August 06, 2023
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts warms up at the team's 2023 open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.
With fans lining up hours before the Linc opened, the Eagles faithful were amped to their squad back in action on Sunday night. Sporting their brand-new Kelly green jerseys, they got a sight of Jalen Hurts' follow-up to his MVP-caliber 2022 season. As we do here at PhillyVoice, we break down every pass and rep for QB1.
Compared to the "real" training camp practices, these open practices are even more watered down. The Eagles don't let the media record videos or take pictures of actual 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 action. They don't want to show us much and that's doubly so when the fans are involved in this gigantic atmosphere. We work with what we got though!
Let's get after it...
Play 1: Hurts connects with A.J. Brown on a little sit route to the left from the slot.
Play 2: Hurts finds DeVonta Smith on an out route for a first down.
Play 3: Hurts looks left, scrambles right and finds a wide open Dallas Goedert. Brandon Graham was attempting to chase down Hurts, but QB1 obviously has that speed advantage.
Play 4: With Hurts under center, they run a jet sweep to Smith for a gain of 10-plus yards. We haven't seen the Eagles' offense utilize Smith like that yet, but he's a dynamic playmaker. I'd tuck that one in the back pocket for the postseason.
Play 5: Inside the 10, Hurts hands it off to Kenny Gainwell for a gain of a few yards.
Play 6: D'Andre Swift initially lines up in a pistol position, but motions to Hurts' right. Hurts tosses it to Swift on a pitch right, but Swift doesn't get much of anywhere.
Play 7: In a shotgun empty set at the three-yard line, it's an easy QB keeper as the crowd roars after Hurts walks into the end zone. 3/3, rushing TD
Play 8: With Brown lined up in the slot to Hurts' left, Hurts goes his way, but Brown drops it.
Play 9: Hurts finds Goedert on an out route for a first down.
Play 10: Hurts holds onto the ball forever before tucking the ball and jogging a couple of yards.
Play 11: I wrote it last week: a deep crossing route to Goedert should be a mainstay of the Birds' playbook this year. The Eagles' pass-catching trio of Brown-Smith-Goedert has been killer this summer. 2/3, 1 drop
Play 12: It's a stretch run to the left to Gainwell who picks up a handful of yards.
Play 13: The Eagles run a little slant action to Brown. That's a completion you'll see all season long.
Play 14: Hurts hands it off to Rashaad Penny, who runs it up the gut for a decent gain. His injury history is well known, but you can truly see the burst Penny has when he's hitting the second level in camp even if it's not really live action.
Play 15: Hurts targets Smith streaking down the left sideline, but the throw sails out of bounds. It was overthrown and wide. That's not Hurts' finest pass of the summer. Hurts was on fire to begin camp, but has been a little more iffy over the last week, particularly if we're holding him to the new standards that were set during last season's Super Bowl-bound campaign. The chemistry is clearly there, again, with Brown, Smith and Goedert. As long as that continues to be true and Hurts is healthy and ready to go for Week 1, nothing else matters too much for this squad.
Play 16: Hurts drops back, feels pressure and scrambles. He tucks and runs for a few yards. He would've been "sacked" at least twice on that play, maybe even a strip sack from Tarron Jackson who pulled up as to not hit the QB. 1/2, sack
Play 17: Hurts goes play-action out of shotgun, looks for a screen to the left with pressure in his face and just throws it into the dirt as a throwaway.
Play 18: In an empty set, Hurts hits Goedert on an out route to the right for a first down. There had to have been blown coverage on that. There was no one in the same area code as him.
Play 19: Another "sack" on Hurts before the QB jogs around and tosses a pass out of bounds.
Play 20: It's a read-option look, as Hurts gives it to Boston Scott, who hustles up the field for a decent gain. There may have been a false start on that one, but the offense just played through it.
Play 21: Hurts drops back and with his first reads not there, he hits D'Andre Swift on an underneath crossing route. It was an empty set with Swift lined up to Hurts' left There's been an increase in Swift lining up out wide as this summer's gone on. I discussed his ability as a pass-catcher in this offense on Friday.
Play 22: Hurts hands it off to Gainwell, who picks up a few yards.
Play 23: It's a bubble screen left to Brown, but he drops it after good ball placement. It's been a bit of a sloppy night for Brown.
Play 24: This could've been a "sack" too, but Hurts hits Brown going across the middle with Josh Jobe in coverage. 3/5, 1 drop, 1 throwaway, 1 sack
Play 25: A little tip-toe action! Hurts throws it on the money to Brown along the left sideline, who just stays in bound with great footwork. The throw was where it was needed to be for Brown to haul it in, but Reed Blankenship did make a valiant jumping effort on the ball.
Play 26: False start to begin this one. After regrouping, Hurts hits Brown in stride on a slant route. Brown has had two drops, but, unsurprisingly, he's been torching Jobe in coverage.
Play 27: Nothing's really there and Hurts tucks it for a few yards.
Play 28: Hurts finds a crossing Smith underneath who picks up a first down. Simple stuff, but that's exactly what they need come the fall. 3/3
Play 29: Hurts doesn't see what he likes and quickly tucks it for a run where he gets out of bounds.
Play 30: Hurts drops back and rolls left when flushed with pressure. It looks like he may have had Gainwell on a makeshift wheel route for a brief second, but Hurts hesitates before ultimately throwing the ball away.
Play 31: Poorly thrown out route to Smith that safety Terrell Edmunds breaks up. Those should be the "gimme" plays for the Birds. Against an actual quality corner and not a struggling veteran safety, that might have been six the other way.
Play 32: Another dropback-turned-scramble for Hurts. At least fans get to see Hurts on the move, which is probably the most exciting aspect of this offense from a pure "anything can happen" stand point?
Play 33: In an empty set with Gainwell lined up wide to the right, Hurts tosses a jump ball in the end zone to Brown, who "Mosses" Jobe for the touchdown. A 50-50 ball to Brown in the end zone is a good proposition for the Birds and may be closer to a "65-35" ball with a player of Brown's caliber.
Play 34: In a two-point conversion attempt, Hurts doesn't like what he sees after he drops back and takes off to his right. There were defenders bearing down on him and he may have simply bowled over those dudes in a live-game setting, but I find it hard to chalk this one up as a successful attempt. 1/3 TD
Hurts final stats: 13/21 (61.9 percent), 1 rushing TD, 1 passing TD, 2 "sacks," 2 dropped passes, 2 throwaways
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