Birds want to take to the ground with Hurts
Without giving away too much of his game plan, Eagles coach Doug Pederson admitted on Wednesday before practice that he expects new starting quarterback Jalen Hurts to help expand the running game Sunday against the New Orleans Saints..
“I think, in order to get him success right away, you’ve got to attempt and try to establish a little bit of the run game,” Pederson said, “... and then he can be a part of that, I think, and just go out and maybe try to find some easy completions ... the quick game or a screen here and there, something that can just kind of get him into the flow of the game.
“This is the number one defense. It’s no easy task. Obviously he’s facing a really good opponent this week, so you know it’s our job as coaches, it’s myjob as a play-caller to try to help him that way and get into the flow of the game and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
A surprise second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, the rookie Hurts will be making his first NFL start and tasked with beating what might be the Eagles’ toughest opponent and toughest defense
of the season.
But despite the Saints not having faced a quarterback with the mobility of Hurts this season, Pederson insists the Eagles won’t have an advantage.
“Not fos us,” he said, “because all eyes are on the quarterback. They haven’t seen this type of quarterback this season, so you may see more zone coverage, you may see maybe a little more man on the outside and spy a safety or a linebacker. There’s all kinds of things that teams will do. We have to be prepared for everything as coaches. And then as players we just go play.”
Hurts relieved Carson Wentz during the third quarter of the Eagles’ 30-16 loss at Green Bay last Sunday and tossed a touchdown pass as part of a comeback that saw the Eagles close a 20-point deficit to seven before succumbing.
Though he’ll be starting the next game, there’s no guarantee beyond that, Pederson reiterated Wednesday.
“All I can focus on is today and getting our team prepared today and getting our guys ready for Sunday,” he said.
For his part. Hurts seemed fine with that during his first press conference as the starting quarterback on Wednesday afternoon.
“I just want to go now and execute and just move around with good urgency,” he said. “I think the most important thing right now is how we practice and what we do throughout the week. How we practice is a direct reflection of how we’ll play on Sunday.
“... We had a great practice today and moving forward doing the same thing and being locked in. I’m believing in every person on field. I’m having that trust as a unit and just going out there and playing, playing for each other and trusting one another to play hard.”
It’s obvious that Pederson is not looking beyond this week. And neither is Hurts, a man of few words, both inside the locker room and out.
“My role has changed, but my preparation hasn’t,” he said. “So for me, I have the same intent, the same focus. Everything’s the same moving forward as far as me trying to be the best player I can be on this team.”
Except it’s not. Nothing is the same. All the weight from atop Wentz’s shoulders has been transferred to Hurts. The burden is primarily his now, no matter how much help his teammates may provide.