Jalen Hurts still isn’t running much. Eagles OC Sean Mannion says game circumstances are a big reason why

The Eagles offense continued to lack designed quarterback runs for Jalen Hurts in their 19-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Hurts, the 28-year-old quarterback, had no designed runs against the Jags. He technically scrambled once for two yards. A botched handoff that resulted in a fumble, recovered by running back Dameon Pierce, also went down as a scramble for Hurts.

Through five games this season, Hurts has had 1.2 designed runs per game according to Pro Football Focus, which is about as low as his career-low rate last season (1.19).

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni’s anemic Eagles offense is a bigger problem than his game management

Still, Hurts’ lack of involvement in the designed quarterback run game was somewhat surprising given that Saquon Barkley (hamstring) and Tank Bigsby (abdomen) were out injured, and Will Shipley left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury. With Pierce, who was on the Eagles practice squad until last week, shouldering the majority of the load (11 carries for 14 yards), the team finished with 22 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Sean Mannion said Tuesday that Hurts’ usage as a runner in part depends on the opponent and the looks the Eagles are getting from the defense.

“We felt like this week, we were a little bit more pass-oriented,” Mannion said. “Some of that is intentional. Some of it’s just how the game plays out and the adjustments you’re making in-game, but we want to be an offense that is balanced and can attack you in the run game and the pass game. And then within the game, within the week, the opponent you’re facing, your personnel, there can be little tweaks along the way that lead to a different end result in terms of run-pass balance.”

As he has all season, Mannion emphasized how much he values Hurts as a runner. He highlighted his scrambling ability in particular, referencing the big plays that Hurts made with his legs against the Washington Commanders in Week 1 (a 22-yard scramble and a 14-yarder) and the Chicago Bears in Week 3 (a 20-yard scramble). He also had a 14-yarder in the Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

“It’s a unique trait that he has that makes him dangerous,” Mannion said. “Some of them are designed, some of them are the off-schedule plays. I think he’s had a good feel for that, in terms of when to take off and run. He had some big plays early in the year, first few weeks, of using his legs in the pass game, kind of those off-schedule scrambles.

“So there’s a place for both of them. I think he’s found a nice balance of that.”

But so far, Hurts’ usage in the designed run game has been minimal in the new offense, following the theme of the 2025 season.

Nick Sirianni took accountability for the decision to not kick the ball through the end zone on the final kickoff in the last-second loss to the Jaguars.

But that isn’t the only late-game sequence that has come under scrutiny.

The Eagles would have sealed a win if Jake Elliott’s 48-yard field goal, which put them up 17-16, was the final play of the game. Instead, the Eagles offense brought the clock down from 1 minute, 35 seconds to 12 seconds before Elliott’s field goal, giving the Jaguars eight seconds to pull off a miraculous 53-yard kick return and a 57-yard field goal for the victory.

Sirianni defended his decision to prioritize getting into better field goal position over avoiding clock stoppages on Monday. Mannion echoed a similar sentiment the following day, particularly as it related to Makai Lemon’s 7-yard completion on second-and-10 from the Jaguars’ 34 with 21 seconds left in the game.

On that play, the Jaguars showed a Cover-0 look, meaning that each defender who was not covering an eligible receiver walked up to the line of scrimmage as if they were about to blitz. Hurts opted to pass to Lemon to his right on an out-breaking route against that all-out blitz.

Lemon was pushed out of bounds by Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis, stopping the clock after just four seconds and ensuring that the Jaguars would not have to use their final timeout.

» READ MORE: What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 6 vs. the Panthers

“The primary focus there was advance the ball to do our best to help the kick, and then get us into the best play possible to do so and avoid a negative play,” Mannion said. “So that was the outcome we had there. Obviously, he was caught on the out-break right by the sideline, kind of got pushed out. But our primary focus with the call and with the execution of it was to advance the ball.”

Mannion said he didn’t necessarily think there was anything Lemon could have done to avoid going out of bounds and stopping the clock.

“I felt it was a bang-bang play right on the sideline,” Mannion said. “Again, we were focused on how do we help the kick? Because that was the primary focus of what was happening there.”

The Eagles offensive coordinator also explained why calling a play with an out-breaking route made sense against that particular coverage, even if it risked a receiver getting pushed out of bounds.

“Not to get too far into the weeds of the scheme, but in Cover 0 league wide, typically you’re going to be fighting a battle of inside leverage,” Mannion said. “So sometimes, again, the most productive play to try to advance the ball means running away from that inside leverage.

“Now, different teams attack you [in] different ways, but again, our primary focus in that moment was advancing the ball for the kick. When you’re fighting hard inside leverage, the best way to do that typically is an out-breaker, so that’s kind of how that came to happen.”

Listen to the latest episode

The Eagles are back from London, looking to leave the disappointment of a last-second defeat behind while choosing instead to focus on lessons they can learn from a third straight loss. And you know what? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane actually thinks there were encouraging takeaways from the game, outcome aside. He and Mike Sielski discussed why the Eagles’ sky, despite being gray, isn’t falling just yet, and what the team can build on to if it hopes to reverse its fortunes during a key stretch of the schedule that begins Sunday.  Listen here.

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