July 29, 2024
Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore answered questions from the media on Saturday, and because it's the first time we've heard from him since May, let's round up the noteworthy things he said here.
"There are different ways of approaching it," Moore said. "Obviously really when you've been around both aspects of it, I think at the end of the day those two guys have to team up together.
"Ultimately sometimes the QB can see a little bit of a wider lens. His perspective may be a little bit different. He does have a trump card ability to make those adjustments when necessary. But Cam certainly gives us the ability to speed the process up, make a decision. Jalen can work with him and team up together. Those guys are doing an excellent job the first couple days. Just continue to build on that."
#JimmySays: This is one of the concerns transitioning from Jason Kelce to Jurgens. I have no questions about Jurgens' intelligence, but mastering line calls comes over time, with thousands of reps, and Jurgens doesn't have that yet.
I mean, of course he does.
"Saquon is obviously a special player," Moore said. "You can see it out here without even pads, just his burst, quickness, ability to hit the hole. Obviously, he'll be a guy that you can utilize at all aspects of the field. He can be a space player, which we're excited about in the passing game. He's going to be able to attack people in a lot of different ways. That's the exciting part. It won't be just a downhill run game. He'll be able to emphasize and do some other things."
#JimmySays: In Saturday's practice, the Eagles were on the far left field, AKA the field I hate because media can't venture past the 20 yard line on the sidelines and there are times the team is running plays like 60 yards away from us. Anyway, on one play when the team was far away, someone caught a pass and made a series of quick, shifty moves. I assumed it was a small wide receiver, like John Ross or Britain Covey or something. Nope. It was 235-pound Barkley. Dude still has plenty of juice and wiggle.
"I think a really big aspect is just continuing to put these guys in various positions," Moore said. "It's not a traditional ‘A.J. always lines up at, let's say X,’ and you can anticipate him always being in this position each and every play. And so, we're continuing to move those guys, put them in position based off our scheme, where things may go, or where we want to put them in high likelihood of touching the football. But also, what's the defense presenting us so we can put those guys in advantageous situations?"
#JimmySays: We saw opposing offenses get advantageous matchups against the Eagles' defense a year ago, but we didn't often see the Eagles getting creative in doing the same thing to opposing defenses. Brown and Smith could be beneficiaries of a more creative, less predictable pre-snap approach.
"Those guys are going to move throughout the game and throughout each and every week," Moore said. "That's [their strength]. The ability to handle all that and that goes into that third receiver having the ability to line up in a few different spots based off where [Brown and Smith] line up."
#JimmySays: That makes sense. Brown and Smith are both effective out of the slot, so the WR3 doesn't have to just be a slot receiver, and as Moore said, they're going to have to be able to play both inside and outside.
"I think it's critical that we utilize those guys in the pass game to create horizontal space and every once in a while, get them vertical," Moore said. "We have been fortunate to be around some really good ones in the past. Saquon is going to be phenomenal. Kenny [Gainwell] has done it here before. Will [Shipley] has shown tons of evidence that he'll be able to utilize that skill.
"So we have three backs that can play a lot of different places on the field, and that will be a huge advantage for us."
#JimmySays: The Eagles got almost nothing out of their backs in the passing game in 2023. Getting them more involved in 2024 will be one of Moore's lowest bars to clear.
"Grant has really done an excellent job to be the second tight end currently," Moore said. "His consistency throughout OTAs, early in training camp. He has a great awareness and understanding of the game. He teams up with Dallas [Goedert] really, really well, and so we're excited about that and hopefully continues to build."
#JimmySays: That's an under-the-radar camp battle, and so far Calcaterra has made his share of catches.
It's probably also worth noting that Moore has gotten production in the past out of Day 3 tight ends, like Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson.
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