August 04, 2023
Jalen Hurts was efficient and called his own number quite often Friday in practice, the second day of a back-to-back in South Philly. He called A.J. Brown's number really often, too.
Overall it was a good day for Hurts. Here's our daily recap:
After a pretty long group of periods of individual drills (highlighted by an acrobatic diving catch by Quez Watkins in the end zone on a 1-on-1 drill against Avonte Maddox), team drills commenced at the Eagles own 30-yard line.
1. An RPO play-action keeper started things off, as Hurts kept the ball and ran between the tackles for a few yards.
2. Next, Brown went in motion and found the ball in his hands on a quick slant that went for just around 11 yards. A theme in Friday' spractice was the Hurts-Brown connection, and part of this is due to the absence of James Bradberry from practice. Josh Jobe lined up opposite Brown on many occasions, and as you'll see, Hurts and Brown took advantage.
3. Another completion to Brown out of the gun for Hurts on the sideline. This one went for around 10 yards.
4. A shotgun handoff went to Trey Sermon, who gained a few yards.
5. Hurts scrambled to his right out of the shotgun and was in the backfield for a while. It looked like this one might have wound up a Zech McPherson sack — but PhillyVoice's Jimmy Kempski thought that Hurts would have been able to escape the trouble. After some scrambling, hurts fired a pass to Dallas Goedert who made a fantastic catch after extending the play, and made his man miss to some hoots and hollers of approval on the sidelines.
The linemen went to do their own 1-on-1 drills and the Eagles ran their only 7-on-7 drills from their own 35-yard line.
6. Hurts finds a wide open Brown for around 15 yards. Standard.
7. Hurts scrambles and forces a throw to a heavily covered DeVonta Smith near the right sideline. Jobe made a great play in coverage forcing the incompletion.
8. A quick pass to Brown goes for five-or-so yards.
9. With no one open, Hurts keeps it and scrambles.
10. A completion to Smith in the front left corner of the end zone is the best offensive play of the day, going for the only touchdown pass for Hurts of the practice.
11. Another play where everyone was covered and Hurts sort of half-heartedly scrambles.
Everyone returned for full team drills at the Eagles' own 30.
12. A toss to Rashaad Penny goes for around five yards.
13. After a Nolan Smith encroachment penalty, Hurts checks down and hits Boston Scott for five-or-so yards.
14. D'Andre Swift lines up wide in a five WR formation, but Hurts keeps it and runs up the middle for a yard or two.
15. Hurts takes a shotgun snap and finds Brown for 15 yards on a very neatly run route. He was wide open. If you're keeping score, through 15 plays Hurts has five completions to Brown with four to everyone else.
16. Goedert catches a slant over the middle for a clear first down.
It's red zone time as the ball is placed at the 15-yard line for more team drills.
17. A handoff to Swift goes for minimal gain.
18. Hurts rolls to his right and sees no one open. He scrambles for a few yards but this one could very easily have been a sack with live hitting.
19. A delayed handoff to Boston Scott gets the remaining few yards for a touchdown.
20. Head coach Nick Sirianni announces that it's "fourth and five," and Hurts keeps a shotgun snap and runs into the end zone for a score. With no tackling, and Hurts in a red jersey, it's hard to tell if his running today would have resulted in more or less yards for the QB.
21. Sirianni proclaims "fourth and two" and once again Hurts calls his own number. Fantasy football enthusiasts, it could be another monster year for Hurts in the red zone.
The final period of practice was a two minute drill — or more specifically a 1:15 drill from the Eagles' own 35 yardline.
22. Brown makes an impressive concentration catch — his sixth of practice — on a pass that was tipped by Reed Blankenship. He gets eight yards.
23. A quick pass to Kenny Gainwell in the flat games about one yard. It's worth recognizing the fact that Hurts completed passes to four different running backs over the past few practices. The running backs will clearly have a role in the passing game — perhaps more than in recent seasons.
24. An RPO handoff goes to Gainwell, who gets enough for a first down.
25. Hurts scrambles to his right and makes his first big mistake of training camp. A throw that probably should never have been made (and might have been preceded by a sack in the backfield) was forced right into the open arms of Darius Slay for an interception. It's the first INT for Hurts of the summer.
26. Sirianni yells, "Last play of the game," as the offense hustles to the line of scrimmage. Hurts keeps it himself with nobody open and darts down the sideline for 10 yards or so.
27. Clearly Sirianni was fibbing, as the Eagles first team lined up one more time on what was called a "third and five." Hurts kept the snap and ran up the middle. After Sirianni yelled, "he's short," Jake Elliott and the special teams unit trotted out and the kicker drilled a 42-yarder.
In all, Hurts ran for two touchdowns on eight carries. Through the air he went 11-for-13 with one interception and one touchdown pass.
The Eagles have Saturday off before welcoming 60,000 of their best friends to the Linc on Sunday evening for their only open practice of training camp.
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