Jalen Hurts isn’t sweating the Eagles’ continued search for an offensive identity: ‘It’ll come together’

Back in the early days of training camp, Jalen Hurts used the term “calibrating” to describe the state of the offense as it installed Sean Mannion’s new system.

Hurts and his teammates have spent the past month taking Mannion’s broad playbook and putting those designs to life on the practice field. Those experiences in practice — from the touchdowns to the interceptions — have helped inform Hurts on how to approach any given play.

The Eagles held their last practice of training camp on Wednesday and will play their final preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday, signaling the impending end of the “calibrating” phase.

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Still, it’s not time to put a label on the Eagles’ offensive identity in 2026 just yet.

“We’re very widespread in what we’re doing right now, and I think that’s good,” Hurts said Wednesday. “So when we can hone it down and see who we are, establish what exactly the identity is for us, it’ll come together. So still very early.”

Rarely has an Eagles offense looked the same in Week 1 and Week 18. It evolves over the course of the season, and from year-to-year. In 2024, it was rooted in the highly successful run game behind Saquon Barkley and a dominant offensive line. Last year, it was less clear-cut, and in turn, the offense wasn’t nearly as efficient as it was when it won a Super Bowl the year before.

At the very least, with the season opener against the Washington Commanders just 18 days away, the Eagles offense has a foundation. Setting that foundation has been Mannion’s responsibility this summer.

Mannion has been clear with his “intent” for the offense, Hurts said. As the season gets underway, it will be on the new offensive coordinator to shape the offensive identity for the Eagles based on the strengths of the personnel and the concepts they execute well.

“As you see who you have on your team and you begin to progress forward, you hone things down and you say, ‘This is who we are. This is how I want to lead it,’” Hurts said. “So I think that’s where Sean is. And a lot of that is, it’s up for him to mold and put together so in the end, we can go out there and be in the best position to win.”

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Hurts called the offense “multifaceted” at this moment in time. Once the coaches begin game-planning for the regular season, the 28-year-old quarterback expects the breadth of the offense to narrow down to a specific direction depending on the opponent.

With all of the changes to the offense, will there be room for the Eagles to incorporate plays that have been successful in the past?

“I think that’s a great question,” Hurts said. “And it’s something that you keep in mind of when you’ve had so much success. How will it look? You don’t really know. Do you want to win? Absolutely.

“So we’ve got to figure out who we are as a team. Obviously, coaches come in with a great mindset, great philosophy and putting everything together. It brings us a bit more structure. In the end, it’s about what’s going to go out there and be the best for our team.”

The offense that Mannion is installing and some of its personnel are new to Hurts. The schematic shift isn’t a novel concept to him. Hurts has adapted to a new play-caller almost every season as a starter. This year, he has new receivers, too, in Dontayvion Wicks, Makai Lemon, and Hollywood Brown, who are expected to contribute alongside DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.

Lemon was sidelined for three weeks of camp with a hamstring injury. He returned to action in team drills on Monday as he eyes the opportunity to play in Friday’s final preseason game. Hurts said he was happy to have Lemon back on the field as the duo continues to build chemistry.

As Hurts gets acclimated to all of the new, from his teammates to his offensive play-caller, he takes the same approach.

“I think any time you’re playing with a new unit, it’s just about being on the same page,” Hurts said. “That’s no different than coaching, too. When you’ve got [a] new play caller, you’ve got [a] new voice, you’ve got new perspective. Everybody’s chasing the same thing. Everybody wants the same outcome. Everybody’s process looks a little different. So being able to navigate how does our process look? How does this look for this unit, this team?”

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Hurts said he is in a “good spot” with his command of the offense heading into the start of the season. He said it was a “good camp” overall in which he has been in “sponge mode” while learning from Mannion and the rest of his coaches.

He said the team has built chemistry over the course of camp through their time spent together, both competing on the field and spending “fun moments” off it.

Hurts can’t yet answer the question of what this iteration of the Eagles offense will look like. But the past month has offered glimpses into what the group could become, Hurts acknowledged.

“I think this camp has given us an opportunity to come closer to [an identity], and we’ve still got time before we tee it off and it’s live ball,” Hurts said. “We just want to continue to progress every day. Keep the communication open. Being on the same page, being aligned, and going out there and doing it together as a team.”

Listen to the latest episode

The Eagles’ first-stringers get little to no action in exhibition games, annual joint practices with other teams become one of the few opportunities for starters to get preseason reps of consequence. This year, the Eagles traveled to New England for two days of live workouts with the Patriots. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Boston Sports Journal’s Greg A. Bedard recap what they saw, and explain why, even after the joint practices, the Eagles still haven’t shown much of an identity. Listen here.

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