Eagles news: Jalen Hurts is 'ready to go,' A.J. Brown on track; six Birds named to All-Pro teams

Despite a 34-29 victory in the Eagles' first meeting with the Green Bay Packers, the Birds struggled defensively, giving up 29 points, 414 total yards, and 7.8 yards per carry.

But one player who didn’t struggle on the defensive side was Eagles linebacker Zack Baun.

In that game, Baun finished with a season-high 15 tackles, including two sacks. This was just a small preview of what Baun would do in the rest of season — earning first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.

Fans in the Midwest are a bit different than in the Northeast. They're just as passionate, but they're a bit nicer, a bit more laid back, and often in for a big surprise when they visit Philadelphia.

Does anyone remember the response Minnesota Vikings fans had when they tried to attend the 2018 NFC championship? Sure, it wasn't aided by an earlier attempt to take over the Art Museum steps — and an absolute beat down by the Birds — but Vikings fans found little refuge before, during, or after the game.

Apparently, their NFC North neighbors in Green Bay didn't learn the lesson from that week. And ahead of Sunday's wild-card showdown at the Linc, the Packers are hosting a pep rally Saturday at 6 p.m. at Craft Hall in Northern Liberties, the team announced earlier in the week.

DeVonta Smith is not practicing Friday after experiencing tightness in his back.

Smith has been listed periodically on the injury report with a back ailment but hasn’t missed any meaningful time because of it.

The Eagles did not want his back to get any tighter in Friday’s cold weather. There is currently no concern about his availability for Sunday’s game.

It's the Friday before an Eagles playoff game, and that can only mean one thing — it's time for a new hype video.

The Birds know a thing or two when it comes to getting fans riled up for the postseason, and this year's video is no different. Former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who went into the team's Hall of Fame earlier this year, narrates the video that has a familiar theme for Philly fans: underdogs.

Although its not explicitly said in the video — McCoy refers to them as "dogs" rather than underdogs, probably because they're the favorites on Sunday — McCoy alludes to Jeff Stoutland's famous quote, "Hungry dogs run faster," that Jason Kelce made famous during his Super Bowl parade speech.

Jalen Hurts is through the NFL’s concussion protocol, Nick Sirianni said Friday, and will play in Sunday’s playoff opener vs. the Green Bay Packers.

Things have been trending in this direction since Hurts returned to the practice field Wednesday as a limited participant. He was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday and would have had to have been cleared by an independent neurologist prior to clearing the protocol.

Hurts suffered a concussion early in the first quarter of the Eagles’ Week 16 loss to the Washington Commanders. He missed the last two games.

Zack Baun’s transformation from edge rusher to off-ball linebacker with the Eagles not only earned him his first Pro Bowl bid, it got him a first-team All Pro award.

Baun was one of two Eagles named Friday to the first team in the annual AP All-Pro list selected by a panel of 50 media members. The other, of course, was Saquon Barkley, who became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards. This is Barkley’s first All-Pro honor.

Baun’s ascent with the Eagles has been well-documented. The Eagles signed him to a one-year deal hoping he would be an affordable rotational edge rusher, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw in his “movement patterns” that Baun could be an off-ball linebacker, and he was right. Baun led the Eagles with 151 tackles during the regular season, good for a tie for sixth league-wide. He tallied 3½ sacks, five forced fumbles, and an interception.

The NFL announced three teams that will play home games in London next season, and the Eagles won't be facing any of them on the road.

The three teams that will play games in London are:

The NFL can schedule up to eight international games in 2025.

The Eagles and Packers may run different schemes on both sides of the ball, but there are several general similarities. Both offenses want to establish the run and won’t abandon it if there are initial struggles. Both defenses, meanwhile, play a heavy amount of zone coverage and don’t blitz much. There’s also a lot of strength vs strength, especially when it comes to explosive pass plays. The Green Bay offense is No. 1 in the NFL in completions of 20-plus yards, while the Eagles defense is No. 1 in preventing them. Something has to give.

Vic Fangio’s run defense has been much better, for the most part, since the opener when it allowed the Packers to run for 163 yards on 21 carries. He’s been able to limit rushing yards despite employing the most light boxes in the league. Fangio will sacrifice some yards on the ground if it means taking the ball out of quarterback Jordan Love’s hands on obvious passing downs. But Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur’s likely plan is to pound it early no matter what. No offense has run at a higher rate in the first quarter. Having Josh Jacobs helps. He’s an inside slasher who is eighth in the NFL in yards after contact (3.45). (Saquon Barkley, by comparison, is 17th at 3.17). The Packers don’t have an especially dominant O-line, but it works well as a unit opening holes in gap scheme concepts that come from the Shanahan system.

The Eagles should have a decided edge with defensive tackle Jalen Carter vs. the Packers’ interior O-line, especially if he has one-one-ones vs. right guard Sean Rhyan. But if Carter is doubled most of the game, edge rushers Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith will need to get pressure because Love doesn’t need much time to throw downfield. The Packers run to set up the pass with play action and they motion as often as any offense. The Eagles’ middle-field defenders will have to be disciplined and read their keys. Love won’t have field stretcher Christian Watson, but he loves to spread the ball around. Slot receiver Jayden Reed will test rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean. LaFleur will scheme up ways to get him to ball to capitalize on his yards-after-catch ability. Love has struggled vs. the blitz, but he has avoided sacks for the most part. He also hasn’t turned the ball over much of late. After tossing 11 interceptions in his first seven starts, he hasn’t had one in his last eight. The Eagles, though, forced an NFL-best 24 turnovers in the last 11 games of the regular season.

The first round of the NFL playoffs begin Saturday.

Fox and ESPN will each broadcast one game during wild-card weekend, while CBS gets two.

Saturday night's matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will stream exclusively on Amazon's Prime Video, which just finished up the third season as the home of Thursday Night Football.