The Hurts-Brown connection | Sports Daily Newsletter

Once A.J. Brown got over the shock of being traded away from the Tennessee Titans in April, the star wide receiver quickly found the bright side: He was joining his good friend Jalen Hurts with the Eagles.

The two have been friends since their high school days and Hurts is the godfather of Brown’s 2-year-old daughter Jersee. “With us, it’s bigger than football. It’s family,” Brown says. “That’s my brother.”

Now the two friends are tasked with igniting what could be an explosive Eagles offense, adding former Pro Bowler Brown to a passing game that includes DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

“He’s always had the ability to make plays with the ball in his hand, use his body, box out defenders, break tackles,” Hurts says of Brown. “He’s a great addition to a great receiver room we have now, and I’m excited.”

So are Eagles fans.

— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

Why are these men smiling? It turns out that general manager Howie Roseman and his staff have assembled a deep, talented Eagles team. The Eagles are ready to win, Marcus Hayes writes, and they know it. So Roseman and coach Nick Sirianni are confident. Cocky, even.

What does that talented roster look like? Here’s a player-by-player breakdown as part of our Eagles season preview.

Jeff McLane makes his game-by-game predictions for the 2022 season.

Amid all the buzz about this Eagles campaign, here’s a novel idea from Mike Sielski: How about going without a punt returner?

Safety Anthony Harris’ return to the Eagles was brief. He signed with the practice squad after his release last week, but the player and team have parted ways.

Next: The Eagles open their season Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Lions in Detroit (Fox29)

Kevin Durant is back with the Brooklyn Nets. Donovan Mitchell is a new member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Those two moves have firmly set the Eastern Conference in place and allowed analysts and beat writers to start the hand-wringing about conference hierarchy. The Inquirer is no exception as our Gina Mizell took a look at every contender in the East, assessing their places as potential threats to the Sixers.

Among the many front-runners are those Nets and Cavaliers, who are joined by the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and more. Where will the Sixers land among them? We break down their place after an interesting offseason.

The Phillies have lost six of their last seven, including three straight to open September, the cruelest of months for them over the last four years. Time to get nervous, right? The Phillies are doing their best not to fall into that trap, and it might help that 15 of the 33 players on the active roster or injured list weren’t on the team last year. But there are other reasons not to assume 2022 will end with the same sting of disappointment.

Griff McGarry is now just a phone call away from joining the Phillies, who promoted one of their top pitching prospects to triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday. He could be a bullpen option for the Phillies’ playoff push.

Next: The Phillies return home for a series against the Marlins at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday (NBCSP). Aaron Nola (9-11, 3.43 ERA) will be opposed by Marlins left-hander Jesus Luzardo (3-6, 3.44).

Matt Breen tells the story of Philadelphia’s Dick Perez, an artist who worked for the Eagles and Phillies and went on to create the popular Diamond Kings series of Donruss baseball cards.

Who is the Eagles’ all-time leader in coaching victories? First with the correct answer will be featured in our newsletter.

A) Greasy Neale

B) Buck Shaw

C) Andy Reid

D) Dick Vermeil

We asked you: What to you would constitute a successful Eagles season?

Among your responses:

They had 9 wins last year. But this year despite their “easy schedule,” they have to fight the demon of Expectation. Everyone expects them to finish in first place in their division ahead of the Cowboys. It is easy to get carried away and say they will finish 14-3. The fact is that they have not proved that they are good. They will be the hunted and not the hunter without the benefit of having won anything, or beaten anybody who is any good. 11 wins would be a success. — Daniel W.

While they will likely have to show a winning season record, make the playoffs and win at least a game or better, the main objective for me is to have this year determine if we are going in the right direction:

1. Is Jalen our QB for the future? (He does not have to be a top 5 or 10 statistically btw, just good enough to be efficient). ... Personally, I think this great young man can do it but we will find out soon.

2. Just as important maybe is we now get to see what kind of coach Sirianni is from the football side (X’s and O’s). He has outstanding talent to work with now so along with both the OC and DC, we will see his creativity and adjustment ability on game days. — George M.

I think 11 wins is achievable and aligned with everyone’s high expectations. Perhaps 12 wins is possible if everything falls into place. Success includes Jalen Hurts showing significant improvement in reading defenses, accurate passes into tight windows and a command of the offense. Jalen needs to show progression. It is the first time in his entire career in which he will be running the same offense, with the same coaching staff two years in a row. That should help tremendously.

We should have a balanced offense that runs half the time to keep defenses honest. Success absolutely includes a defense that dominates. Howie Roseman had arguably his best off season and has greatly improved the roster, especially on the defensive side. So success must include Defensive Coordinator Gannon dialing up pressure, blitzing more often and giving our offense short fields every game.— Todd M.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Gina Mizell, Josh Tolentino, Jeff McLane, Marcus Hayes, Gina Mizell, Jonathan Tannenwald, Matt Breen, Mike Sielski, and Devin Jackson.