‘Has to be Better’

The Philadelphia Eagles own the NFL’s best record through eight weeks, but there is plenty of room to improve within the current roster.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher recapped the trade deadline as well as recent on-field developments. 

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has struggled with turnovers despite an overall solid season

Trade Deadline

Geoff Mosher: “The Eagles had addressed their most glaring need [safety]. Their other needs would be slot cornerback and a linebacker that can cover. I think that is hard to find on a trade market compared to if you need a defensive end or if you need an [outside] cornerback. They do have nickel options with a healthy Bradley Roby.”

Jalen Hurts

Mosher: “There is no question that Hurts has to do a better job with ball security. You can’t be this deep into the season and look at how many giveaways the Eagles have and say that doesn’t happen much. They are -3 now in turnover ratio.”

Run Game

Mosher: “I think it is symptomatic of Jalen Hurts not running anymore. That’s not saying the Eagles will never figure out a way to run, but for the last two weeks the linebackers are shooting the gaps and not playing the zone read. They are not worried about Hurts tucking the ball and running to the edges. He can still scramble, but mostly this year he has not done a lot of it.”

Adam Caplan: “He just does not look great running the ball and now he has the knee injury, which Fox reported is a bone bruise…the run game has to be better. (D’Andre) Swift looked fine, I know Kenny Gainwell had a bad game in certain respects, but he had a couple of nice plays in the pass game.”

Secondary

Mosher: “I don’t think the personnel enabled Sean Desai to do a whole lot of stuff…The Commanders were putting their receivers in the slot a lot and they were throwing to Logan Thomas and their interior receivers because they knew that was the weakness of the Eagles. They were purposely mismatching some of their best playmakers against Eagles who are playing in spots where they don’t ordinarily play.”

Caplan: “CeeDee Lamb went off against the Rams and he is more of an inside receiver than outside. The Eagles are having major issues in the backend.”

Nakobe Dean

Mosher: “The sample size is too small. He is a very smart linebacker, no question about it, but there are some issues there.”

Caplan: “Dean right now doesn’t have that intuitive feel in coverage. D.J. Elliot has to get him going.”

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