PHILADELPHIA — One of the biggest Eagles training camp debates gained steam on Tuesday night, when quarterback Jalen Hurts threw two interceptions during the Eagles’ open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.
Hurts has thrown more interceptions this summer than in past training camps, which is notable. He also threw 5 interceptions last week during joint practices against the New England Patriots.
But is that necessarily a bad thing?
More interceptions would put the Eagles’ defense in tougher situations, but if the aggressiveness leads to more explosive plays and a more advanced passing game, the risk might be worth it.
Before Wednesday’s practice, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio gave his opinion on whether Hurts’ interceptions during training camp are a good or bad thing.
“It’s good for the defense, which is good for the team,” Fangio said. “He’s learning a new offense. He’s trying things, seeing what’s available and what isn’t available. I don’t think that’s going to carry over.”
Playing in Sean Mannion’s new offense, Hurts is taking more shots in the middle of the field. He is also still developing rapport with a new unit of wide receivers, with DeVonta Smith being the only starter back from last year.
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So, of course, it’s not going to look perfect at this stage of the year.
With the interceptions piling up late in the summer, Hurts still has plenty of time to figure out how to thread the needle between taking more chances and not making bad decisions.
“I think generally speaking, you learn from every play, regardless how the result is,” Hurts said after Wednesday’s practice when asked what he learns from interceptions. “Especially when you’re putting in something new. So I think every time we come out here and we get a chance to get on the grass, you want to take the coaching, go apply it and be aggressive in it. Then with your experiences, you reflect on them, think about them and you say, ‘Okay, you can play the game in this type of way, you can play the game in that type of way.’”
Hurts said he is in the process of “calibrating,” meaning he is figuring out what works for him in this offense.
With six interceptions, Hurts did not even rank among the top 25 NFL quarterbacks in that category last season, which could be viewed as a positive. But at the same time, the Eagles’ passing game was stale, and Hurts was sometimes reluctant to make certain throws, contributing to Philadelphia ranking 23rd in the NFL with an average of 194.3 passing yards per game.
Around the NFL, several quarterbacks threw significantly more interceptions than Hurts but still led more productive passing offenses than the Eagles.
Sam Darnold of the Seahawks finished third in the NFL with 14 interceptions; Justin Herbert of the Chargers ranked fourth with 13 interceptions; and Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars finished fifth with 12 interceptions. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Baker Mayfield of the Buccaneers ranked inside the top 10 with 11 interceptions each, while Dak Prescott of the Cowboys, Josh Allen of the Bills and Brock Purdy of the 49ers each had 10 interceptions.
Every team listed above had a better passing offense than the Eagles. Among those teams, the Cowboys and 49ers both finished inside the top five in passing last year, while the Seahawks finished 8th, the Jaguars finished 12th, the Bills finished 15th, the Chiefs finished 16th, the Chargers finished 18th and the Buccaneers finished 20th.
A shift to a risk-taking approach could help the Eagles unlock their passing game. Hurts may need to take more chances to move the Eagles away from their conservative style of offense.
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