Eagles news: Jalen Hurts 'just joking' with 'straitjacket' comment; DeVonta Smith misses practice again; injury updates

Five days after the Eagles’ NFC championship win, Jalen Hurts said that his postgame comments about Nick Sirianni were all in good fun.

Hurts said after the game that Sirianni had “let me out of my straitjacket a little bit today” after the quarterback went 20-for-28 for 246 yards and a passing touchdown, his most prolific performance in the passing game of the postseason. He also posted a rushing touchdown and two Tush Push touchdowns.

On Friday, Hurts said that he was “just joking around after the game” with his straitjacket comment. Hurts was in a good mood on Sunday, and understandably so, as the Eagles punched their ticket to the Super Bowl for a second time in three years.

Brandon Graham remained optimistic about a potential return for Super Bowl LIX after his second day of practice.

The veteran defensive end, hoping to be cleared from a torn triceps injury suffered just over two months ago, finished Friday's practice even more encouraged about his chances.

“Man, it’s going way better than I thought and I’m excited,” Graham said. “We’re taking it one day at a time, but, man, it’s feeling good. I’m really feeling good about it.”

It might be time to add vocal warm-ups for your Eagles tailgating routine if you want to try this on Super Bowl Sunday.

About 20 resident artists at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Center City joined the Super Bowl celebration on Friday and sang an operatic rendition of the Eagles fight song. Eagles gear was sparse, and the singers had questions about the lyrics (“watch our Eagles fly or fight?”), but the singing delivered.

The singers harmonized, and introduced operatic flourishes to the song. When the Eagles hit ‘em low, the singers went low. And when they hit ‘em high ... you get it.

Over his last three postseasons, in nine total games, Travis Kelce has 68 catches, 748 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns. That’s a 128-1,412-15 stat line over a 17-game regular season. That’s ungodly good. He and Patrick Mahomes at times appear able to communicate telepathically, especially when Mahomes, because of a pass rush, has to improvise.

Defending Kelce in those instances — covering him well while Mahomes buys time to throw — will be a vital and tall task for the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. Zack Baun, their All-Pro middle linebacker, figures to be responsible for sticking to Kelce in at least some of those situations.

“They’re both so dynamic in the way they play football,” Baun said. “And it’s not what you’re typically used to. Mahomes gets out of the pocket, looking for that second play, and usually receivers run the scramble drill one way. And [Mahomes and Kelce] kind of do it a whole different way. Those two have a really good connection. I feel like they play ball the right way.”

The dominoes keep falling in just the right places for the Eagles.

The NFL season is long. The week of inactivity between the conference championships and the Super Bowl can seem interminable for players exhausted by the season and the playoffs.

The return to practice of Eagles legend Brandon Graham does more than invite the possibility of his unexpected return from a triceps torn just 2 months ago, when he was playing at a Pro Bowl level at the age of 36.

DeVonta Smith was sidelined at practice on Friday due to a hamstring injury for a second straight day.

The 26-year-old Eagles receiver has been dealing with a hamstring issue dating back to early November, although it is unknown if his current injury is related to the one he dealt with previously. He first popped up on the injury report with a hamstring on Nov. 6, the first practice following the Eagles’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He managed to play in the next two games against the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 10 and the Washington Commanders on Nov. 14. However, after walking up the tunnel with a limp following the Commanders game, Smith did not play the following two weeks against the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Ravens.

Brandon Graham participated in Eagles practice for consecutive days, once again sporting a bulky elbow brace on his left arm.

The veteran defensive end said Thursday that the next step in his attempt to make an early return from a torn triceps injury would be taking some reps during team drills during Friday’s session, which he began by going through individual drills with the rest of the defensive linemen.

Before the individual period while most of the team went through special teams drills, Graham did some work off to the side, simulating striking an offensive lineman with Eagles edge rusher coach Jeremiah Washburn Jr. The 36-year-old said he was surprised that he didn’t feel any limitation or discomfort from his triceps doing such drills Thursday after the Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for him to come off of injured reserve.

While the New Orleans Saints can't officially meet again with Kellen Moore until after the Super Bowl, it seems like the Eagles' offensive coordinator is trending toward being the next Saints coach.

NFL Network reported Friday afternoon that the Saints plan to meet with Moore after the Super Bowl. Further, the network reported that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis "informed other candidates on Friday morning that, while there's been no final decision, he plans to continue discussions with Moore."

Moore had an in-person interview earlier this week with the Saints, whose brass flew to Philadelphia for a second interview with the first-year Eagles offensive coordinator.

Despite making two Super Bowl appearances in his first four seasons as a head coach for the Eagles, Nick Sirianni isn’t unfamiliar with facing criticism from fans. The Eagles Week 6 matchup against the Cleveland Browns was the perfect example of that when the crowd erupted in “Fire Nick” chants.

But instead of getting overwhelmed in negativity, Sirianni uses the criticism as a chance to connect with players.

“You try not to let outside noise in,” said Sirianni on The Pat McAfee Show Friday. “And listen, obviously, you have to hear some of it when you go through the media circuit and everything like that but I find it a moment where I can kind of connect with the guys that are going through things, right — going through criticism or going through things like that. So, I really look at it as a positive in that aspect. I can relate with guys that are going through some of their own things that they go through.”

Will Brandon Graham play in the Super Bowl? That part we don't know yet, though the opening of his 21-day practice window this week suggests it's a real possibility.

Graham said Thursday "we’re just going to ramp it up a little more every day. He later added: "As long as I don’t have any setbacks, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

The Eagles would have to make a roster move to activate Graham from injured reserve and get him back on the active, 53-man roster. What would that roster move look like?

It was a dynamic play, a defining moment during the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff run that helped propel the team closer to its second-ever championship. Whether they ultimately achieve that goal remains to be seen. But what’s already certain is that, regardless of the outcome in Super Bowl 59, running back Saquon Barkley’s snow-blanketed, 78-yard touchdown burst in the NFC divisional round against the LA Rams will go down as one of the greatest sequences in Eagles’ postseason history.

How did Barkley’s run materialize? Who were the other key players involved? What was going through their minds as it became clear Barkley had busted loose? Relive the MVP candidate’s memorable run with an oral history compiled by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, who recently made the rounds in the Eagles’ locker room to get a step-by-step account of what happened.

Plus, in a new “Pick Six” segment, Jeff finds out why this season has been Jahan Dotson’s favorite in his three years in the NFL, despite the wideout posting the lowest numbers of his career. They also dish on Penn State preferences, and the vibes inside the Eagles’ receiver room.

Are you an Eagles fan in Clearwater looking for a cool spot to watch the Super Bowl? Rob Thomson might have you covered.

With Spring Training less than two weeks away, the Phillies manager said the team will be together in Florida to watch the big game between the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

“We’re gonna all get together and watch it at one of the places in Clearwater and it’s gonna be a good time," Thomson said on the most recent episode of The Phillies Show podcast.

The next-man-up mentality is part of the ethos of the sport. For Oren Burks, it is more than just part of football, it is pretty much his entire seven-year NFL career.

Burks has never been a full-time starter. He’s a special teams ace, a leader in the locker room, and a hole filler whose number only gets called when someone else goes down.

From special teamer to starting in the Super Bowl, it’s been an interesting first season with the Eagles for the 29-year-old linebacker, but it’s not an entirely new experience.

A.J. Brown might be "Swole Batman," but Jordan Mailata revealed he is Bane in the most savage way possible.

During the NFC championship game against the Washington Commanders, a mic’d up Mailata was caught throwing out a quote from The Dark Night Rises villain during the second half, all while laughing maniacally.

"I was wondering what would break first ... your spirit or your body?" Mailata said, repeating a line Bane says in the film to Batman before snapping his back.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has been know to wear his emotions on his sleeve at times during his four years in Philly.

It manifest itself earlier this season, when he jawed with Birds fans in the closing minutes of their win against the Cleveland Browns.

Sirianni ultimately apologized, but Tom Brady doesn't think the Birds coach has any reason to be sorry.

After a historic regular season and a dominant postseason, Saquon Barkley enters the week of the Super Bowl in rare company.

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Barkley is one of three players all-time to have at least 400 rushing yards in the playoffs before playing in the Super Bowl, joining Hall of Fame running backs John Riggins and Terrell Davis. Both players went on to rush for more than 150 yards in the Super Bowl, and each won the game’s Most Valuable Player award.

Davis set the single-season rushing record (including playoffs) in 1998 as a member of the Denver Broncos when he ran for a total of 2,476 yards. Barkley, sitting at 2,447, needs 30 rushing yards to break Davis’ record. Still, Barkley is more focused on the team’s bigger goal.

Brandon Graham returned to Eagles practice Thursday, marking a meaningful boost for the veteran defensive end’s chances of completing a comeback for Super Bowl LIX just two months after suffering a torn triceps.

Graham, 36, initially said his season was over after he sustained the injury in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams. After the Eagles clinched a Super Bowl berth in a win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, though, Graham hinted in the postgame locker room that an early return might be on the table.

That return took a significant step Thursday, when the Eagles announced that they opened the 21-day practice window for Graham in time for their afternoon session at Lincoln Financial Field. During the early portion of practice open to the media, Graham went through the team’s warmup period and joined the rest of the defensive line in individual drills. He wore a brace over his left arm.