Jalen

Hurts

Hurts added a grand total of two yards on the ground. The Eagles even seemed afraid to use him for tush pushes, opting for a shotgun handoff on an early fourth-and-one. The bulk of Hurts’ production through the air came on a single deep shot to Darius Cooper. Hurts’ pass was actually a bit off the mark, but Cooper adjusted well and sprinted into the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown. Hurts had Dontayvion Wicks wide open for his second long score of the day late in the third quarter, but an all-out blitz forced him to throw off his back foot and he overshot the attempt. A field goal with eight seconds left on the clock still should have been enough to win the game. Philly’s kick coverage unit then got burned by Ameer Abdullah, setting up a walk-off kick from Cam Little. The Philly offense is as lifeless as they come. Even if DeVonta Smith returns for Week 6 versus the Panthers, Hurts will fail to crack the top-12 at quarterback for the first time in years.

Hurts popped up with a calf injury on Friday, but practiced in full and seems to be expected to play. Tanner McKee, now the only game in town after Andy Dalton’s release, would take over if necessary on Sunday. It doesn’t sound like anything to be overly worried about at this point, though.

Mannion defended his approach during a Tuesday presser, two days after the Eagles offense — missing DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley — sputtered to a loss against the Rams. The Eagles have put Jalen Hurts under center and utilized play action much more than usual this season. It’s a strategy that hasn’t paid off quite yet. Hurts ranks 31st out of 38 qualifying QBs in adjusted yards per attempt on passes from under center; his 18 percent success rate from under center is by far the worst in the NFL. It’s hard to envision brighter days ahead for Hurts if Smith remains sidelined. He’s barely startable in 12-team formats for now.

Hurts contributed just five carries for 18 scoreless yards. With DeVonta Smith (hamstring) out and Saquon Barkley (hamstring) joining him early, the game ended up on Hurts’ shoulders. He responded by averaging 3.4 yards per attempt and generating 68 yards net passing when his four sacks for 25 yards are factored in. The Eagles went 0-12 on third down and blew a 20-10 fourth quarter lead. It, obviously, was a miracle the Eagles had a lead to begin with. Hurts’ longest completion — a fluke Darius Cooper touchdown reception — went for 18 yards. Tank Bigsby had the “long” gain of the day with a 19-yard rush. RT Lane Johnson’s last-minute deactivation was another hindrance, but this is now an Eagles offense that has spent nearly a quarter of the season looking like it is going nowhere fast. Its season high for points is 27, and it has produced 27 combined against the contending Bears and Rams. Things are unlikely to get much better against the Jags’ top-notch defense on the road in London next Sunday.

The Eagles’ only scoring drive came in the two-minute drill to end the first half, but the team still managed to enter the break down only three points to the Case Keenum-led Bears. The first half was mired by mistakes, one of which came with the team in the red zone when backup quarterback Andy Dalton threw an interception in the end zone with Hurts being checked for a concussion. The break did the team no favors as they would go three-and-out on their first three possessions of the second half, ending the game with a Hurts interception and a turnover on downs. In total, the Eagles held the football for just over 23 minutes and gained only 248 yards of total offense on a pedestrian 47 offensive plays. The loss drops them to 2-1 ahead of one of the more difficult matchups they’ll see all season against the Rams in Week 4. Hurts remains a back-end QB1 aided by his rushing upside.

Uncharacteristically, Hurts had just five carries for 16 scoreless yards. This one was way harder than it needed to be, but Hurts stepped up when the Eagles needed him most late in the proceedings. Trailing 20-17 after the Titans drilled a field goal with 1:56 remaining, Hurts locked onto DeVonta Smith on what proved to be the game-winning drive. He capped it off with a three-yard scoring strike to an uncovered Darius Cooper in the end zone. It was far from a sterling performance, but it was just enough with Saquon Barkley in and out of the game as he battled a stinger and Dallas Goedert departing with a knee issue. Up to five passing scores through two starts, Hurts has yet to find the end zone on the ground. Perhaps that changes against the Bears on Monday Night Football in Week 3.

It was an up-and-down performance for Hurts, who faced plenty of resistance from a revamped Commanders defense that managed three sacks of Hurts on the day. Despite the offensive struggles the Eagles had at times, Hurts came up with enough big plays to offset some of those struggles, with the first being an impressive 64-yard throw to Dontayvion Wicks that put the ball on Washington’s six-yard line. That play was followed by a holding call that moved the Eagles back 10 yards, but Hurts connected with Dallas Goedert three plays later for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Eagles their first score of the day. Hurts would later connect with Wicks on a nine-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter after Wicks gained separation in the end zone to position himself for the short score. Hurts and Goedert would link up again in the fourth quarter for another score after the pair took advantage of a confused Commanders defense for a 43-yard touchdown that put the Eagles up 24-16 with less than six minutes to go in the quarter. It wasn’t a great debut for first-time offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, but Hurts and company did enough to overcome a surprisingly gritty Commanders defense to pick up their first win of the season. Hurts will be in the fantasy QB1 conversation next week when the Eagles visit the Titans.

McManus adds that “the feedback internally has been positive” regarding Hurts’ development. Mannion’s West Coast-style system is a “heavy under-center operation” that will increase the team’s play-action rate, decrease its shotgun usage and require the quarterback and his pass catchers to be on time throughout the play. Hurts has thrown more interceptions than beat reporters are “accustomed to seeing” in training camp, but McManus believes “some” of them can be chalked up to the learning curve that comes with a new system, particularly one featuring passes thrown over the middle. McManus adds that the offensive line depth’s emergence has been the biggest under-the-radar development this season, boding positively for Hurts’ performance in both the short- and long-term.

A recent report indicated that the new offense “is expected to have Shanahan/McVay influences,” so the new report from The Athletic’s Zach Berman tracks. The Eagles ran 860 plays out of the pistol and shotgun last year, and just 267 under center. However, they averaged 8.43 yards per attempt under center and 9.07 yards per play-action attempt from under center. Both figures lead their respective pistol and shotgun metrics by more than 0.70 yards. Berman notes that Hurts has had a new play-caller every year since 2016, so he’s no stranger to starting over. That said, Mannion plans to blend his preferences with those of his quarterback. Mannion is confident that Hurts “can do anything we ask of him,” and Hurts was reportedly excited about the new hire. As for Hurts’ rushing usage, it “will be a part of [the offense], but it won’t be the only part of it.” Hurts remains a fantasy QB1, but his spot in that tier is still being determined.

Under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who will reportedly have “total authority” over the team’s offense, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles will have to learn an entirely new playbook predicated on the concepts that have made Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers and Sean McVay’s Rams two of the league’s most efficient offenses. This is very much in line with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie pledging in April that the team would implement “significant offensive changes” after a 2025 campaign in which they ranked 17th in EPA per play, in line with the Texans and Falcons. Depending on which version of the Shanny/McVay offense Mannion installs, Saquon Barkley could see more pass-game involvement while short-area pass catchers like Dallas Goedert and rookie Makai Lemon see plenty of looks from Hurts, who last year ranked 14th out of 45 qualifying quarterbacks in accuracy on short throws. In 2024, Hurts led all QBs in accuracy on attempts between 1-10 yards.