The Eagles have started Phase 3 of their offseason program and quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to reporters after their OTA practice on Wednesday. Hurts spoke highly of the team’s new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion, and talked about how they’re working to build the foundation for a new offense. The QB also talked about A.J. Brown and the possibility of him not being on the team this season, and commented on the status of their personal friendship.
Here’s what the QB had to say:
On OC Sean Mannion
“It’s been a really
good process so far. [Sean Mannion]‘s come in, he’s very clear, giving good direction. You can definitely see the vision. He’s been able to answer all of my questions. Very instructive, very helpful, so it’s been a very enjoyable journey so far.”
As for how things may look similar or different from last season, Hurts explained that Mannion is a different leader, different philosophical approach, so it’s exciting to learn a new brand of football and get a new perspective.
Hurts elaborated a bit on how he approaches the sponge-mode portion of a new coordinator, and said he wants to be hip-to-hip with the playcaller and to take as much direction as he can. Then, as he gets more comfortable in the offense, he’ll start to find ways that he can grow and make it his own within the system. For now, the QB wants to engrain himself as much as possible, saying that every rep at this stage is extremely valuable.
Mannion had mentioned earlier in the week blending some old and some new with the offense, and Hurts said right now they are just working to lay the foundation.
“Laying down the foundation for what we’re doing and then over time you get to kind of mesh some things. You go at his pace — I’m going at his pace. He’s been, like I said, very instructive and he’s been very intentional about what he’s doing and why he’s doing it, marrying things, and kind of getting that shared belief for us all. So, I think that’s been very good for us as a team, as an offense.
And, there are components of what we’ve done in the past that I know that he loves, and he says, ‘Hey man we’ve done this really well, this unit has done this really well, we’ll see where that fits in.‘ But, it’s still being installed as we speak. We do installs daily, we’re taking everything in daily, and we’re going out there and executing and kind of learning as we go. It’s been good.“
As for doing more under center in this new offense, Hurts explained that you can put anyone under center, but it’s about understanding why and the reasoning behind it, and philosophically it’ll be different than what they’ve done in the past.
“One thing that I really appreciate that he’s saying, not just in playing team football on offense, but individually — it aligns with Coach Sirianni what he’s been spitting about the cohesiveness, and the togetherness, and the end of the rope we all have to hold to make sure we’re all on the same page and we’re being the best we can be.”
Hurts went on to explain how everybody has to do their job and it takes all 11 of them doing their job to come together and make it work. Everything is connected from a timing standpoint and they’re just pushing to establish that as a unit.
On trading A.J. Brown
Just as the question about A.J. Brown was asked, Hurts bent to take a sip of his water — something he then joked about being perfectly timed after hearing the rest of the question. The QB then went on to say that where they are right now, it’s about installing so many parts of the offense, but there is an “if” in place should Brown not be on the roster moving forward.
“Obviously it’s been a lingering thing, but nothing can replace all of the greatness we achieved together.”
As for the relationship between Hurts and Brown, the quarterback said nothing has changed since the end of the season and they’re in a good place. Hurts also said he saw the beautiful pictures from Brown’s wedding and he wishes the couple nothing but the best.
Hurts later went on to point out that there was a time when DeVonta Smith was expected to be WR1, so everyone has a lot of confidence in Smith this season — and a lot of confidence in Makai Lemon and Dallas Goedert, and all the other receiving targets they have.
