What we learned from Eagles-Jaguars: More adversity is coming with multiple injuries

The Eagles survived an early onslaught and their own self-destruction, not to mention brutal weather conditions, to beat the Jaguars, 29-21, on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Win, lose, or draw, here’s what we learned:

If the Eagles are indeed for real, they’ll need to show they can overcome adversity, because even the best teams don’t go an entire regular season without facing significant challenges. They didn’t exactly coast in their first three games. They hung on in Detroit after surrendering two-score leads and struggled to put away both the Vikings and Commanders with underwhelming second-half performances, particularly on offense. But aside from trailing the Lions, 7-0, after the opening series of the season, the Eagles hadn’t faced a deficit. Until Sunday.

The first quarter went about as poorly as possible. Jalen Hurts quarterbacked like the worst version of his 2021 self, Doug Pederson called plays like the best version of his 2017 self, and the Eagles were behind, 14-0, just like that. Notable injuries, most prominently to left tackle Jordan Mailata and No. 1 cornerback Darius Slay, weren’t going to make a comeback any easier. But the Eagles remained calm. Last year’s squad may have folded under similar circumstances. This is clearly a different unit. It starts with Nick Sirianni, who has strived to limit the sideline outbursts he occasionally had as a rookie coach and that might have tensed up his players. And it continues on to Hurts, who has always been mature beyond his years but whose improvement has seemingly allowed for his teammates to adopt more of his emotional stability.

While Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence slowly imploded, and was affected by the conditions, Hurts shook off his slow start and elevated his play on a pivotal early second-quarter drive. The Eagles have owned the second quarter this season and scored 20 points in the frame on Sunday, giving them 85 already this season. For comparison’s sake, they scored only 104 points in the second quarter last season. I’d imagine over the course of the season, the numbers will even out. But the Eagles’ success right before the half in two-minute situations has played a role in the amount of points they’ve scored in the second.

Even though they led by only six points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ lead never felt in serious jeopardy. They had taken the game by the horns and demonstrated that they were the better outfit. That’s what quality teams do, and the Eagles are now 4-0 for only the sixth time in franchise history and the first time since 2004, when they opened 7-0. Typically, when any team starts this fast, it’s important to identify where they may have overperformed and whether they can maintain that pace. Hurts, for instance, was completing nearly 69% of his throws through the first three weeks. For a career 60% passer, however small the sample, was it realistic to expect him to stay at that rate? Probably not. His percentage on Sunday (64%) dipped some against the Jaguars, understandably so considering the wind and rain, but what impressed about the offense was that it was able to shift into a run-dominant mode.

That’s the mark of an offense that can counter defensive efforts that take away one element of production. That’s the mark of a team that can clear obstacles no matter the opponent, because they will come from all directions as the season progresses. Have the Eagles encountered their most difficult foes? Not yet. The schedule gets tougher on paper. They travel to the 2-2 Cardinals next week and host the 3-1 Cowboys, a division rival that hasn’t been as affected by the loss of Dak Prescott, before the bye week. They could conceivably lose one or both of those games, but having persevered Sunday, the Eagles now know they can take a punch.

» READ MORE: ‘I don’t think anybody can beat us right now’: Eagles are 4-0 and prove they’re the NFL’s best

Slay suffered a forearm injury three plays into the game. Mailata was out after only six plays when he banged up his shoulder following Hurts’ pick-six. Guard Isaac Seumalo left in the second half with an ankle injury. And both strong-side linebacker backups Patrick Johnson and Kyron Johnson suffered concussions. There were others that got dinged, but none more so than kicker Jake Elliott, who got upended when the Jaguars’ Tyson Campbell tried to block his field-goal attempt in the third quarter.

Elliott later connected on a 28-yard field goal and booted the ensuing kickoff into the end zone, but the fact that Sirianni elected to pass up what would have been a 42-yard field goal that would have given the Eagles a two-score lead late in the game suggests that Elliott’s injury is significant. He would have been kicking into the wind — Elliott missed an earlier PAT at that end — but there could be more to this story. The Eagles may need to sign a kicker whether he’s out for an extended period (to the 53-man roster), or just questionable for next week (to the practice squad). But Elliott has been among the most consistent kickers in the NFL over the last two seasons, and few could question his toughness following the roughing-the-kicker personal foul.

The Eagles already were without two players — the first time this season they had to use the “out” designation on the injury report. Slot cornerback Avonte Maddox was sidelined with an ankle injury, while backup running back Boston Scott was inactive with a rib injury. The defense was able to sustain the Maddox loss, even though his replacement Josiah Scott struggled. And Miles Sanders’ career outing meant that too much wasn’t asked of Kenneth Gainwell (five carries for 19 yards and a touchdown) and Trey Sermon (two carries for 19 yards) in his first action in midnight green.

» READ MORE: Miles Sanders has a career day as the Eagles’ battered O-line survives the driving Jaguars and rain

But the Eagles, who were once among the healthiest teams in the NFL, will have personnel issues to address, especially if Mailata, who underwent an MRI on Monday morning, and Seumalo are out for a while. Backup left tackle Andre Dillard is still on injured reserve after breaking his arm Sept. 1. The original timetable for his return was 4-6 weeks. He said on Sunday he wasn’t sure when he would come off IR, but he said it would be “pretty soon.” Jack Driscoll and Sua Opeta did fine work when pressed into duty for Mailata and Seumalo. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland always has his reserves ready. But they’re backups for a reason, and good defensive coordinators will find ways to attack them. Stay tuned.

Hurts may have had his three worst throws this season in a span of one quarter. He threw well behind Zach Pascal on the interception that was deflected to Jaguars safety Andre Cisco. He was late to an open DeVonta Smith when he was flushed to his right on the next possession. And he overthrew A.J. Brown on another third down a series later. Asked about the pick-six, Hurts just owned up to it rather than explain what he saw. And he never used the weather as an excuse for his early errant throwing.

But he settled down and after a 4-for-8 passing start, Hurts completed 12 of his final 17 attempts for 143 yards. It was his running and sheer determination, though, when the Eagles needed a jump start, and most important, points, that will remembered from this game. A questionable pass-interference penalty on Dallas Goedert wiped out a Brown 10-yard touchdown catch, eventually forcing the Eagles into third-and-goal at the Jacksonville 16-yard line. At that point, Sirianni probably just wanted Hurts to protect the ball and take the three points. But with the Jaguars defenders supplanted in the end zone, the quarterback scrambled to the 3-yard line, giving the Eagles a doable distance on fourth down.

Siriani didn’t hesitate and rolled the dice. And when the Jaguars took away Hurts’ first read when he dropped back, he didn’t hesitate, took off, and was met at the goal line by linebacker Devin Lloyd. The hit was clean, but it was powerful and their helmets collided. Hurts dropped the ball after he crossed the plane, but he popped up. Could he have gone to an open Gainwell after the running back released into the flat? Probably. In time, he’ll need to make that throw to avoid unnecessary bodily harm. But Hurts’ tenaciousness when the end zone is within his sights is admirable and can galvanize a team.

And his mobility is just another weapon for Sirianni and his offensive coaches to weaponize. Hurts is a plus-one in the run game, and the running backs don’t likely run for 172 of the Eagles’ 210 rushing yards against one of the better run defenses without the Jaguars having to account for the quarterback. Can Hurts maintain his tops-in-the-NFL 9.1 yards per attempt as a passer? Maybe. As long as the Eagles can remain effective on the ground, defenses will be forced to devote a defender to the box, which will only help the passing game.

Jonathan Gannon had a number of options for replacing Maddox. He chose the most obvious one, elevating Scott. The Jaguars went at him and were able to have continued success. But they didn’t exploit the mismatch with slot receiver Christian Kirk. Or more accurately, Gannon was able to keep Jacksonville’s top receiver in check without Scott hurting the defense overall. Kirk didn’t have a catch until late in the game even though he was targeted seven times initially. A film study will be needed to fully understand the defensive coordinator’s schematic choices, but when the Eagles started containing the Jaguars’ run game, Lawrence wasn’t up to the task through the air.

I still want to see how this unit will perform against the NFL’s better quarterbacks. The Cards’ Kyler Murray will be the best they face up until this point. Slay’s forearm injury doesn’t appear to be serious, but can Zech McPhearson withstand the attention he’s sure to attract if he starts next week? Will C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s inexperience at safety eventually cost the Eagles, or will they be able to hide him enough until he’s more comfortable? He still looks lost out there at times and missed three more open-field tackles.

But the other pieces in the back end have been able to cover for his deficiencies. Marcus Epps has been a steadying presence in the post. Slay was playing some of his best football until the injury. And James Bradberry has been the lockdown corner the Eagles thought they were getting, and bringing him in at the expense of the New York Giants has to be the cherry on the top. His superior vision as a zone defender was his calling card, but he’s a much better man defender than maybe some have given him credit for being.

Bradberry recorded his second interception in just four games. A Gannon blitz forced an early second-down throw by Lawrence, but the cornerback had eyes on Kirk the entire way and made the grab at the 7-yard line as the Jaguars threatened to go ahead. It was a clutch play.

» READ MORE: Eagles corner James Bradberry’s big play impresses Darius Slay: ‘How you let that man out the building?’

Haason Reddick continues to get sacks in bunches with his two strip-sacks of Lawrence. Of the 27 sacks the outside linebacker has recorded in the last three seasons, 20 have come in 10 games in which he has had more than one. He played 83% of the snaps (39 of 47) on Sunday, which is right at his number from last year with the Panthers. The Johnsons leaving early with concussions may have played a role. Reddick was at 63% through the first three games. … Goedert may be the best tight end after the catch in the NFL. Even on screens that aren’t blocked up perfectly, he finds a way to get near 10 yards. Goedert’s yards-after-catch of 12.4 per reception is currently best in the league. … Britain Covey, signed to the 53-man roster after the Eagles used up all of his practice squad eligibility, is now returning both punts and kicks. He didn’t have many opportunities in the punt game, but he returned three kicks for an average of 23 yards.