Kellen Moore sat down at the dais to an immediate barrage of questions regarding A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts, and an Eagles passing game that underwhelmed.
The Eagles beat the Carolina Panthers 22-16 on Sunday, but did it in spite of an air attack that struggled to function in a spot where it very arguably shouldn't have.
Hurts let numerous looks go by and often held on to the ball for too long, still throwing for two scores but with a season-low 108 yards. DeVonta Smith caught one of the touchdowns and 37 yards in total on six targets, and Brown 43 on just four throws his way and with visible frustration afterward – which didn't come off any better with Brandon Graham's comments on the matter a night later on WIP.
The Eagles won, but it's been a rough 48 hours for the outlook of the offense – minus Saquon Barkley, of course.
Now Moore and his personnel are working through it.
"I think each and every week we're always having conversations throughout this whole process," the Eagles' offensive coordinator told the local media at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday. "I don't think it's any different this week, last week, any other week. I think we all get the opportunity on Mondays to evaluate how we did, the things that we can improve on, and just like any other week, we all have conversations. I have conversations with A.J. plenty, and Jalen, and Saquon, and the offensive line, and so we're going through a process similar.
"Obviously this past game, from a production standpoint, the passing game, obviously, is something that we'd love to grow on, and I think we got excellent opportunities to grow it in that capacity."
But time is running shorter and the stakes are getting higher.
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Jalen Hurts has kept the football protected since the bye, but hasn't particularly moved it well in the past few weeks.
In the immediate term, the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town this week with a defense that stands maybe the best shot at taking Barkley and the run game away, which could put that much more emphasis on Hurts and the passing game to get into a rhythm that they just didn't have against Carolina.
Bigger picture, yeah, the Eagles have won nine straight, and emerged as a contender behind a league-best rushing attack and an MVP-caliber running back, but Hurts' passing numbers have been dipping.
Yes, he's taken much better care of the football ever since the bye week and a turnover-prone start to the season, but he hasn't scraped above 200 yards passing in the past three games, nor over 250-yard mark since the win over Cleveland in mid-October.
On top of that, the Eagles' offense has become notorious for slow, unthreatening starts, and although their defense has repeatedly given them the time to recover, it does beg the question of what might happen should the Eagles fall too far behind and suddenly need to throw their way out of a game – a real possibility come playoff time.
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Moore praised Hurts' continued protection of the ball on Tuesday, along with some minor, more situational details that he thought the offense executed well on overall. But at the same time: "In the passing game, we didn't hit the explosives and all those things."
"Sometimes, unfortunately, these types of games happen," Moore added. "This is the challenge of the NFL. You have slugfest games like this, and you find a way to win. That's ultimately the number one objective. I think first and second down, we probably can find ways to improve there, but I think situationally, credits to our guys of hanging in there."
But with a tough Steelers team coming up, and then three more divisional games after in a final sprint with the Lions and Vikings for the NFC's top playoff seed, the Eagles are hardly in the clear yet.
Brown's aggravation and the public thought of a rift between the receiver and Hurts that quickly followed isn't doing the team any favors either, especially with the baggage from last season's implosion still relatively fresh in the back of the players', coaches' and fans' minds.
Moore wasn't there for any of that, but as far as what he's seen in the dynamic between Hurts and Brown during his first year in Philadelphia so far, he did offer this:
"I think they work each and every day together," Moore said. "It speaks to just how much work these guys put into this thing. Ultimately, everyone's competitive. Everyone's competitive, everyone wants to help the team in every possible way, and for players, it's usually about their ability to perform and help the team in some capacity in that way.
"We got a special group. I think they work really, really well together. A.J., Jalen, Saquon, [DeVonta Smith], the whole group, I think when you spend each and every day around the building and just see these guys connecting and working – in meetings, but after meetings, after practice – we got a special group, and so we're excited about the opportunities we have ahead."
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