PHILADELPHIA -- Devin White had a unique perspective on the Philadelphia Eagles' devolution in 2023. White, then a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was on the opposing sideline from the Eagles twice last season. The first was in Week 3, when the Eagles held the Bucs offense to just 174 yards and 11 points on their way to a 10-1 start. The second was in the Super Wild Card Weekend game, a 32-9 whipping by the Bucs that capped Eagles' stunning implosion and sent them into a protracted bout of self-examination that still hasn't fully answered a fundamental question: What the heck happened to the Eagles?
White, given his up-close view, has an idea.
"I think it was, at the end, injury plays a part in the playoffs," White said after Tuesday's practice. "That sense of urgency on defense from the Eagles -- the Bucs, we had it. We was hungry, we was feisty. That gets you over the top. They were lacking it for whatever reason, injury, didn't have the will to win, the want to. But it's a new unit. They brought great players back in. ... It's hard to lose that focus when you got a lot of great leaders on the field."
Receiver A.J. Brown, whose own impact waned as the offense struggled in the second half of last season, doesn't want to think or talk about 2023 anymore, but he is convinced the Eagles are headed in the right direction. Early practices indicated that new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore will incorporate more pre-snap motion than the Eagles had last season and that Saquon Barkley will be an important safety net for Jalen Hurts. Hurts has looked comfortable and settled this summer -- during practice, he constantly talked to his teammates and coaches. Coach Nick Sirianni said Monday that he thinks Hurts has looked sharp so far, and he made a point of noting that he is particularly pleased to see Hurts reacting to pressure by sliding his feet and checking down with a pass to, among others, Barkley. Last season, pressure on Hurts, and how the offense failed to adjust to it, was a glaring part of the late-season struggles.
Given that the Eagles have arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the league with Brown and DeVonta Smith, those issues were especially confounding. Brown raves about how many special players there are on Philadelphia's offense, but to take the next step and return the team to the Super Bowl, he said the Eagles "can't have guys not doing what they're supposed to do." Why is he convinced the Eagles have moved past last season?
"How hard guys are working, that's all you can gauge that by," Brown said. "Guys are not sitting around and waiting for stuff to happen. Or pouting. That's all that matters. All I care about."
The biggest roar from the fans at Tuesday's practice came when Barkley ran for a touchdown during red-zone work. It's easy to see how Barkley will help Hurts, by being the pressure valve the Eagles were lacking last season, with his ability to catch out of the backfield and the potential to turn every touch into an explosive play.
"I got in trouble, the first day he was out here, I was just watching, I was supposed to be blocking," Brown said. "I had to snap back to reality."
The current reality for the Eagles, even if they don't want to dwell on it any longer, is that until they look competent to start the 2024 regular season, the specter of last season's collapse will linger. New coordinators and new faces should bring renewed energy. White came to the Eagles to resurrect his career after falling out of favor with the Bucs last year. He believes his ability to communicate will benefit the team, but so will his confidence and swagger. He is encouraged by what he has seen from the early days of Vic Fangio's defense, the attention to detail brought from the classroom to the practice field.
"Everybody is swarming around," White said. "One thing, I've been on great defensive teams, and if one person messed up, somebody is flying to the ball. You can depend on your brother to save you."
Fangio, White noted, is not the kind of coach who is likely to joke around with players, but his arrival and his defense have pushed everyone on defense harder. There is an air of aggressiveness and competition, even in a July practice. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is back and chatters throughout the morning, sometimes to nobody in particular. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who was practicing both outside and in the slot, challenged Brown in one-on-one coverage in the red zone, getting blanket coverage and also staring at and yapping to Brown.
If White's assessment of what foiled the Eagles at the end of last season is correct, that kind of edge will be as welcome as Barkley is on offense.
"Just a bunch of hungry dogs trying to get after it," White said.
