PHILADELPHIA — Following Sunday’s win in Cincinnati, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he wants the offense to make a physical statement every week.
“I think we’re able to be the imposers,” he said. “I think that says a lot about what you are offensively. There are multiple ways to impose. You can do that from a gun (shotgun formation). You can do that in the pass game. You can do that in the run game, in the action game — whatever it is — as long as you’re in full control. So, I think that’s more the mentality that we’re trying to develop and push.”
Late in Sunday’s game, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley rumbled down the sideline with the ball, lowered his left shoulder, and laid out Bengals safety Geno Stone while continuing to hurtle toward the end zone, finally landing out of bounds at the 1-yard line.
Throughout the game, especially in the middle quarters, the Eagles’ offensive line — with two starters out — led the way as the Birds advanced the ball at will. Bengals star defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who came in with seven sacks, had zero against the Eagles and only two solo tackles.
A week earlier, against the New York Giants, receiver DeVonta Smith was targeted only twice, but he was a huge part of the Eagles’ monstrous running attack, using his small frame to throw some big blocks as Barkley, spell-backs Kenny Gainwell and Will Shipley, and Hurts combined for 269 punishing yards on the ground.
During their three-game winning streak against the Cleveland Browns, Giants and Bengals, the Eagles have looked progressively more comfortable and cohesive in Kellen Moore’s offense, and it has freed them up to unleash their physicality.
“You want to be physically tough in everything that you do,” Sirianni said Wednesday. “There’s a time and place to step out of bounds. There’s a time and place to put your head down and finish the run. When you do put your head down and finish the run, it brings a lot of energy to the sideline, it brings a lot of energy to the game. Just like a big-time catch would with the energy that happens on the sideline.
“We show those (in film meetings),” he said. “We actually show those and are like, ‘Here’s our standard of how we finish on the sideline.’ Now, I’ve had receivers that were smaller receivers that I didn’t want to do that at all times. But DeVonta is so tough, A.J. (Brown) is tough, Saquon is tough, (tight end) Dallas (Goedert)… I think if you really go back and look at all of Dallas’s clips, when he has an opportunity to go out of bounds or be violent on the sidelines, he’s choosing to be violent. And it sparks your team. It’s like a big hit.
“I think a similar question would be how do you teach a guy to knock the crap out of somebody or just get him down, right? It’s the same deal.”
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Speaking of becoming more comfortable in Moore’s offense, Hurts has gradually been under center more often since the team’s Week 5 bye. Previously, he was almost exclusively in shotgun or pistol.
While Hurts pointed out that there are multiple ways for the team to impose its will, regardless of formation, Hurts spent much of camp practicing being under center, working on shorter drops and quicker progressions through his reads.
Through the first four weeks, Hurts was under center an average of 5.75 times per game. In the three weeks since the bye, he has been under center an average of 13.6 times, including 21 times against Cincinnati.
Also, as the Birds have developed an offensive identity of running the ball with Barkley and establishing the play-action pass to freeze defenders, it has begun to open up the middle of the field for Hurts, who was extra focused on sideline and out routes early in the year.
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For the second time since his departure, former Eagles coach Doug Pederson will be coming to town with the Jaguars this Sunday. After the Eagles fired Pederson following the 2020 campaign, he helped Sirianni with the transition.
“I just felt like he was helpful to me with people on the roster, and how the building is, and just everything,” Sirianni said. “It’s just something that I always admired. I always try to put myself in that scenario, and I’m like, would I help? I don’t know. I just don’t know if I have that in me to do that. I admire people that do.
“I’m teasing when I say that,” he said. “Hopefully I can pay that back for other coaches. I think that’s what’s cool about the coaching fraternity, we all got here because of other coaches and the time that they put into us to help us get better. We need to pay that forward.”
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DT Jalen Carter, still nursing a shoulder injury, did not practice on Wednesday. G Landon Dickerson (knee), TE Dallas Goedert (hamstring) and CB Darius Slay (groin) also were out. G Mekhi Becton (concussion) saw limited action, while TE Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen) was a full participant.
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NOTES: The Eagles will be sporting their Kelly Green uniforms against Jacksonville. Their other Kelly Green game will be Dec. 29 against Dallas, in Week 17. … Hurts, Barkley and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie played golf with former president Barack Obama during the team’s off-day Monday. Obama was in the area campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, as Donald Trump and his surrogates have also been traversing battleground Pennsylvania.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.
