Kyzir White’s INT highlights a promising start for Eagles newcomers, from Jordan Davis to Cam Jurgens

If Kyzir White’s interception was a harbinger for how the Eagles’ key additions will perform this season, Howie Roseman’s 2022 offseason may end up as one of the general manager’s best.

How’s that for preseason hype?

It’s not quite the puffery that followed Sam Bradford’s 10-for-10 passing outing in the annals of Eagles preseason overexuberance. But any declarations with the regular season nearly a month away, positive or negative, should come with caveats.

That said, the starting offense and defense performed well with each unit getting just a series against the New York Jets on Friday night. Quarterback Jalen Hurts guided the Eagles to an opening touchdown, completing 6 of 6 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown — with nary a target for wide receiver A.J. Brown, the headline acquisition of the offseason — while White’s pick led to a second score and a 14-0 lead.

It wasn’t just the free agent linebacker who made an impression in his debut, though. Jordan Davis displayed the rare combination of size and athleticism that made the defensive tackle the Eagles’ top draft pick. Cam Jurgens showed why the team envisioned the center as Jason Kelce’s heir apparent. And rookie linebacker Nakobe Dean was around the ball more than he had been throughout all of training camp thus far.

“I thought it felt like we were on the same page in the protections. We were on the same page with the run points. … That’s on Cam,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We had a false start that I’ll have to iron out. … I have to see whose fault that was, but he did a nice job.

“I thought Jordan did a good job eating up blocks, and I thought Nakobe got to the football, made a nice play when a guy threw an [isolation] play, shed the blocker, and made the play.”

It was just one game, of course, one the Eagles would end up losing, 24-21, Friday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The hapless Jets weren’t exactly a proper litmus test for a team with NFL postseason aspirations, but few are in what essentially have become exhibitions.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Jets analysis: Jalen Hurts rattles off an impressive drive in the offensive starters’ lone series

But the very early returns from the new faces were encouraging, particularly from the Eagles’ first three draft selections. And even though linebacker Haason Reddick, the centerpiece of Roseman’s free agent haul, and cornerback James Bradberry didn’t make the stat sheet, White’s turnover was a highlight.

“He called it before the game,” Dean said. “He didn’t call it before that play, but he called it before the game. He said he was going to do it, and he did it.”

White wasn’t the only Eagles player making good on their pregame predictions. Brown has been far and away Hurts’ favorite target in camp. The pair thrilled fans during open practice Sunday at the Linc, but the receiver never saw the ball five days later, because that’s the way the quarterback said he wanted it.

“Going into the game, Jalen told me he wasn’t going to throw me the ball,” Brown said. “That’s how it was going to go.”

Brown was a diversion, though, on Hurts’ 22-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert. He ran into the end zone and took two defensive backs with him, and the tight end was wide open.

Hurts’ protection was sound, as it was for most of the first series, even though Jurgens admitted afterward to first-game jitters. But the second-round center settled down, made the calls at the line, and got to show off his athleticism with several blocks in space — one in which he circle back on a screen and leveled a Jets defensive lineman.

“They’ve been doing that with Kelce for years,” Jurgens said of the veteran center currently sidelined after elbow surgery. “It’s a great system to be in. I feel that’s stuff I excel at.”

» READ MORE: Eagles draft pick Cam Jurgens is a mauler whose athleticism is the difference maker

Davis didn’t get to do much on his first play. Jets quarterback Zach Wilson had the ball out of his hands in less than two seconds, and White was running the other way with it before the nose tackle realized there was an interception.

But on his next series, the 6-foot-6, 340-pound Davis burst through a double team and chased Wilson before he went to the ground. The quarterback injured his knee, apparently when he evaded Dean, and never returned.

“Honestly, I didn’t even realize it was a double team,” Davis said. “But they just told me to press and find the QB. Just go in there and chase him down. Unfortunately, Zach got hurt.”

Davis lined up mostly over the nose in a 3-4 alignment. The Eagles’ starting defensive line went mostly with four down linemen with Javon Hargrave out with the toe strain. But Davis said he also played some 3- and 2i-technique.

“It was a good start. Got my feet wet,” Davis said. “Obviously, I could have done better. Always want stats, but didn’t get one on the board. … The most important thing is I just want to do my job.”

Davis pushed the pocket on passes and on one run nearly tackled rookie Breece Hall in the backfield. But Dean, just like he often did when they played together in Georgia, shed a block and wrapped up the running back.

“I’m accustomed to having Kobe behind me,” Davis said. “I know if I mess up, he’s going to clean it up.”

Dean, who has worked mostly with the second unit, has had a quiet camp. But the inside linebacker position is one of the more difficult to learn at the next level. He said he has been patient just waiting for the opportunity to play live football against another opponent.

“I see it in practice every day, so it wasn’t no shock,” said Dean, who finished with five tackles, about the speed of the game. “I wasn’t getting out there and was like, ‘Man, these people are fast.’”

The intensity will increase once the games are for real. Veterans such as defensive end Brandon Graham and tackle Lane Johnson have lived through both good and bad preseason performances that had outsiders forecasting either boom or doom.

“Was that Green Bay?” Johnson asked when reminded of the Bradford outing before a 2015 season that turned out to be among the worst in recent history.

Roseman’s offseason moves seven years later got off to a promising start. But that’s essentially all it was: A start.

“You just got to make sure you don’t get too full of yourself no time during the season,” Graham said. “Our work will be done when we’re pointing at that ring.”