Eagles practice observations: Jalen Hurts steady vs. Patriots; Interior O-line shaky; Defense dominates

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Eagles held their 12th practice of the 2024 training camp on Tuesday — a joint practice with the New England Patriots at their practice facility next to Gillette Stadium. Here are links to observations from Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Here are my takeaways from Day 12:

We got our first glimpse of quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ new offense against another team, and the results mostly were positive for the first unit. Nick Sirianni likely will elect not to play his starters again in the second preseason game against the Patriots on Thursday. But that also means the Eagles offense will go into the season opener against the Green Bay Packers in Brazil without playing live football.

That meant the lone joint practice would be the most important day of camp for Hurts and Co. in coordinator Kellen Moore’s new system. The Eagles put a lot of good plays on film, particularly in the short-to-intermediate passing game. Receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith stockpiled catches. More on their day in a bit, but Hurts did have some impressive downfield moments in team drills. He hooked up with Saquon Barkley for a touchdown after the running back beat Patriots outside linebacker Matthew Judon on a wheel route. He connected with Brown on 20-yard out at the second level with a throw just over the outstretched hand of a zone defender. Earlier in seven-on-sevens, he hit Smith on a slot fade for a 30-something-yard touchdown.

» READ MORE: How did the Eagles offense fare against the Patriots in the most revealing practice of training camp?

Hurts nearly tossed his first interception of camp when he tried to squeeze a pass to tight end Dallas Goedert in between two Patriots. Goedert got sandwiched as safety Jaylinn Hawkins got a hand on the ball. The Eagles struggled in the red zone and failed to score on five plays. Hurts was hardly at fault, as he was sacked rather quickly on two of his three drops. New England has a more than capable defense, especially with Judon still not traded, and the Pats made the Eagles earn their yards.

Hurts consciously spread the ball around back in Philly, but it was clear early on that he was going to feed his top guys. All six of his passes in seven-on-sevens went to either Brown or Smith. Pats cornerback Christian Gonzalez was one of the best defensive players in last year’s rookie class, and he offered the Eagles’ receivers a legit test on the outside. He had an early breakup on a Brown out route and played a role in some of the coverage sacks Hurts had to eat later in team drills.

But Brown and Smith were nearly un-guardable in the short slant and quick out game. The latter had a half-step on cornerback Alex Austin — filling in for injured starter Jonathan Jones — when he turned a short route into a go. Hurts heaved a pass to Smith off his back foot, but it came up short and hit Austin in the back. The quarterback went back to that side a little later — this time to Brown — and his pass was short (purposely?) again. Brown came back for the floater, though, and turned upfield for what he thought was a touchdown. He was touched by a defender, and the play was ruled down short of the goal line. Brown, meanwhile, didn’t get to the line in time for the next play, and the period ended. “That was a touchdown,” Brown said later. “He’s not making that tackle.”

The Patriots defense offered a lot of different pre-snap looks for the Eagles. New coach Jerod Mayo runs a similar scheme to previous coach and mentor Bill Belichick, and having multiple fronts has been a staple of the system. I thought Hurts and the offensive line had answers for a lot of the pressures, but there were some issues in the interior. Center Cam Jurgens got team drills off to a bad start when he rolled his first snap and Hurts was downed.

Mekhi Becton took all the snaps at right guard again. I can’t claim to know who was at fault for some of the pressures and sacks that were allowed, but I saw the back of Becton’s jersey — meaning a defender had gotten by him — on more than one occasion. He had some nice moments as well, particularly in the run game. He once got to a second-level block with alarming speed for a 363-pound man. Later on, Becton got tripped up and toppled over. Right tackle Lane Johnson fell over him, and his ankles briefly got trapped under him. Johnson said he was fine, but he took himself out and was replaced by Fred Johnson.

» READ MORE: Mekhi Becton continues to push for Eagles’ starting right guard job: ‘He’s really excelling at that position’

Judon, who is involved in a contract dispute, lined up at multiple spots and gave various Eagles O-linemen problems. He once got around Jurgens on a twist. A few sacks occurred when the pocket collapsed. After one of them, Hurts spiked the ball into the ground out of frustration.

Tyler Steen took all the repetitions at second-team right guard and is running out of time if he wants to steal the starting job back from Becton. He had maybe one of his best blocks in space when he got to the second level and creamed a Patriots off-ball linebacker. But not long after, Steen missed a switch on a game run by Patriots D-linemen and then he allowed a pressure from Pats defensive tackle Armon Watts.

Steen, who missed part of camp with an ankle injury, still is noticeably limping.

The offense showed more of what has been expected of Moore’s offense: pre-snap and at-the-snap motion, different formations and various misdirections. The Eagles’ run game was a mixed bag. Barkley picked up a bunch of yards when the left side of the line pulled right and he still ran off the left edge into space. Kenneth Gainwell had a couple of strong outside zone runs. On one rush, left tackle Jordan Mailata blocked linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley about 10 yards into the secondary and to the ground. Bentley didn’t like it, and they had a brief altercation before Jurgens separated them.

There wasn’t much of Hurts in the plus-one quarterback run game. He had few option plays and once hit Goedert for a decent gain on a run-pass option. The Eagles employed a little of “21″ personnel — with two running backs — and Hurts hit rookie Will Shipley for a swing pass with Barkley running ghost motion at the snap.

I focused most of my attention on the offense, but I was able to catch some of the Eagles defense. It seemed like every time I glanced at the next field over, someone was either getting a sack or forcing a turnover. Greg Bedard of bostonsportsjournal.com told me that he credited the Eagles with 14 sacks on 42 Patriots drops in team drills. That’s a ridiculously high rate, which suggests that the Eagles either have the greatest pass rush of all time or the Patriots have the worst pass protection ever. It’s probably somewhere in the middle, but the Eagles still took care of business.

In one-on-one drills, Bedard had Eagles pass rushers with a slight edge with 16 wins vs. 14 losses and eight draws. He had decisive wins by edge Nolan Smith and defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu.

» READ MORE: Cooper DeJean’s return could shake up the Eagles’ depth chart at cornerback

I watched the Eagles O-line in one-on-ones and had them with 13 wins vs. 11 losses and 16 draws. Darian Kinnard had a nice rep vs. Patriots defensive end William Bradley-King. Kinnard played every snap in the preseason opener. He mostly played guard before the Eagles signed him this offseason, but he’s now playing a lot of tackle. Lane Johnson said he’s one of the O-linemen who has improved the most in camp.

Inside linebacker Nakobe Dean opened team drills with the first-team defense for the first time in camp. He was alongside regular starter Devin White. After a few rough patches a few weeks ago, particularly during the open practice at the Linc, Dean has really come on. He’s always going to be around the ball against the run and has made strides as a blitzer. But he has looked better in coverage.

The Patriots offense won’t be mistaken for the 1989 49ers, but the two times that I looked over and noticed Dean, he forced an interception and notched a sack. On the former, tight end Austin Hooper caught a pass over the linebacker in the end zone, but Dean punched the ball out and to fellow linebacker Zack Baun.

Baun was involved in multiple plays that I caught. He got to Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett when he was unblocked on an “A” gap blitz. Brissett still chucked a pass to receiver Javon Baker. But cornerback Kelee Ringo had tight coverage and the ball hit the grass. A flag was thrown, and Ringo protested — until he noticed the official signaling offensive pass interference.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had the Eagles’ other interception. A Patriots receiver failed to turn in time for Brissett’s pass, and the ball basically hit the linebacker in between the numbers. But the rookie has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time. Trotter can play in the NFL, and he may be playing meaningful snaps on defense sooner rather than later.

The most competitive and physical portion of practice came during kickoff drills. When you’ve got a bunch roster bubble players on special teams, there are bound to be brawls. Sirianni said before the workout that there would be repercussions for fights. The one altercation didn’t quite reach that level, but there were some testy moments, nonetheless.

The first set that had the Eagles kicking off to the Patriots was chippy, and likely set in motion what happened when roles were reversed. Isaiah Rodgers fielded the first kick and got absolutely demolished by Christian Elliss on the return. Last season, the Eagles released Elliss, one of their better special teams performers, and had hoped to bring him back once he got through waivers. But several teams put in claims, including New England, and the Eagles goofed. It looked like Elliss took it personally.

Rodgers lost the ball, and a Patriots player picked it up and ran the other way. You can’t hear much because of the music at practice, but one Eagles player had choice words for the Pats. When Gainwell fielded the next kick, he finished his return with a little extra juice. The Eagles’ E.J. Jenkins, meanwhile, blindsided an unsuspecting Patriots player to the ground. I couldn’t see the number on the jersey, but he got up and went after Jenkins, which emptied the benches. The scrum ended without incident, and the drill was ended.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Eagles were without a legit No. 1 receiver. They now have two. So there are worse things than not having a No. 3 receiver. But the Eagles clearly don’t have an obvious answer after Brown and Smith. Those are big mouths to feed, and Goedert and Barkley will need their share, as well. But what happens if one of the top receivers gets hurt?

Rookie Johnny Wilson and Britain Covey have split most of the third receiver reps with the first unit since Parris Campbell’s groin injury. Campbell returned on Tuesday, but only for individual drills. It will be interesting to see how snaps are divvied up when he makes a full return.

Wilson had a quiet day. Of course, as I noted earlier, Hurts favored Brown and Smith. But when I narrowed in on the 6-foot-6 rookie, especially in man coverage vs. Gonzalez, he struggled to get separation.

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Covey had a couple of short grabs on throws from Hurts. He’s a smart route runner and finds creases in coverages. But his size is going to make it hard to throw him out there on offense much. I saw him get knocked off his route a few times by middle-field defenders.

John Ross had maybe his best showing of camp, particularly in the early portion of practice. The receiver caught a long pass from backup quarterback Kenny Pickett when he got behind a cornerback. But Ross also had a couple of throws he could have pulled in later. I don’t see him making the roster, especially if general manager Howie Roseman makes a move for another receiver following cutdowns on Aug. 27.

The most notable change on the injury front was the return of rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean (hamstring). He was limited and participated in only individual drills. He said he thinks he can be ready by the preseason finale on Aug. 24. Safety Mehki Garner (hamstring) and linebacker Brandon Smith (concussion) also were limited. The following players were out: linebacker Oren Burks (knee), tight end Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (shoulder), tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), and safety Caden Sterns (knee). … Pickett took the majority of snaps with the second-unit offense, but Tanner McKee still got a period with the twos. … The Eagles have a closed walk-through on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s game.