Two Eagles coaches were at QB Trey Lance’s pro day workout. What’s up with that?

Two members of the Eagles’ coaching staff – offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson – were in Fargo, N.D., Friday to watch North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance throw at the school’s pro day.

Considering that Lance is one of the top-rated quarterbacks in next month’s draft, and considering that the Eagles traded away their starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, four weeks ago, the Eagles’ attendance at Friday’s workout makes perfect sense.

Except for that ESPN report earlier this week that owner Jeffrey Lurie had instructed his team to pull out all stops to help make Jalen Hurts as successful as possible in 2021.

So, what exactly is going on here? Were the Eagles just doing their scouting due diligence Friday? Did they spend a couple grand on plane tickets to keep the teams that are drafting behind them guessing?

Or is it possible everyone is reading too much into Lurie’s edict and the Eagles could very well take Lance or Ohio State’s Justin Fields at No. 6 as a 2022 Plan B option in the event Hurts doesn’t pan out?

In a lot of ways, Lance would make perfect sense for the Eagles. He’s a tremendously talented quarterback with an identical dual-threat skill set to Hurts’. But with just 17 college starts, Lance isn’t quite ready to be an NFL starter. So he could watch and learn for a year while the Eagles find out what they have in Hurts.

“Trey is going to need some time,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “You’re going to have to be patient with him.

“But he’s incredibly intelligent. He can direct fronts. He can do all the stuff at the line of scrimmage you need your quarterback to do. He’s a fantastic athlete and runner. He’s got a power arm.”

Wentz, who started 16 games for the Eagles as a rookie, was 23 when he was drafted out of North Dakota State five years ago. He had 23 college starts on his resume.

Lance is 20 with just 17 starts. The Bisons played only one game last fall because of the pandemic.

“The major difference between Carson and Trey is Carson was a fifth-year senior and Trey is a third-year sophomore,” said Randy Hedberg, the Bisons’ quarterbacks coach. “So there’s a little bit of difference in age.”

Hedberg understands the high degree of difficulty for an NFL rookie quarterback. He was one back in 1977, thrown to the sharks by the hapless Tampa Bay Bucs his first year out of tiny Minot (N.D.) State. Started four games for the Bucs. Had no touchdown passes and 10 interceptions and was sacked 15 times.

“I always feel it’s tough on a rookie to step in and start right away,” Hedberg said. “Even with Carson, I was hoping he’d be able to sit back and learn from a veteran player. There’s a lot to learn. The speed of the game is a lot faster.

“I really believe it helps any rookie quarterback to come in and learn from somebody, learn the intricacies of the game. But I’ll say this about Trey: From a knowledge standpoint and an ability to process quickly, he’s got that. He can process at the line of scrimmage as quick as anybody I’ve coached.

“He’s able to see protections and he’s able to see coverages very well. It’s going to be a little more complex obviously at the NFL level than the college level. But I think he’ll learn as he progresses through.”

» READ MORE: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie lied about the rebuild | Marcus Hayes

Lance isn’t going to apologize for his thin college resume.

“I just control what I can control and don’t worry about what I can’t,” he said. “I played every game I possibly could in college. I obviously was anticipating playing another 15-16 games last year and winning another national championship in January. But it didn’t work out that way.”

In his one full year as a starter in 2019, Lance was spectacular, throwing 28 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in leading the Bisons to an FCS title. He also rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“Trey is very athletic,” Hedberg said. “We ran the ball a lot with Trey [169 rushing attempts in 16 games in 2019]. We didn’t have the quarterback run the ball quite as much when Carson was here as we did with Trey. Trey probably was a little bit better runner than Carson was at that point.”

At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Lance has a similar physical running style to Hurts. Jeremiah compared him to the late Titans and Ravens quarterback, Steve McNair. “Just the physicality that he plays with, the toughness,” he said.

That physicality was the first thing Hedberg noticed about Lance when he saw him play at Marshall (Minn.) High School.

“He was playing safety,” Hedberg said. “He was coached by his dad. He came up and made a tackle on a kid. It was a pretty physical tackle. I said after the game that if it had been a college game, he probably would’ve gotten ejected.

“He plays with a defensive mentality. He’s a very physical-type player. I’m not sure he can play with that mindset at the next level. But he definitely has that mindset going into a game.”

Lance’s father, Carlton, was a cornerback who had stints in the CFL and the World League. He later was a college assistant for several years.

Lance said that his physicality should not be confused with recklessness.

“I pick and choose my battles,” he said. “If you watch my college tape, you don’t see me take too many shots or pick a battle I don’t win.

“One of my strengths is I know when to get down and when not to. But I understand guys are bigger and faster and stronger at the next level. So I’ll definitely continue to pick and choose my battles.”

» READ MORE: Eagles free-agency preview: Five offensive players who could make sense for the Birds | Early Birds

The one benefit of the pandemic for Lance was that it gave him an opportunity to get an early start on his predraft training. He has spent the better part of six months working with Atlanta-based quarterback guru Quincy Avery. Interestingly, one of Avery’s other current clients is Hurts, as well as Deshaun Watson.

“I’ve been trying to clean up everything and be as clean and polished as possible,” Lance said. “As efficient with my movements as possible. Keep my feet in the ground and not be so up and down. Little things like that.

“Having this time to work with people like Quincy has been a huge benefit to me as far as working on the things I need to work on.”