The Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots are about to clash in two days of intense practice.
Most attention will be on Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown and how he performs against his old team. Brown was traded from the Eagles back in June after two years of drama surrounding him.
One Eagles player glad to no longer deal with that noise is quarterback Jalen Hurts. While he would love to show his former teammate he doesn't need him, Eagles fans need to see more from their franchise quarterback.
Jalen Hurts has somethign to show the Eagles fans during Patriots joint practice
Throughout training camp, there has been a lot of talk about the interceptions he has thrown. The volume of picks has been high compared to other training camps for Hurts, so seeing him protect the football is paramount to picking up a "win" against the Patriots.
Progress needs to be shown within the new offense called by Sean Mannion. The Eagles' backups did not show any encouraging signs in their 24-7 preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens, with just 159 yards picked up. Hurts has a chance to show he has firm control of the unit and can do what he's been criticized for, like running the football and throwing in the middle of the field.
Hurts has a plethora of receivers to throw it to, like DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, Elijah Moore, Darius Cooper, and Hollywood Brown. This is Hurts' chance to show A.J. Brown in person that the offense will be just fine without him, as he can throw it to any receiver on the team and they can make a play.
It's clear now that Hurts is most likely not going to play in any of the preseason games, so this Patriots joint practice might be the only chance that the starters have to get good reps against another team. This one is more important for Hurts, though, since the Patriots are the defending AFC champions and can do a lot to help this Eagles team out.
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The two days the Eagles and Patriots practice aren't paramount to Philly's success in 2026, but their success will help set the right tone for the year. Hurts has a chance to prove to everyone that he can still play the quarterback position at a high level in a new offense and put himself back in the conversation for being an elite QB.
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