August 03, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Jalen Hurts looked comfortable in the Eagles' new offense.
The Eagles' offense easily had their best practice of training camp on Monday, after the defense carried the clear advantage at the outset of the summer.
Unfortunately, the heavy rain in South Philly forced the late-morning session into the bubble inside, so only the assembled media got to see it.
But maybe it was a turning point for offensive coordinator Sean Mannion's new system beginning to click, along with the promise that Jalen Hurts can operate just fine within it.
Here were the heroes and zeroes from Monday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, and camp's first practice in pads...
• Jalen Hurts, QB: This was Hurts' best practice of camp so far. Aside from one pick thrown to Quinyon Mitchell during 7-on-7 reps (which, really, was a better read and play by Mitchell more than anything), Hurts moved around well, got the ball on time, and looked more than comfortable operating from under center while utilizing the newly implemented motions and play actions.
On the first play of 11-on-11 reps, the Eagles' offense ran a play-action call from under center, and Hurts turned around from the fake hand-off to float a good ball to receiver Dontayvvion Wicks streaking right across the field for an easy first-down gain.
Later on in situational setups, with head coach Nick Sirianni yelling "3rd and 8" from a megaphone in goal-to-go territory, Hurts snapped a quick pass to No. 1 wideout DeVonta Smith on an out to the front-right pylon for a touchdown. Then, for a two-point conversion try, Hurts rolled right to escape pressure and fired a pass across his body to get another completion in the end zone to Smith over the middle.
Hurts also walked what looked to be a designed run from the empty gun straight into the end zone in another later goal-to-go scenario, which was thanks to some great blocking in front that cleared a wide-open path for him.
Then, toward the end of the session, Hurts lofted one more pass over the middle for depth receiver Darius Cooper.
Cooper had to dive out for the ball, but he did come down with it for a big catch that wowed everyone inside the training bubble to add on to what's been a pretty solid camp to this point for the second-year undrafted wideout.
As a frame of reference, the play looked like this from Day 1, except in full pads, at full 11-on-11s, and coming from the opposite side of the field while inside:
Play 10/10, but still gotta work on the landing pic.twitter.com/jb9dFpqhgg
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 30, 2026
The much bigger point, though, is that Hurts doesn't look like he's having any issue working within Sean Mannion's system. It's a very good sign.
• Makai Lemon, WR, Eli Stowers, TE: The Eagles' leading two picks from this year's draft, Lemon was on the field and in pads during warmups, but wasn't anywhere to be seen during team drills. That's a bit concerning for a first-round receiver who the Eagles have lined up to be a key part in making up for the offensive skill lost from the A.J. Brown trade.
Stowers, the second-round tight end, was always intended to be a project, but his athleticism and pass-catching prowess were his selling points. Yet so far, it's hard to see it.
Stowers ran a drag route across the middle of the field during second-team reps. Andy Dalton lasered a pass to him, but linebacker Arnold Ebiketie swallowed Stowers up and ripped the ball right out of his grasp for an emphatic pass breakup.
That was probably the most noticeable Stowers' No.87 was all day.
But props to Ebiketie, though. That was a great defensive play.
• The weather: It downpoured before practice started, and fans had to make a rough walk back to the public parking lot of the Jefferson Health Training Complex after getting told there would be no outside practice to watch. Training camp practices aren't easy to get into anymore, so that was brutal.
• Cole Payton, QB: The fifth-round developmental QB out of North Dakota State, Payton already had a brutal day when he threw three picks during practice last week, but that didn't seem to scare him at all.
During his reps on Monday morning, Payton stepped right back in, then let a pass fly some 30-something yards to the goal line over the middle for receiver Erik Ezukanma... with four guys on him.
Obviously, that one got broken up, and obviously, Payton has a very long way to go if he's going to be the Eagles' next "Quarterback Factory" success story, but man, might he be fun once he gets in for a preseason game.
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