July 29, 2026
Kevin Patullo who?
The offense took the field at the Jefferson Health training complex Wednesday as training camp opened and it did not look like the Philadelphia Eagles. At least not like a team that has played in Philly for the last half-decade under Nick Sirianni's regime.
Fans can take some real solace that the Eagles really are addressing many of the issues that dogged the offense in 2025, and years prior. New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has given the unit more than a new coat of paint — he's seemingly taken it down to the struts.
“I’ve always been intrigued with this kind of system, you know," Saquon Barkley told reporters after practice, "watching it kind of from afar and seeing a lot of guys have a lot of success in it.”
“What I like about this though is that everything looks very complex to the defense," Lane Johnson said when he talked to media members, "but to the offense, it’s pretty simplified.”
#Eagles’ Lane Johnson on the new offense. pic.twitter.com/lb7M1rwftX
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) July 29, 2026
Whether it's complicated or simple, it's different. And it's worthy of some excitement.
Over 21 first-team 11-on-11 drill reps Wednesday, Hurts was under center 52% of the time. It's a small sample size — all of the data we collected in the team's first practice is — but it's significant nonetheless. In 2025, under Patullo, Hurts was under center less than 24% of the time, the seventh fewest of any team.
The Eagles gave Barkley and the other running backs more room to pick up speed with several under center handoffs. And it's certainly going to make it harder for defenses to prepare.
“This offense is really good," Baun said. "One that’s kinda taken over the league and we see a lot during the season and now to have it here at training camp, practicing it and seeing it all the time is going to be really good for this defense.”
That the new scheme will help the defense get better is an added bonus.
In the aforementioned 21 first-team snaps Wednesday, the Eagles ran play-action fakes around 24% of the time. That's more than 10% higher than they did in 2025. If they ran it 24% of the time during a full season it would probably lead the NFL.
Top offenses from last season, like the Rams (most), Bears (second most) and Bills (sixth most) were able to take some heat off their quarterbacks with consistent fake hand-offs. And not only are the Eagles expected to have more play-action, but Mannion's offense should lend to the running backs being more active in the pass game.
Barkley had a catch in the flat in the first practice of the season, as did a few other RBs. They'll be asked to block less and catch the ball more in the new scheme.
Yet another criticism of the Eagles' offense, when it's in the dumps, is that the offense seemingly rarely puts men in motion to give Hurts extra information about what the defense is doing. Or to try and get an edge on the defense by making it unclear what they might do when the ball in snapped.
By our math, the Eagles' first team was in motion 46% of the time in their first training camp practice, a number that's sort of in line with what they did in 2025 (44%, the fifth least frequent). As more data is collected and practices pile up, it will be interesting to see if this percentage goes up.
This complaint is almost tired. It's been thrown out so often by Eagles fans and NFL pundits that Hurts doesn't throw over the middle.
The numbers do support that claim, as the Eagles threw over the middle the second least of any NFL team last season.
Whether that is due to scheme or to what the defense presented Hurts, it looks like it might change in 2026.
At least half a dozen times Wednesday, Hurts completed a pass over the middle of the field. Darius Cooper caught a highlight-reel throw from him there, as did big Johnny Wilson and DeVonta Smith. The offense has more speedy receivers, with Hollywood Brown and Dontavious Wicks also in the fold now. All of that in addition to safety valve tight end Dallas Goedert.
Expect to see the Birds drawing up plays using all areas of the field under Mannion.
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