Five takeaways from Howie Roseman’s opening day media availability at Eagles training camp

The last time Eagles general manager Howie Roseman answered questions from reporters, it was just after the team finished selecting nine players in the NFL draft three months ago.

And while not much has changed since then, there were plenty of topics for Roseman to address Wednesday, a day after the Eagles reported for training camp ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Here are five takeaways from Roseman’s session.

It was the main topic du jour on opening day: the relationship between the quarterback and the head coach. It was a topic during minicamp, too, when Jalen Hurts didn’t exactly shower his head coach in praise when given an easy chance. And a story from The Athletic last week described the relationship between Hurts and Nick Sirianni as “a work in progress.”

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts: Nick Sirianni, Eagles QB are ‘in a great place’ after not always being on the same page last year

Roseman was asked Wednesday about the evolution of Hurts as a leader.

“I think he’s got tremendous energy. Tremendous work ethic,” Roseman said. “Just like all of us, everything that he feels like he can continue to work on he will do.

“This is a guy that obviously has brought us tremendous success since he’s been our starting quarterback, has played at a tremendously high level. I have tremendous confidence in him that whatever he has to do to continue to be an MVP candidate he will do.”

That’s five uses of tremendous if you’re keeping score.

How Hurts leads this new-look offense under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is easily the top story to follow during this camp.

» READ MORE: Predicting the Eagles’ 53-man roster as position battles begin: Here’s what to expect at training camp

Speaking of Moore ... Roseman was asked Wednesday to clarify his involvement in hiring Moore and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

He started by explaining how the Eagles landed on first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell. Nick Sirianni’s college roommate, Jason Candle, is the coach at Toledo. And while Howie Roseman and his scouting staff had a lot of information on Mitchell, Sirianni’s relationship with Candle was valuable, Roseman said Wednesday.

“It made me feel much better about the selection that we already felt good about,” Roseman said.

“It’s the same process for when we do coaches. Nick will come to me and say: ‘These are the guys I’m thinking about. Do you have any relationships? Do you know these guys?’

“Obviously I’ve been in the league a long time. I had prior relationships with both of those guys. It makes him feel better about the decisions he’s making.”

Sirianni, Roseman said, is in charge of his coaching staff, and Roseman is in charge of the roster, but there’s some intertwining.

“That’s how good organizations make decisions,” Roseman said. “We work together.”

» READ MORE: Quinyon Mitchell has a common thread to Eagles’ Nick Sirianni

One of the more intriguing roster battles in camp is who ends up on the depth chart at wide receiver behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Parris Campbell, the sixth-year receiver the Eagles brought in in free agency, is getting the first crack at WR3, and had a few catches during 11-on-11 sessions. There are others in the mix, too, like veteran John Ross, return specialist Britain Covey, rookies Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson, and a few others.

“Really excited to get out here and see the candidates that we have,” Roseman said. “We brought in guys we think have talent and have the ability to contribute for us.

“But to sit here and say that’s not something we’re going to be watching every day and seeing who steps up and how the chemistry is with Jalen, it’s important. You look at it throughout the league, that position is an important position. We brought in guys in free agency. We drafted a couple guys. I think it’s something we’re going to be watching daily and see who steps up.”

And if no one does, Roseman might have hinted a little that the Eagles will look elsewhere for an upgrade.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni ceded some control but knows it’s on him if the Eagles ‘don’t win enough’

The Eagles moved on from Ted Rath, their vice president of player performance. That move was the most notable among the various staff changes the Eagles announced in early June.

Rath was named the NFL’s top strength and conditioning coach for a second time following the 2022 season, which ended with a loss in Super Bowl LVII. But the team took a step back in 2023, and some Eagles staff members felt some players were not in the shape they needed to be in late last season.

“You’re constantly looking at ways to evolve as a staff,” Roseman said. “You’re looking at things you can do different. From our perspective, we made a bunch of staff changes. We’re excited about that.

“Obviously as we go through the 2024 season, starting today … we’ll all be judged on the results.”

» READ MORE: Fire Nick? Hardly. Lurie thinks Sirianni is Andy Reid (lite) for the Eagles, NFL sources say

Only one team, Washington, surrendered more passing touchdowns than the Eagles did in 2023. Remember how easy Baker Mayfield made things look in the playoff game in January? Maybe you’ve erased that from your memory. But Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three scores in a 32-9 thumping.

To the Eagles’ credit, they tried to address the issue. They used their first two draft picks on cornerbacks and brought back safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to help bolster the secondary.

» READ MORE: Eagles rookie Cooper DeJean sidelined with hamstring injury to begin training camp

Is this unit more prepared, and more equipped, to have success under Fangio?

“Well, we’ll see,” Roseman said. “Obviously we got to go with what we see here going forward. We brought in a lot of new people into our secondary. We thought it was an area that we had to address. I’m really excited to see those guys go out and play.

“I didn’t do a good enough job last year of fortifying the secondary and it showed with our depth. Our best teams have had our best depth with our best players.”

This team has depth in spots that it didn’t. It’s no guarantee things change, but it’s a better place to start from.