How did the Eagles offense fare against the Patriots in the most revealing practice of training camp?
There was Kellen Moore's new look. There were plenty of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith catches, as always. And there were several chances to deal with the blitz.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The most instructive practice of Eagles training camp revealed an offense reimagined but a familiar end product.
Jalen Hurts, throwing passes to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Tuesday’s joint practice against the New England Patriots might be the only time the Eagles starting offense faces another team’s defense before the season opener against the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil, next month. If so, the session held adjacent to Gillette Stadium will be the best indicator of what to expect from the group with new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore at the controls.
The variety of new formations, motions, and concepts Moore has brought to the Eagles was on full display against New England’s defense. The offense lined up in unbalanced formations with three receivers to a side often, sometimes using bunch sets, and even worked out of “21″ personnel with two running backs on the field at times. There were several instances when Britain Covey did an “orbit” motion into the backfield behind Hurts to draw the defense’s attention and a handful of jet motions that brought Brown or Smith across the formation to pinpoint matchups.
Still, by the end of practice, Brown and Smith’s ability to shake free from a Patriots secondary featuring several household names served as the connection between the new-look system and the one of old.
“We competed at a high level,” Brown said. “Going against another team, you want to see how you measure up, and I feel like we did well. There’s always stuff that we can get better at, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
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Brown’s best catch came toward the end of practice, when Hurts found him on a deep crossing route in time for him to make a sideline catch. He caught another pass on a deep comeback route a few plays later when Hurts floated a pass to him, a play Brown said afterward would have resulted in a touchdown.
Smith had several underneath catches and shook second-year Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez during one-on-ones with a comeback route early in practice. The by-product of the two receivers’ productive afternoon was few plays for the rest of the receiving corps, although it’s worth noting that running back Saquon Barkley had a touchdown catch on a wheel route midway through practice.
Completions aside, it wasn’t a perfect day for the Eagles offense. Hurts was “sacked” multiple times against a Patriots defensive front willing to send extra rushers and was flushed from the pocket a handful of times as well. Hurts likely will see plenty of that after the team struggled to counter blitz-happy defenses for most of last season, and the Eagles coaching staff has placed an emphasis on addressing it going into the regular season.
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said the Patriots did a nice job varying the looks up front to test the offensive line’s ability to pick up the blitz without mistakes. The experience of figuring out solutions for what the Patriots were doing between team sessions was valuable, Johnson added.
“I think we’ll see a lot of different schemes like that,” Johnson said. “So it’s one of those things that we’re talking to [offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland] about. It’s like, we love practicing against these teams right now because after you go out there for a series, it’s like, ‘OK, how are you going to adjust to what they’re doing?’ That’s really the first time we got to do that — today.”
Hurts added: “It’s always helpful to see different looks. When the opposition throws different things at you and you’re able to test different things, you continue to grow in those things. I think I’m most excited to go back and watch some of the tape and just talk through some of those things. I think the most important thing in this time right now is just the dialogue that we have about it, continuing to communicate to get on the same page. ... I think there are going to be some great conversations that will come from it.”
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Hurts may have an abundance of time to pore over the tape of Tuesday’s session, considering the likelihood that he won’t suit up for either of the Eagles’ remaining preseason games.
During Nick Sirianni’s tenure as Eagles coach, it has been uncommon for the starters to play in the preseason following a joint practice session. Sirianni has emphasized the importance of joint practices for their gamelike feel for the first-team groups in the past. The final preseason game also typically is reserved for players fighting for roster spots rather than Week 1 starters.
“The goal is to always be ready when Game 1 comes,” Hurts said when asked if Tuesday was preparation enough. “I don’t know what the future looks like, but I know today we had an opportunity to get better, and I think we did.”