August 09, 2022
The Eagles' first-team offense ran 25 plays in 11-on-11 and team drills Tuesday, in an exceptionally hot training camp practice. Jalen Hurts threw it just 12 times as the offense practiced being pinned against their own end zone quite a bit.
As we do after every practice open to the media, here's a look at the 25 plays Hurts commanded behind center. This first set of full team plays came at the Eagles' own one-yard line.
Play 1: Under center, Hurts hands it to Miles Sanders for a few yards.
Play 2: Out of the shotgun, Hurts looked A.J. Brown's way on the right sideline and threw the ball a little behind his receiver. Brown hauled it in and tried to tip toe for a first down along the sideline but had one foot out. It was a great route run by Brown, and perhaps a better throw leads him at the sideline but we'll lay the blame for the incompletion mutually on both guys on this one.
Play 3: Another Brown target, this one across the middle on a throw that was too high and was well covered by Davion Taylor.
Play 4: A delayed handoff to Sanders went for a short gain.
Play 5: Out of the gun, Hurts threw a quick pass to Dallas Goedert on the left side of the field for a first down.
Play 6: After scanning the field briefly, Hurts felt the pass rush deep in his own end and elected to turn up field. He found a hole, but as always it's hard to gauge how effective the play would have been in a live game.
The next practice session saw Hurts throwing passes to wideouts who were going one-on-one against cornerbacks. There were some very good reps on throws to Brown near the middle of the field, but there was one particular play that Hurts probably wants to try a few more times. Twice, on the left side, Zach Pascal beat Mac McCain and had a step on him. The first throw was five yards over Pascal's head. Later, with Pascal once again beating his man, Hurts was unable to place the ball in a catchable spot for Pascal. Hurts has struggled a little bit with the deep ball over his career and he's been hit or miss so far in training camp.
The next opportunity for Hurts came in 11-on-11 from the offense's own 30.
Play 7: A play action out of the shotgun, Hurts scrambled right and threw the ball on the run to Quez Watkins. It was hard to see the play on the other side of the field but we'll call this one complete as Watkins looked pleased after the play.
Play 8: A toss to Sanders, but the defense was all over it resulting in a loss of yards. Brandon Graham was in on the play.
Play 9: Graham had a no doubt about it sack a play later, stripping the ball from Hurts' hand and reaching the quarterback within a few seconds.
Play 10: A handoff to Jason Huntley didn't go for much. Huntley got a few reps with the first team with Kenny Gainwell (hip injury) and Boston Scott (concussion) each inactive today.
Play 11: A toss to Huntley got a few yards to wrap up this set of plays.
The team went back against its own end zone again, this time without the linemen for 7-on-7 drills:
Play 12: An incomplete pass to Sanders in the flat near the sideline.
Play 13: A good throw by Hurts finds Brown over the middle for about 10 yards. Brown made a nice play on a ball that Kyzir White had a chance to make a play on.
Play 14: Hurts looked Huntley's way in the flat before checking to Pascal, who caught it and got about three yards crossing the field.
Play 15: A quick pass to Brown went for five yards or so. It was pretty clear to see Hurts was trying to get rid of the ball quickly — as he should be, pinned inside his own five.
Play 16: A great route run by Pascal on the outside saw him open for about seven yards before the defense swarmed and it was whistled dead.
The first team went back to the 30-yard line for more 11-on-11.
Play 17: A shotgun handoff to Sanders for two yards or so.
Play 18: A fake handoff keeper out of the shotgun went for a few yards as Hurts sprinted for the right sideline.
Play 19: Under pressure, Hurts stood in the pocket and found Watkins for a first down.
Play 20: With Sanders in motion, Hurts went to Watkins again for a short gain on the right side.
After some special teams drills, the Eagles went to the offense's own 35. With three minutes put on the clock, the team was clearly looking to practice an end-of-game situation. It didn't particularly go well.
Play 21: A shotgun handoff to Sanders gained around six yards.
Play 22: A blitz saw Graham and Javon Hargrave get to the QB pretty quickly for a sack, setting up a third and quite long.
Play 23: In a bizarre play that the few fans in attendance will be telling their friends about for a while, Hurts looked for Brown over the middle and instead had the pass take a big bounce off Marcus Epps. Dallas Goedert was able to "immaculately receive" the pass and get nearly all the necessary yards for the first down.
Play 24: Sanders runs it off tackle and breaks free for at least 10 yards before the play is called dead.
Play 25: The last play for the first team offense was a handoff to Sanders out of the shotgun for about five yards.
Hurts wasn't awful, and he sort of functioned as a game manager Tuesday with the Eagles running more than 50% pass plays. There were no highlight throws but also no glaring mistakes. Our tally had Hurts at 9-for-12 today with no touchdowns and no completions beyond 10 yards.
The Eagles are back at it Wednesday before a walkthrough Thursday prior to their preseason opener Friday night.
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