Tag: DEVONTA SMITH
Eagles’ Hurts: ‘I think we are a work in progress’
For the second week in a row, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did not have his best game, but just like in Week 1, he and his teammates found a way.
Hurts completed 18 of 23 passes for 193 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. In addition, he ran for 35 yards and added two more touchdowns on the ground as the Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings 34-28 in the team’s home opener on Thursday night.
“For us, we found a way to get it done,” Hurts said after the win. “The reality is that the league is different from moment to moment. For us, we just continue to grow. Obviously, there were a ton of guys that made plays out there, not just myself. But there were a lot more plays out there for us to make.”
While Hurts has not been putting up eye-popping numbers, he’s getting the job done. In fact, Philadelphia has won 19 of its last 20 regular-season games Hurts. Since 2021, Hurts’ .750 winning percentage (24-8) leads all NFL quarterbacks.
After two weeks, teams are trying to limit the big plays this offense got last season in the passing game. The offense does not look entirely in sync; at this point, Hurts believes the team is finding its way.
“I think we are a work in progress,” he said. “What better way to be a work in progress than sitting on two wins out of the gate in ten days, or however many days it was. We strive for progress, not perfection. Obviously, we all have a standard for ourselves. Obviously, we demand the most of ourselves because of everything that we go through together, all the work that we put in together, and all of those things. We are going to continue to keep chipping away.
“In fact, the same things that I’m saying now I’d be saying if we lost. But the reality is winning is the only thing that matters, and everything is done with winning in mind. For us, we just want to continue to grow as a team, continue to develop, and find that identity for us and continue to grow together.”
In the second half, cameras caught an animated A.J. Brown talking with Hurts on Philly’s sideline. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was seen saying something to both guys. Brown did not speak after the game, but Hurts explained Brown’s reaction.
“I think everybody wants to make plays, and everybody wants to contribute,” he said. “I have no worry about him; he’s a great player, a great teammate, a great friend, and we’ll do anything and everything to win.”
Sirianni says things will remain private.
“The conversations we have on the field are going to be private, and the conversations we have in our locker room are going to be private,” Sirianni said. “You don’t need to know what was going on right there.”
It’s all about getting wins, and that’s what the Eagles are doing right now, winning. As the schedule toughens up, this team will have to better if they want to continue winning.
Swifty!!
-Philadelphia rushed for 259 yards and 3 TDs on 48 attempts, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. It was the 2nd-most rushing yards of the Nick Sirianni era (since 2021), behind a 363-yard performance on 11/27/22 vs. Green Bay. The Eagles’ leading rusher was newcomer D’Andre Swift, who totaled a career-high 175 yards in the win.
-D’Andre Swift’s 175-yard effort marked his fifth career game with 100+ rushing yards and was the most by an Eagle since LeSean McCoy on 12/8/13 (217 yards). Swift’s last 100+ yard game was on 9/11/22 vs. Philadelphia with Detroit (144 yards).
Smitty!!
DeVonta Smith registered 131 yards and 1 TD on four receptions (32.8 avg.). It marked the 2nd-most receiving yards of his career (169 yards on 9/25/22 at Washington).
Smith became the first Eagle to record multiple 50+ yard receptions in a single game since
DeSean Jackson accomplished the feat on 9/8/19 vs. Washington. Smith caught a 54-yard reception in the first quarter to set up a FG by Jake Elliott that gave the
Eagles a 3-0 advantage early in the game. He also hauled in a 63-yard TD from Jalen Hurts during the third quarter to make it a 27-7 score.
Eagles to wear Kelly Green uniforms two times in 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles will wear the Kelly Green throwback uniform and helmet two times this season. On October 22, the team hosts the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football and again in Week 12 when they welcome the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, November 26.
“We are thrilled to bring back the Kelly Green uniform and helmet this season, and are equally excited to celebrate our team’s history with Eagles fans everywhere,” said Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles Chairman & CEO said in a press release. “This is something we have wanted to do for a long time, and from the feedback we have gotten from our fans, we knew they felt the same way.”
In collaboration with Nike, the reimagined version of the vintage uniforms will pay homage to the club’s storied past, while also appealing to a new generation of fans. Inspired by the classic look from an era that produced a number of legends and historical moments, the uniform’s latest rendition has been intricately designed to evoke special memories amongst the fanbase.
The classic Kelly Green shade accentuates the base of the jersey and is complemented by white numbers with black trim on the front, back, and shoulder pads. The letters on each player’s nameplate are displayed in white and the retro Eagles logo rests below the Nike swoosh on the side shoulders. Gray pants are accompanied by Kelly Green, white, and black striping down the side of the legs, with white socks featuring Kelly Green and black striping to round out the uniform’s aesthetic. The Kelly Green helmet displays the legendary gray Eagle wings with white trim and a gray facemask.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is excited about the jerseys.
“I think they look pretty cool,” he said on Sunday. “I look forward to — I won’t do it, but my wife will buy my kids jerseys, and I’m sure that they’ll have Kelly green ones when they have an opportunity to buy them.
“I think they look cool. I think the one Eagles jersey I have is a Mike Quick jersey that just so happens to be Kelly Green, I think they’re cool. Yeah, I’m excited that the fans are able to get those.”
While the Eagles have made minor alterations to their uniforms over the years, the 2023 season marks the first time in nearly three decades that the team will return to the early ‘90s era Kelly Green uniform. The Eagles most recently donned a similar style of Kelly Green in Week 1 of the 2010 season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the team’s 1960 NFL Championship.
Eagles’ Sirianni on Watkins: ‘We know he has a lot of talent, and I’m excited about that’
At the end of the 2022 season, Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins walked away disappointed.
According to the third-year wide receiver, he took a step back in 2022.
“I know I took a step back from last year to this year,” he said at the end of the season. “But it was a humbling season, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”
Last season, Watkins, a sixth-round Eagles pick in 2020, had 33 receptions(51 targets) for 354 yards and a touchdown.
Last week, during the team’s mandatory minicamp, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni singled out Watkins as one of the guys who have stood out this offseason.
“I have no problem singling one guy out that I think has just done a phenomenal job this off-season is [WR] Quez Watkins,” Sirianni said. “I love his attitude, and I’ve said this to him, and I have no problem saying it here, some people around here, and it’s not in this building, we have a ton of confidence in Quez Watkins, but I kind of sense from him — he’s never said this, but oh, some people think I stink? Wait. Wait. That’s how he’s attacked every day. That’s how he’s attacked practices, and I think that he looks really good.
“We know he has a lot of talent, and I’m excited about that. I really like the way he’s gone about his business because he can’t control anything but what he can control, and he can’t control what other people think about him. He can’t control anything like that. Can’t control things that may have happened to him last year, the opportunities that he got last year or did not get. All he can control is how he works, and I’ve really been excited about how he’s gone about his business.”
Watkins, 25, is entering his fourth season in the NFL, and with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, Watkins may not get many targets. However, the ball will come his way, and when it does, he must make the most of it.
Eagles begin 2023 season against Patriots
The NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles will begin the 2023 season on the road against the Patriots, the league announced on Thursday.
The Eagles begin the season with an away game for the fourth straight year, which marks the team’s longest such streak since doing so in six consecutive seasons from 1983-88.
Last season, the Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57.
2023 Philadelphia Eagles Schedule:
Preseason |
|||||||
Friday, August 11 |
at Baltimore Ravens |
7:00 p.m. |
NBC10 |
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Thursday, August 17 |
Cleveland Browns |
7:30 p.m. |
NBC10 |
||||
Thursday, August 24 |
Indianapolis Colts |
8:00 p.m. |
Prime Video^ |
||||
Regular Season |
|||||||
Sunday, September 10 |
at New England Patriots |
4:25 p.m. |
CBS |
||||
Thursday, September 14 |
Minnesota Vikings |
8:15 p.m. |
Prime Video^ |
||||
Monday, September 25 |
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
7:15 p.m. |
ABC^ |
||||
Sunday, October 1 |
Washington Commanders |
1:00 p.m. |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, October 8 |
at Los Angeles Rams |
4:05 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, October 15 |
at New York Jets |
4:25 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, October 22 |
Miami Dolphins |
8:20 p.m.+ |
NBC^ |
||||
Sunday, October 29 |
at Washington Commanders |
1:00 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, November 5 |
Dallas Cowboys |
4:25 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
BYE |
|||||||
Monday, November 20 |
at Kansas City Chiefs |
8:15 p.m.+ |
ESPN/ABC^ |
||||
Sunday, November 26 |
Buffalo Bills |
4:25 p.m.+ |
CBS |
||||
Sunday, December 3 |
San Francisco 49ers |
4:25 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, December 10 |
at Dallas Cowboys |
8:20 p.m.+ |
NBC^ |
||||
Sunday, December 17 |
at Seattle Seahawks |
4:25 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Monday, December 25 |
New York Giants |
4:30 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
Sunday, December 31 |
Arizona Cardinals |
1:00 p.m.+ |
FOX |
||||
TBD* |
at New York Giants |
TBD |
TBD |
||||
Schedule Highlights:
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Philadelphia has five scheduled primetime contests for the second year in a row. The Eagles have appeared in the second-most primetime games (99, tied) in the NFL dating back to 2000.
-
Philadelphia will travel to Kansas City in Week 11 for a rematch of Super Bowl LVII on Monday Night Football. It then hosts an NFC Championship rematch vs. San Francisco in Week 13.
-
A national audience will once again be treated to an Eagles-Cowboys matchup in Week 14 on Sunday Night Football. With the exception of a nationally televised 2014 Thanksgiving afternoon contest, the division rivals have squared off in primetime every season since 2007.
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In Week 16, Philadelphia will take on the New York Giants on Christmas at Lincoln Financial Field. This marks the Eagles’ first Christmas game since facing the Raiders at home in 2017.
Top three reasons why the Eagles will win Super Bowl 57
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles are hoping to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl when they battle the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Coming into this game, the Eagles are favored by 1.5 points.
Here are three reasons why the Eagles will win Super Bowl 57.
Eagles’ pass rush:
The Eagles get after the quarterback at a high level. In the regular season, they led the NFL with 70 sacks, and in two games in the playoffs, they’ve had eight sacks and knocked out two quarterbacks. The Eagles are the only NFL team to have four different players – Haason Reddick (16.0), Brandon Graham (11.0), Javon Hargrave (11.0) and Josh Sweat (11.0) (all career highs for everyone) – record 10.0+ sacks in the same season
This pass rush, led by Reddick, will test Patrick Mahomes’ injured ankle, and if the Eagles do what they’ve done all season long, Mahomes will be under duress.
In addition, Philadelphia has the number one pass defense in the NFL and have allowed only 14 points in these playoffs.
Brown and Smith:
This season, Eagles wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for 183 receptions with 2692 yards and 18 touchdowns. They were a dynamic duo and maybe the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL.
Interestingly, Kansas City has allowed the most receiving touchdowns(33). In addition, Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert is a stud and is a big part of Philly’s passing game.
Expect Brown and Smith to get their yards on Sunday.
Jalen Hurts:
When you talk about Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts(35 combined touchdowns), it’s not what he does with his arm(22 TD passes); it’s what he does with his legs(13 rushing touchdowns) and how he impacts the running game.
The Eagles have rushed 488 yards(4.7 ypc) and seven touchdowns in the playoffs. The offensive line is excellent, and the running backs are solid, but Hurts makes it all go.
The chip has been on his shoulder for a long time, and he’s played in many big games at Alabama and Oklahoma. The Super Bowl is more significant than all those games, but he’s built for this moment.
Prediction:
Kansas City has league MVP Patrick Mahomes, and he’s special. They get after the quarterback(55 sacks this season). Furthermore, experience is on their side(Andy Reid’s fourth Super Bowl and Mahomes’ third Super Bowl), but the Eagles have the most complete team in football, and if Philadelphia protects the ball and plays a clean game, they win Super Bowl 57.
Eagles win 34-20; Hurts is named Super Bowl MVP.
Eagles get win number 13 in Chicago
Win number 13 was not a masterpiece for the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was a win as they defeated the Chicago Bears 25-20 at a cold and windy Soldier Field on Sunday.
With the win, Jalen Hurts(24 years, 133 days) is the youngest quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to a 13-1 start.
At times, the Eagles offense struggled. They had three turnovers, including two Hurts’ interceptions. Those turnovers kept the Bears in the game.
Despite the turnovers, Hurts made some big plays: he completed 22-of-37 passing for 315 yards and added 61 yards rushing on 17 attempts with three touchdowns. Hurts became the second quarterback since the 1970 merger to have multiple three-plus rushing touchdown performances in their career.
Hurts battled the cold and won.
“I think early in the game, personally, I really couldn’t feel my hands,” Hurts said. “It was very cold, didn’t really have good vision on the field, personally. Just a lot of different things going on. I think to be able to persevere through that, that’s not something that was done by myself.”
It wasn’t all Hurts; he got some help from his weapons. A.J. Brown led all receivers with nine catches for a career-high 181 yards, while DeVonta Smith hauled in five catches for 126 yards.
Those guys made big plays throughout, and Brown came up huge when the Eagles needed him the most. In the fourth quarter, and the Eagles leading 17-13, Hurts connected with Brown on a 68-yard completion that set up Philly’s final touchdown. After the Bears cut the lead to 25-20, Hurts connected with Brown on a 12-yard completion that allowed the Eagles to run out the clock.
Again, this was not a pretty win for the Eagles, but they did what they needed to do, and now, they get ready for their big showdown in Dallas against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve.
Eagles get a big win over Broncos in Denver
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles(4-6) used a dominant run game, big plays from DeVonta Smith, and an opportunistic defense to knock off the Broncos(5-5) 30-13 at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Eagles rushed for 214 yards against the Broncos, led by Jordan Howard’s 83 yards and Boston Scott’s 81 yards. Also, Jalen Hurts, who ran for 53 yards, became the first Eagles QB to have 50+ rushing yards in four consecutive games since 2011. This was the third-straight game in which the team has recorded 175+ rushing yards. Philadelphia has also rushed for 200+ yards in two of their last three games.
In addition, Hurts to Smith(four catches 64 yards, two touchdowns) worked very well for the Eagles. The two connected on two touchdowns, including a leaping 36-yard touchdown reception by Smith in the first quarter that gave Philadelphia an early 10-0 lead.
Denver would ultimately tie the game at 10, but Hurts would connect with Smith on a five-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. According to Sportradar, Smith, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, became just the third Eagle to post multiple touchdowns on their birthday; he also became the first Eagles rookie to record multiple receiving touchdowns in a single game since 2014.
The Eagles took a 20-10 lead into halftime, and late in the third, with the team leading 20-13, the Broncos had a big 4th and one deep in Eagles’ territory, and Broncos RB Melvin Gordon was stripped by Eagles LB Davion Taylor, which was scooped up by Darius Slay who would return it 82 yards for a touchdown to give Philadelphia a commanding 27-13 lead.
“Big Play Slay” made the play of the game, and with the Eagles struggling offensively in the second half, his return for a touchdown was huge.
Philadelphia now returns home to face the sixth-seeded Saints(5-4) next Sunday, and don’t look now, but the Eagles are in a playoff race at this point. They are one game behind the seventh-seeded Carolina Panthers(5-5), so if they can beat the Saints, Philly could get one step closer to the playoffs.
In the end, there’s still a lot of football left.
Best of the Rest:
-Hurts went 16-of-23 for 178 passing yards and two touchdowns.
-K’Von Wallace kept Denver off the board following their first possession of the third quarter when he blocked a 22-yard FG attempt by Broncos K Brandon McManus. He became the first Eagle to register a blocked FG since Derek Barnett on 11/22/20 against the Browns.
Eagles’ Sirianni compares DeVonta Smith to Allen Iverson
In basketball, it’s the first step that can help you can by a defender, and former Philadelphia 76ers great Allen Iverson had one of the best first steps in NBA history. Along with his speed and athleticism, Iverson’s first step helped him to score over 24,000 points in his career and got him inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame.
Eagles rookie wideout DeVonta Smith, like Iverson, has an excellent first step and is off to a decent start. Last week against the Chiefs, Smith had his first 100-yard receiving game with seven catches and 122 yards, and he leads the team in receptions and yards.
On Friday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni compared Smith’s first step to Iverson.
“Yeah, I always consider the jab at the first point of the line of scrimmage,” Sirianni said. “And I think this will resonate with Philadelphia fans, that any time I teach a wide receiver how to release off the line of scrimmage, I have an Allen Iverson clip ready to go.
“And because it’s very much like a crossover. So why was Allen Iverson – I know this is like, ‘Man, why is he talking about basketball?’ Why was Allen Iverson good at the crossover? One thing, and you hear him say this all the time, is that he’s fast; he was quick. And so, people had to react to his first step.
“And so, when he took that hard jab one way, they had to react to it because he was quick, and then he was able to go back the other way. And that’s really what receivers are. And because DeVonta’s fast and because he’s quick and he has a quick, fast first release, first step, they have to react to when he jabs, and then the other thing on top of that, he’s making it a meaningful jab. You know, some receivers will just kind of — I mean, I know you can’t really see what I’m doing, but put their foot in the ground.
“Well, he puts his foot in the ground, he puts his body that way, and puts his head that way to really get them going, and then he crosses them over to, say, on — you know, how Allen Iverson used to do it.
“So that’s what makes him so effective. Again, his first quick step and then his technique in which he does it with how he gets that guying leaning that way and then come off and do it, So that’s exciting because that’s not something a lot of guys have to do a lot in college. And so, he’s just a quick — again, I always felt like he is a technically sound wide receiver, and he was coached really well at Alabama. And he’s a student of the game.
“So, it’s no surprise. And so, he has that understanding to that, too, that you really got to move them to get off the line of scrimmage.”
Well, if Smith is anything like Iverson, the Eagles, and their fans will be happy!
Eagles’ Sirianni talks Jalen Hurts’ illness, DeVonta Smith’s debut
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was expected to start and play against the New England Patriots on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field, but after he went through warmups, the Eagles decided to keep him out.
After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni explained what happened.
“He came in and wasn’t feeling great,” Sirianni said. “We put him through pregame warmups. He wanted to go out there and go through pregame warmups. He came back in and still wasn’t feeling good. We evaluated him, and we just decided it wasn’t in his best interest to play with what he was feeling. We evaluated him. He is fine now. He is doing okay now, but that is why we held him out…
“He actually went to the hospital to get evaluated for his stomach. Like I said, came back, everything is good, and he is going to be okay.”
According to Sirianni, the pain had to be bad for Hurts not to play.
“He’s a tough guy, so it must have been hurting him pretty good for him to let us know about that,” Sirianni said.
Without Hurts, Philadelphia went with veteran QB Joe Flacco. The Eagles, who had joint practices with the Patriots this week, rested many of their starters on Thursday night and were blown out by New England 35-0.
However, a bright spot for Philly was the debut of rookie WR DeVonta Smith.
The number 10 overall pick, who missed time due to a knee injury, caught two passes for 19 yards. Smith had a couple of drops, but he was happy to be out on the field.
“It felt good just to get out there and get back in a groove with my routine before the game and stuff like that,” he said. “Just to get back out there and get back to myself.”
Flacco tried to connect with Smith on a deep pass in the second quarter, but it appeared he misjudged the ball in the air.
“Yes, I took too long to look back at the ball,” Smith said. “That is a great throw by [Eagles QB] Joe [Flacco] and I have to do my part.”
Sirianni added on Smith’s performance: “Yeah, you know, looked like he was a little antsy at first. Dropped a couple balls, and he was a little late with his eyes on the deep ball that [QB] Joe [Flacco] threw him. He made a couple plays there. That’s what happens with young wideouts. They have to play and go through the ups and downs a little bit, and the preseason is for that to happen. He ran a good route on that return route on a third down. Thought he ran a couple other good routes, too. Again, we will look at the tape to see totally how he played, but I’m glad he got in there and was able to play a good, meaningful first half and take a couple hits and have to go against some of those tight coverage looks he had to get.”
The Eagles get back at it next Friday when they travel to MetLife Stadium to battle the Jets in their final preseason game, and as they did with New England, Philadelphia will have joint practices with New York next week, so the Eagles may keep a few starters out against the Jets.