Getting Healthier

PHILADELPHIA – Following a mini-bye week, the Eagles returned to the practice field Wednesday in preparation for a bounce-back following consecutive losses. The first practice of the week revealed some encouraging news, with three key contributors present and accounted for at the start.

Spotted in the stretch line were CB Quinyon Mitchell (hamstring), DT Jalen Carter (heel) and G Landon Dickerson (ankle). The extent of their participation will be revealed on the first official injury report of the week.

On a far field, TE Grant Calcaterra (oblique) went through some conditioning.

In other Eagles news, the team signed TE Jaheim Bell and DE Titus Leo to the practice squad, filling the vacancies created after releasing WR Javon Baker and RB Audric Estime.

Bell, a 2024 seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots, appeared in 15 games as a rookie. The 23-year-old totaled 20 yards on two receptions.

Leo, a 2023 sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts, has spent time with the Colts, Patriots, Titans and Browns. He played in four games with the Patriots last season, registering four tackles.

With that, let’s now delve into some of the primary talking points this week as the Eagles (4-2) prepare to take on the Minnesota Vikings (3-2) at U.S. Bank Stadium.

ITB PHOTO: Eagles DT Jalen Carter (heel) was back at practice Wednesday, a good sign after he missed last week’s game against the Giants.

There won’t be any assigning blame

Any time a heavyweight in the NFL drops a game – twice in four days in the Eagles’ case – the typical (and shortsighted) fallout tends to culminate in fixating on one or two components at which to point the finger. But in all actuality –  in this scenario, anyway –  there are many factors that contributed to the Eagles’ 34-17 loss to the Giants on Thursday Night Football.

A defense that had largely proven to be stout (sans the final quarter against the Broncos) was punchless, allowing rookie fourth-round running back Cam Skattebo to rush for 98 yards and three touchdowns, while rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart accounted for 253 total yards and two touchdowns.

There were missed tackles and mental and physical lapses in coverage coupled with spotty pressure. A patchwork Giants offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. Even without defensive tackle Jalen Carter for the entirety of the game and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell for most of it, it’s atypical for this group to reveal so many blemishes.

The offense, as its been for most of the season, was stuck in neutral, struggling to carve out running room for Saquon Barkley and forcing the unit to become one dimensional.

The passing game was disjointed, often putting the offense behind the sticks and showcasing routes that have become all-too familiar. They also failed to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities.

The Kevin Patullo-led unit finished 1-of-9 on third down and committed a pair of turnovers.

Special teams, with regard to the kick return facet, was an adventure. Kick returner Tank Bigsby, a running back by trade, couldn’t handle one of his two kickoffs before regaining control and bringing the ball out to the 7-yard line. Fellow running back A.J. Dillon also muffed one of his two kickoffs, the ball landing out of bounds at the 5-yard line. The ineffectiveness in the return game has too often burdened the offense with suboptimal field position, and Thursday night was the most recent example.

Still, even during this turbulent period, Nick Sirianni’s messaging has been consistent, focused on sticking together to find a solution and refraining from assigning blame.

“Not in this sport is it ever on one person and we’re not in the business of assigning blame. We’re in the business of finding solutions,” he said earlier in the week. “As we watched the tape today, it was a little on everything and that’s this game of team football. I know that we live in a world that wants to assign blame, point the finger, but that’s not the reality of what good teams do. That’s not reality of this sport, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in Kevin and the offensive staff and love some of the thoughts that we have.

“I know you’ll ask them, ‘Hey, what were some of the things you found on the bye-week?’ They’re probably not going to tell you those things either. It’s not good for us to share that with our opponents, but a lot of confidence in there. And again, we’re all about finding solutions. I saw that quote of [former NFL head coach] Bill Parcells a long time ago of finding solutions, and that’s what we’re in the business of.”

Prominent veteran offers insight into offensive struggles; Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo responds

Lane Johnson doesn’t mince words. The veteran right tackle, now in the midst of his 13th NFL season, is calculated with his messaging. When he speaks, it’s important to pay attention.

And when Johnson stood in front of his crammed locker space at MetLife Stadium following the ugly 34-17 loss, he understandably had quite a bit to say as it pertained to the state of a maddeningly static Eagles offense.

“We have spurts where we show glimpses of what we could be, but the consistency isn’t there,” Johnson said. “It’s not a finger-pointing show. I’m with Kevin until the end. A lot of it goes down to execution. So, we’ll go back and look at this tape and see what we gotta get fixed. But moving forward, we need to be more efficient, less predictable, and capitalize on big plays and explosives.”

It’s one thing for outside observers to cite predictability and inconsistency as primary culprits plaguing the offense, but the matter becomes all the more urgent when similar sentiments are expressed from an integral figure like Johnson.

For the Eagles to reverse course and head things in the right direction offensively, considerable changes and alterations need to be implemented. From sequencing, personnel groupings, innovation –  even getting to the line earlier – there are tangible elements to monitor on that side of the ball coming out of the mini-bye.

But, similar to Sirianni’s messaging Monday, there’s no finger-pointing or assigning blame. The Eagles believe they have the structure and culture in place to enact these changes. First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who has drawn the vast majority of the ire from the outside for the offense’s shortcomings, offered a positive perspective in response to Johnson’s comments.

“I think a lot of [what] it comes down to is, and I know Nick [Sirianni] alluded to this, too, is sometimes situational moments in the game where you’re limited a little bit depending on where you’re at [with] field position, down and distance, select plays, what the defense does at times, if they’re a big edge pressure team during certain situations, that can dictate a little bit of what you want to do,” Patullo said Tuesday.

“I think when you talk about the situational stuff and/or the predictability, you’ve just got to look at where the whole context is, and I think that’s what kind of the last day or so, over the weekend, things we were able to look at where we were, where we are, where we want to go, and what we know we need to do to go forward. I think it was very productive. We had a good meeting yesterday as an offensive unit, and so I think we’re in a good spot working forward.”

The offense, simplistic, enigmatic and predictable as it may be through six games, has also had moments that serve as a reminder of its dominance when fully dialed-in. For instance, the red zone efficiency is something they can hang their hat on. Patullo has demonstrated a creative mind and feel in dialing plays off the “push play.” There have also been opportunities to cash-in on a handful of explosive plays – moments in the Chiefs, Broncos and Giants game come to mind – though executional lapses never allowed them to come to fruition. The reality is that those glimpses have been as futile as their third-down success rate.

And for the offense to transform back into that schoolyard bully that dictates how defenses play them, those spurts that Johnson spoke of must become trends.

Could the Eagles turn to an in-house solution in the wake of Za’Darius Smith’s retirement?

There was plenty of skepticism surrounding the long-term viability of the Eagles’ pass rush that predated the regular season. The chatter has now grown louder, as veteran Za’Darius Smith – who led the edge room with 1.5 sacks — on Monday abruptly announced his retirement on Instagram.

If you’re keeping score, that leaves the team with only Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, Josh Uche and Patrick Johnson at the position at this time. Johnson, who picked up the first sack of his career against the Giants, is the only Eagles’ edge rusher this season with a sack to his name.

Sure, there have been spurts of pressures, and Hunt is second on the team in quarterback hits (5), but the lack of a consistent rush has been glaring, allowing quarterbacks to hold the ball a tick longer and allow plays to develop. There’ve been other instances, like early in the Giants game, where defenders had opportunities to corral quarterback Jaxson Dart but were unable to finish.

And given the current state of the secondary — which could conceivably be without standout cornerback Quinyon Mitchell — an improved pass rush would be timely.

But, the numbers shortage and general ineffectiveness requires an immediate action plan. And even though coordinator Vic Fangio has downplayed the possibility of unleashing rookie Jihaad Campbell off the edge in a more expanded capacity, circumstances tend to alter plans. Fangio, on Tuesday, left the door open.

“It’s possible,” he said. “He’s been getting edge snaps in certain ways we align.”

Campbell, who registered 5.5 sacks over 35 games at Alabama, has thrived as an off-ball linebacker opposite 2024 All-Pro Zack Baun, though an uptick in pass rush reps would be out of necessity.

Helping matters is that fourth-year linebacker Nakobe Dean, previously on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list, made his season debut last week against the Giants. Dean logged just six special teams snaps in the 34-17 loss, but theoretically, he should be working his way back toward undertaking a defensive role.

As Dean continues to progress, it’ll arm Fangio with the optionality to deploy Campbell and Baun more off the edge. Fangio himself offered that Dean’s return makes the notion of tapping into their versatility more plausible.

“It does,” he said.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com