July 31, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley are going to be running the Eagles' offense from under center way more under new coordinator Sean Mannion.
Eagles training camp opened, and the offense rolled out leading playcaller Sean Mannion's new system.
Jalen Hurts lined up under center, receivers ran in motion, handoffs got faked into play-action, and the O-line shifted laterally across the line of scrimmage, into protections where veteran tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata got help for what they believe was the first time in their careers.
The team is only two camp practices in, and the new system certainly isn't perfect, but it's promising.
And already, it's a far cry from the scheme and playcalling approach that got solved by other teams quick last season, and left the Eagles stalling out into a Wild Card burnout.
Several of the Eagles' core offensive players have spoken to the media about Mannion's new system at the outset of training camp over the past couple of days. Here are the assembled thoughts from their press conferences so far, in a more conversational structure...
Left tackle Jordan Mailata: "[It's] fun. It's a little bit more aggressive than years past, but it's super fun seeing the defense tired. It's a confusing part for them. We're running left to the sideline, and then we're running left to the sideline and throwing the ball down the middle of the field. You're engaging the D-line, and the more you can make it look like a run, the linebackers bite, so it frees up the middle of the field."
Right tackle Lane Johnson: "Our offense, we're doing this entirely different, so under center, play-action, wide zone, consistent with that. I think as far as spreading the ball, I think there'll be a lot of that. Each guy getting more touches. What I like about this, though, is that everything looks very complex to the defense. To the offense, it's pretty simplified, so obviously we've gotta pick up on communication and cadence and stuff. But it's very O-line friendly compared to maybe some past years that I've been involved in. So, man, looking forward to it. Looking forward to the offense."
Running back Saquon Barkley: "For me, I feel like I have a chance to be really good in this system, too...I've seen it from afar, but now, like actually studying it and working in it, and trying to put myself in the system, I feel like it's going to open up some things that I may not have been able to show as much in my career, so I'm excited for that part of it, too."
Quarterback Jalen Hurts: "I think the number one thing is the work and the repetition, and getting opportunity to get that in. You go throughout the spring, you take it as it comes. You spend time with your teammates, you grow, you embrace every rep, you're intentional about every rep, and then you come back here and you kind of turn that process – you extend that process even more. So, I'm not at the season yet. I'm taking this one day at a time here, trying to build with everybody and make sure we're all on the same page. Let's go...Let's go make it go."
Mailata: "He's all in on this system. The way he's commanding the huddle, the way he's getting that ball out, the way he's throwing it, the way he's just embraced it, man. He's all in, and it's refreshing to see. Like, refreshing to come back in and we're all into this. We have to because it's all new to us. It's not just [Jalen], it's all new to us. We always say it starts with the QB, and he's taking that up and leading by example, and we're all following."
Hurts: "Well, I think that's something that, honestly, it starts from [head coach Nick Sirianni] and his message. His first words in yesterday's team meeting were about being together and being aligned. When I was taking notes of it, I just thought about '100 percent alignment and zero entitlement.' So as a team, that's what everybody's pushing. I talked to Saquon, and he's talking about just us being disciplined, and us going out there and fighting for one another and executing. So that's a bigger picture standpoint, and I think Coach Sirianni...It started with him, obviously, but we just want to take it a day at a time, being able to onboard everything we're doing and continue to deposit daily."
Tight end Dallas Goedert: "I like it a lot. We're all still learning it, still picking it up, and doing it at full speed against a really good defense is gonna bring its challenges. But I think we've been doing good picking it up. Everything changed a little bit, and it's just fine-tuning it, understanding the little details of it, and I think it'll be really beneficial for everybody on offense."
Mailata: "It's stretching the defense a lot more than we did in the past. It's not a knock to our past schemes or past coaches. It's just we get to stretch the defense, and it kind of stresses them out a little more. They don't know if it's a pass or run, and the play-action game being married is pretty key to the scheme. And yeah, it's been fun so far, but it's still early days, so we just gotta keep stacking days and continuing there."
Johnson: "We just have a lot more inside help, and when we're under center, it's so hard for the defense to really tell if it's a run or play-action. Instead of getting off the ball now, it's a lot more hesitation, a lot more reading from them. So I believe this offense does a good job of setting us up for success."
Jordan Mailata had a lot to say about Sean Mannion's new offense early into Eagles training camp.
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Hurts: "Yeah, I think it's an extension of what I've done already in that department [with being under center]. It's been an area of my game that I've always had, and we just haven't done it a lot. So we'll just be putting it on tape more."
Barkley: "I've always been intrigued with this kind of system, watching it kind of from afar and seeing a lot of guys have a lot of success in it. The thing that changes for me, we coach it a little bit different. Outside zone and wide zone, the read is pretty much the same, but [I'm] just trying to get more of a one-cut mindset. I feel like naturally in my career, especially for all of us, unless you're in a system like this in college, most of us come from playing shotgun...You're more natural to a duo or like an inside zone. Then, when you get to the NFL, you see a lot of guys struggle with the outside zone in the beginning, but I've been working on that the whole time and just having that one-cut mentality, but still doing it in the way that I like to get out of the cut and just being efficient and being aligned with the offensive line and the play and making it work."
Mailata: "It's been, again, still early days, but we showed some good signs today of improving from yesterday, because yesterday was a little bit of a down day. So again, as long as we can continue to stack days and build on what we've done right and learn from what we do wrong, I think we're trending in the right direction."
Hurts: "Yeah, I think [Mannion] is gonna be just fine. He's got a lot of structure and a lot of intentionality behind what he does, and I think I'm at a point where I have to help him and be of – not influence, you know, somewhat service – but kind of hold up my end of it as well, because I've experienced it so much. I mean, that's all I've experienced. So I think realistically, there's nothing new going into this year."
Mailata: "I think when we're being taught the scheme, just the explanation of how the defense is gonna see it and what the plan is...in those meetings, you just see like, 'Oh wow, that's like...that's actually pretty smart. Why didn't I think about that,' you know? But you don't think about it because you're an offensive lineman. So it's when you get to come out here, you run the plays, and you may not understand it at the time. Then when you go through the meetings, [Mannion] breaks down everything, like there's a purpose to everything in the play, and then you see it unfold and you see the defense kind of confused, like 'OK, who's covering who now in this motion? How does that affect the D-line and the O-line?'... Even like teaching the O-line on some of the concepts; 'This is how you should run. This is how we want you to run because we want to invite these linebackers downhill.' There's a lot more to it than, I guess, I thought an offensive coordinator can bring to the table, and yeah, I've just been blown away by that evil genius."
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