Nick Foles explains why he doesn’t have any advice for Jalen Hurts, and why the Eagles have a chance to repeat

Nick Foles is making his way back to Philadelphia for the start of the NFL season.

To celebrate the Eagles’ opener against the Dallas Cowboys, the Super Bowl LII MVP will make an appearance at the DraftKings Ultimate Kickoff event at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday night, alongside former Eagles Terrell Owens, Brent Celek, Fletcher Cox, and David Akers, followed by a performance from Philadelphia’s Diplo.

After bringing the Eagles their first Lombardi Trophy in 2018, Foles is happy to be back in the city surrounded by Philly fans to start the season.

“To go back [to Philadelphia] on the opening kickoff is really awesome,” said Foles, who was also on hand for the team’s home opener last season, when he officially retired as an Eagle. “It’s always fun being around the fans, being around the Linc, seeing the midnight green, the kelly green, all the colors. It just feels like home. …

“It always brings back all these emotions of my career there. Even though it was five years, two different stints, it meant the world to me and shaped me into who I am today.”

Ahead of Thursday’s event, Foles spoke with The Inquirer about the Eagles’ upcoming season.

A: I feel really good about the Philadelphia Eagles team this year. … I think going into this season with the veteran team they have — even though a lot of these guys are still young players — they’re the team to beat in the NFC East. They lost a few coaches, but they have such a great culture there right now.

The expectations are always high and getting to start with a team like Dallas that has been in the news recently because of the Micah Parsons trade. Dallas has a lot of different things pulling them in different directions, whereas I feel like Philadelphia has been laser-focused on ‘Hey, we know what happened last time. It’s hard going after a Super Bowl after a long offseason. Let’s lock in and really go after this.’

A: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. It’s always an awesome division. I think the NFC East is the best division in football because of the fans, honestly. … So, I think the team in the NFC East that’s the biggest rival to them is for sure the [Washington] Commanders.

I mean you’ve got an NFC championship team, with a young quarterback going into a sophomore season. And there’s always a big Year 1 to Year 2 jump, which is scary with Jayden Daniels with how great he was last year. I think he was just ranked No. 21 out of 100 in the NFL. I mean, they’re going to be the team to beat. They’ve got to stay healthy. I know [Zach] Ertz is over there still. But the one I think everyone is expecting to be a big rival to the Eagles is the Commanders for sure.

A: I’m definitely picking the over. And just full transparency on that [nickname], that was my brother-in law who came up with that. … We’ve known each other forever, obviously. He played for the Eagles my rookie year, played in the league six years, broadcasted for seven. We have a lot of fun doing [the podcast]. It’s not stiff. We just talk and we follow all the banter that brothers would have.

So, I’m definitely picking the over. I think that they’re going to have a great year again and, you know, make a run for it.

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A: I mean, he’s outstanding. What he did last year for the Eagles is just, I mean, unbelievable. A huge part of the Super Bowl victory. It makes it even better that he came from an NFC East rival in the [New York] Giants. It makes them look even worse. I think it just shows you, it takes a team, though. I think Saquon would tell you the same thing. … He’s a piece of the puzzle that really went out there and did great things.

And obviously, Jalen Hurts being in the backfield with him conducting the offense. Everyone knows he’s a great runner, but he’s also a great thrower. So, it opens up the lanes for Saquon. They have to not only worry about Saquon running, they have to worry about Jalen. So that makes it really hard on a defense. And then with that offensive line, with the veteran anchors, Coach [Jeff] Stoutland coaching them, that’s a dangerous situation on an offense. And I really look forward to getting them back out there, getting their rhythm again. The first four games of the NFL season are always an acclimation period, so ready to get it going.

A: Honestly, I don’t know if he will be able to eclipse that, and I also think [the Eagles have] got to be smart with him. They’ve got to be smart and not have him carry the ball for as big of a load. You want him to be healthy. But he’d probably tell me otherwise, he probably wants to eclipse that and break it. But we saw in clips last year when he had the opportunity to break NFL records, he was about the team. So whatever’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles, that’s what he’s going to do and that shows great leadership within the locker room.

And all those young players coming into the league, seeing Saquon’s work ethic, how he’s about the team, and about his teammates, and the guys that are backing them up, that says a lot about him. It helps the organization. It helps the team. So, I expect another fantastic year from Saquon. We might even see another backward hurdle, who knows? But what he can do, not many people in league history have ever done.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley joined the exclusive 2,000-yard club in his first Eagles season. Can he be the first to repeat?

A: I mean, he’s already doing it. You can tell when he speaks in interviews and stuff, he’s hyper-focused on himself and his team. He doesn’t worry about that other stuff. I mean, if anything, he is someone who can add fuel to the fire because of that. But he knows based on his work ethic and what he’s done throughout his entire life, back to high school, college, whatever level it may be, he knows how to only focus on the things that matter.

He’s someone I don’t worry about, and I think he’ll take the momentum that he had at the end of last season and especially in the Super Bowl and just keep building on being the player he is. And he’s not going to worry about the critics. You see that in his interviews. He’s just going to play ball and be the leader they need him to be.

A: I think they do in the sense because they won it with their guys. And I mean, everyone in Philly that won in 2017 and 2018, like we were all part of the Eagles, but I was making a list — we’re about to record a podcast episode and talk a little bit about it — I mean, just the amount of guys that were in the training room with injuries that were out the entire season. I mean, there were so many Pro Bowlers and a couple Hall of Famers in that room and we were able to step up with the backups and do something amazing.

This year is very different. They’ve got guys healthy. The guys that played in the Super Bowl are the guys they’re starting their building off of. Those are the guys that the organization has paid and made the franchise guys. So, I think going into this season with what they have, they have a better opportunity to repeat than we did. But it’s always interesting to see how this season starts and what’s going on. And I mean, the Commanders are right there, like I said, in the NFC, that’s going to be the biggest challenge for sure.

» READ MORE: Mike Sielski: The Eagles are better positioned to repeat than they were in 2018. And it’s not even close.