PHILADELPHIA − You won’t notice much difference with the naked eye from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in a spring practice compared to 3 1/2 months ago, when he diced up the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense in the Super Bowl.
After all, the Eagles’ spring OTAs consisted of 7-on-7 team drills with no pass rush. And Hurts was simply going through his progressions from scripted plays.
So there wasn’t much to glean Thursday even though cornerback Darius Slay broke up two of Hurts’ back-shoulder passes − one intended for tight end Dallas Goedert, the other for A.J. Brown.
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Slay is a Pro Bowl cornerback who relishes the competition, whether it’s in a game or a meaningless un-padded practice in the beginning of June. Regardless, Slay knows he has to be at his best against Hurts.
Still, to get a sense of how Hurts has grown from the breakout NFL quarterback last season and MVP runner-up, it’s best to ask two key defenders who weren’t on the team last year. So linebacker Nicholas Morrow and safety Terrell Edmunds provided a unique perspective of what it’s like practicing against Hurts, who threw for 304 yards and ran for 70 more in the Eagles’ 38-35 loss in the Super Bowl.
Morrow was with the Chicago Bears last season, going against Justin Fields, who like Hurts is a dynamic runner, but not nearly as accomplished as a passer. Edmunds spent his first five seasons with the Steelers, going against veteran Ben Roethlisberger before rookie Kenny Pickett took over last season. Neither compares to Hurts as a runner.
Morrow mentioned a throw that Hurts made Tuesday in practice, which wasn’t open to the media. Morrow said Hurts fit the ball into a tight window to the outside of the tight end, where the linebacker covering on the play couldn’t reach it.
Morrow began his answer by saying that he didn’t want to compare Fields to Hurts. But Morrow’s description of the play made it seem like it was something he either hadn’t seen, or hadn’t seen often. Morrow also spent four seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders with Derek Carr as the QB.
“The (tight end) is breaking the same time as he’s throwing it, and he threw it away (from his body),” Morrow said, describing the play. “I thought that was great ball placement to be able to anticipate where the defense is coming from and put it in a tight window. I thought that was impressive. He’s been really good from that standpoint.
“He’s also getting the ball out really fast. So setting up and breaking, you really gotta be on your Ps and Qs (as a linebacker) … to understand where he is in his intentions.”
Hurts also showed this Thursday in his very first throw in 7-on-7 team drills. He beautifully feathered a pass down the middle of the field, just over linebacker Nakobe Dean’s arms, and into Quez Watkins’ hands.
And after Slay broke up the two back-shoulder passes, Hurts came right back to Brown with the same back-shoulder pass on the other side of the field with cornerback Josh Jobe providing coverage.
Again, in the grand scheme of things, these throws certainly don’t mean much with the regular season still three months away. But it was certainly something that Edmunds noticed.
“He’s super smart,” Edmunds said about Hurts. “You can just tell the way he diagnoses a play, what he’s looking at, what kind of keys that he’s trying to check for. And he’s trying to ‘eye control’ the safety so he can get you off leverage and everything. He’s just a smart guy. He’s as advertised, and he goes out there every day with that hard hat on.”
This has been evident even after Hurts signed his five-year extension worth more than $255 million in late April. Hurts was on hand for the strength and conditioning drills over the past few weeks, setting the tone for the rest of his teammates. He was at the OTA practices this week helping veteran backup Marcus Mariota learn the system, not to mention rookie sixth-round pick Tanner McKee.
Edmunds, actually, first got a taste of this last June in DeVonta Smith’s charity softball game. Edmunds, then on the Steelers, played in the game, as did the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons. Edmunds, who was pitching, served up the game-winning home run to Hurts in the last inning.
Smith is hosting the game again this year, on June 10, at Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park, the home of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Beyond Hurts’ prowess in softball, Edmunds noticed something else about him and the Eagles in that softball game.
“They’re all about everyone being together,” Edmunds said. “And I’ve seen that when I came into this locker room. The guys, they really, truly like each other. Everyone is out there playing ping pong all day. Everybody wants to play cards together. Everyone wants to race here, shoot the basketball here. You can just tell that the team really cares about each other, and everyone’s out there competing together.”
Much of that starts with Hurts.
OTA observations
- Backup QB Marcus Mariota had a strong practice, completing three straight passes over the middle to rookie wide receiver Joseph Ngata, Greg Ward and Britain Covey. But later in the practice, linebacker Christian Elliss reached up to intercept Mariota’s pass.
- After practicing for an hour, the veterans went inside while the team held a “developmental 7-on-7” for rookies and young players. This is where QBs Ian Book and rookie Tanner McKee got their reps.
- At right guard, Cam Jurgens was with the first unit next to Jason Kelce. He’s battling with rookie Tyler Steen and others as Isaac Seumalo’s replacement.
- The punting competition began as well, with rookie Tyler Zentner challenging Arryn Siposs. One reporter noted that Siposs’ hang time was better than Zentner’s. This battle will continue into training camp in August.
- The absences for voluntary practices included RT Lane Johnson, WR DeVonta Smith, DE Brandon Graham, DE Josh Sweat, DE Derek Barnett (might be injury related), DT Fletcher Cox and OLB Haason Reddick. In addition, CB Avonte Maddox and CB James Bradberry didn’t take part in 7-on-7 drills.
- The Eagles conclude their first week of OTAs on Friday. They’ll have three more sessions next week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, then break until training camp in late July.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
