‘Different Intent’

The Philadelphia Eagles are beginning to gel on both sides of the ball, leading to three straight wins.

On the latest episode of “Q&A”, hosted by “Inside The Birds”, former Eagles standouts Quintin Mikell and Jason Avant discussed recent positive developments surrounding the team. 

GETTY IMAGES: Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has taken his run game to the next level in recent weeks.

Jalen Hurts

Jason Avant: “I think Jalen heard the noise…I thought Jalen took that personally because he came out with a different intent, especially when it even came to running the ball, he looked like he had fresh legs this time…You couple that with play action, a consistent mindset to stick with the run game, and they began to move the receivers in different position.”

Quintin Mikell: “I have a feeling this defense wasn’t prepared for how well he was going to play and how quickly he was able to pick them apart.”

DeVonta Smith

Avant: “That [touchdown] was a Willie Mays catch. That’s such a hard catch, it was a circle post type of route on a backside safety. That’s the hardest catch when you’re even with the quarterback’s throw and he throws you up the field and you have to adjust back like that. He ended up making that catch with a guy on his left arm. The difficulty level was probably a 9.2.”

Defensive Backs

Mikell: “The biggest thing I saw that really helped after that first drive was the defensive backs started playing more aggressive. They weren’t afraid. When you’re playing a team like the Bengals and you have Ja’Marr Chase and this vaunted offense, you come out a little tentative. I think after that first drive, everything settled down and the secondary realized they can run with these guys.”

Avant: “They stopped making mistakes. You are going to give up some yards with the way they play defense, but they make you go the long way and the long way is very hard to do. It’s hard to be perfect, you get a negative play, a false start, a batted ball or incomplete pass, that’s what they want.”

Nakobe Dean

Avant: “Nakobe Dean has taken a huge step forward. He is diagnosing things, hitting things on the run.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.