PHILADELPHIA. — His season over after a failed Super Bowl repeat bid, Jalen Hurts sounded like a quarterback who’s ready for a fifth Eagles offensive coordinator in five seasons.
An endorsement of the beleaguered Kevin Patullo — whose house was egged earlier this season as he became the top target for Eagles fans’ frustrations — never came from Hurts a day after last season’s Super Bowl champions were knocked out of the playoffs in the wild-card round by San Francisco.
Hurts declined a chance to stump for Patullo and instead put the decision solely at the feet of Philadelphia’s brain trust of coach Nick Sirianni, general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Hurts was asked if he wanted Patullo back.
“It’s too soon to think about that,” Hurts said Monday as the Eagles cleaned out their lockers. “I put my trust in Howie. Howie, Nick and Mr. Lurie.”
Hurts talked instead of finding a “home base” for the offense next season, essentially an identity that never materialized. The Eagles usually had one solid half and another that was a total bust — such as in the loss to the 49ers, in which they blew a halftime lead and kicked only two field goals in the second half.
What kind of home base does Hurts envision?
“We’ve got time to figure it out,” Hurts said.
Hurts even had two games this season in which he failed to complete a pass in the second half. That should be almost impossible for any NFL quarterback, much less the Super Bowl MVP.
“It was a challenging year,” Hurts said.
Hurts couldn’t get on track against an injury-depleted 49ers defense, and he threw incomplete into double coverage on fourth down when the Eagles still had a chance to win, ending Philadelphia’s bid to follow up Kansas City’s repeat with another one.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 865 fewer yards than last season, when Kellen Moore was in charge of Philadelphia’s offense. Moore left the Eagles after the Super Bowl to become New Orleans’ head coach.
Barkley said he had “nothing but positive things to say about KP” and said the entire offense — starting with himself — shared the blame for the dip in production.
“I think (the media) has to point the finger at one person,” Barkley said. “That’s what you guys have to do in your job. Somebody’s got to catch the blame, especially when we had the season we had the year before. Do I think that’s fair? No. I don’t think that’s fair at all.”
The 27-year-old Hurts said he would give his input about potential offseason moves, if asked.
“My line is always open,” Hurts said.
Brown ‘always open’ but unavailable for comment
Hurts said Monday everything was good between him and disgruntled wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“A.J. and I will talk,” Hurts said. “We’re in a great place. Maybe you all can talk to him and ask.”
Brown did not give anyone that chance.
The “Always Open” sign still dangled over Brown’s locker even with the wideout nowhere to be found.
Brown was one of the few prominent Eagles to skip Monday’s media session, along with offensive lineman Lane Johnson and defensive end Brandon Graham. Brown also left the locker room without talking to reporters after Sunday’s loss, which left Sirianni to explain the circumstances of a sideline kerfuffle between the two.
“I love A.J. I think he knows how I feel about him. I have a special relationship with him,” Sirianni said.
But do the Eagles love Brown enough to bring him back and all the needless headaches, such as cryptic social media posts about his lessened role in the offense? Brown — who had 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns — carries a $43.5 million salary-cap hit if the Eagles trade him before June 1, which raises the question of whether they can afford to move on.
Brown perhaps left a parting gift with a signed No. 11 jersey in All-Pro cornerback’s Quinyon Mitchell’s locker.
“To Q. All-Pro Q. Love bro. Proud of u,” Brown wrote.
Barkley wants more
The Madden NFL 26 video game and its cover in Barkley’s locker seemed to sum up his season — still unwrapped and headed backward.
Barkley never cut loose and flashed the form that made him the most feared running back in the game last season.
The Barkley who rushed for 2,005 yards last season never materialized as he finished with 1,140 yards. He ran for 106 yards against the 49ers, his fourth 100-yard game of the season. He had two 200-yard games in 2024, when he was the AP Offensive Player of the Year.
“I’ll be the first one to say, did I play to the level that I played least year? I don’t think so,” Barkley said. “I let (Patullo) down, I let my teammates down.”
The Eagles averaged 116.9 yards rushing per game after they averaged 179 yards in the Super Bowl season.
“I don’t think the reason why we weren’t as successful running the ball had anything to do with more stacked or loaded boxes,” Barkley said. “I just feel like we as a collective didn’t do a really good job of figuring it out.”
Scenes from the locker room
Jordan Mailata walked through the locker room holding an oversized cardboard box on his head to clean out his locker 11 months after he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
All-Pro slot cornerback Cooper DeJean handed out boxes of his Coop’s Crunch cereal — teammate Jordan Davis asked for a signed box.
“For me, personally. I’m not going to sell it or nothing,” Davis cracked.
Davis and fellow defenseman Moro Ojomo made plans to smoke fine cigars. Mailata tried to organize one last team dinner. Joshua Uche took offseason dinner suggestions on the best places in Philly for pizza.
“I’ve got time now,” he said, laughing.
Next steps
The Eagles must find a new offensive coordinator or perhaps make a long-shot effort to try and salvage the relationship between Patullo and his players.
Hurts preached cohesiveness but then shrugged off any suggestion that yet another new coordinator would continue to set back the franchise.
“The changes have not prevented us from having an opportunity to go on championship runs,” Hurts said. “With all the changes, with all the things that have gone (on) over time, we’ve still found ourselves in the playoffs. We’ve still found ourselves in positions to be in the tournament and play in the tournament.”
