’re injured and it seems like this might just not be the year for this team. I don’t trust them to be able to score enough to cover the spread. I like the Jags to win relatively comfortably. Not a total blowout but not a situation where the Eagles are seriously threatening to win like they did against the Rams. Let’s say … Eagles 11, Jags 22.
Favorite player prop … No Eagles first quarter touchdown at +166. The Jags have yet to allow a team to reach the end zone in the first HALF this season and I don’t think the Eagles are going to be the team to break that streak. At least not early on.
Thanks to BLG for taking the time to answer our questions.
Let us know your thoughts on the matchup in the comments below!
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