What was most encouraging about Hurts' performance

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DeVonta Smith didn’t play, and A.J. Brown didn’t get a target.

And maybe the most encouraging thing to come out of the Eagles’ preseason opener against the Jets Friday night was the way Jalen Hurts engineered a touchdown drive without his top two receivers catching a pass.

Two catches for Quez Watkins. Two for Miles Sanders. One each for Jack Stoll and Dallas Goedert. 

Hurts took what was there, didn’t force anything, was happy to take the underneath throw, found the open man, spread the ball around and got the Eagles in the end zone.

“We like getting everybody involved, there’s no doubt,” Nick Sirianni said. “Just makes you harder to defend. It was nice to see him spread it around early tonight.”

It was only one series in a preseason opener against the Jets, but it was a promising start for Hurts because he showed growth in a lot of the areas the Eagles have been hoping he’d improve in.

“Just going out there and playing ball,” Hurts said after his cameo in the Eagles’ 24-21 loss to the Jets at the Linc. “I’ve always talked about the trust I have with everybody on the field. So just going through my progressions, doing my job and let my playmakers make plays.”

The first offense played only seven snaps, but Hurts was 6 for 6 for 80 yards and a touchdown pass for a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

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The only possible criticism of Hurts’ performance was his ill-fated scramble on 3rd-and-5 for no gain, a play that ultimately gave the Eagles a first down because of Quincy Williams’ late hit. But even on that snap, if Hurts didn’t see anyone open, he did the right thing by tucking the ball and running instead of forcing something that wasn't there.

And that was really the story of the game for Hurts. He made the right decision on every snap, dropping back, finding the open man and delivering the ball quickly and accurately.

He made the game look easy.

“It’s really exciting,” Goedert said. “We’ve got a lot of good weapons on the offense, and we’re going to spread the ball around and defenses are going to have trouble. Who are they going to guard? What are they going to do? And hopefully we’re going to find mismatches all over the field.”

Hurts opened the drive with a 28-yard strike to Watkins as he was being flushed out of the pocket and finished it with a 22-yard TD to Goedert.

You have to like the fact that of his six completions, two went to the No. 3 receiver, two went to the running back that’s struggled to catch the ball the last two years and one went to a tight end with four career receptions.

“It was really Jalen going where the coverage took him,” Sirianni said.  

This was probably the last time we’ll see Hurts before the regular-season opener in Detroit on Sept. 11, but if he can play during the regular season the way he played Friday night — decisive, accurate, efficient — the Eagles are going to win a lot of games.

The Eagles have a bunch of talented skill guys, and somebody is usually going to be open. All Hurts has to do is find that guy and get him the ball. Sounds simple. In one brief preseason appearance, he did that.

“It was good to get out there, give everybody the opportunity to play,” Hurts said. “Just to go out there and execute is really big for us. “We came out of the gate with an explosive play down the field. Great catch by Quez. And that can get the drive going. 

“Overall, I was just pleased to see everybody go out there and execute and do their job (in) the first group. And then just get it into the end zone, that was the goal. … Always great to see the first group go out there and execute at a really high level.”

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The Eagles actually scored twice on the one drive the first group played.

Hurts ran 12 yards for a touchdown on a 2nd-and-2, but the play was nullified by a questionable holding call on Jordan Mailata. On the next play, Hurts found Goedert from 22 yards out.

“It was fun out there,” Goedert said. “Everyone was flying around, and Jalen did a good job of controlling everything. I think that’s what we have in store for the season. 

“We want to be a detailed team doing the right thing all the time, people in the right spots, and it was a good start today.”

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