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The DiCecco Daily: Biggest Eagles Offensive Question Mark Is Pass Game Evolution · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is to check O Daily.
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  Speaker 2: I am Andrew de Checko, and we've been exploring a
• 0:13
  ton of different topics pertaining to the photo of Eagles
• 0:17
  this week, and really we will all offseason because I
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  have plenty of ideas cooking up here. But today we're
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  going to start a three part podcast series where I
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  sort of highlight my biggest question mark at all three levels,
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  all three facets I should say, of the team, starting
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  with offense, and obviously the Eagles offense is primed to
• 0:41
  already contend for a Super Bowl. There haven't been many changes,
• 0:46
  although the changes that there have been are worth noting
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  and they could impact how you perceive this offense moving forward.
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  Now for me, aside from a new right, which will
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  probably be Tyler Steve. If you've been listening to me
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  for a while, I've been sort of lauding Tyler and
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  his ability to step in there when called upon and
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  perform pretty admirably. Stepping in make game is not an
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  easy task, and I think you're seeing a player who
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  has more confidence he's playing and utilizing his skill set
• 1:21
  to his advantage. He moves well, he can get to
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  that second level, and he's been reliable and he will
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  now be playing between Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson. Lane
• 1:30
  Johnson will now play alongside him yet another right guard, but.
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  Speaker 1: It's not somebody that he doesn't have familiarity with.
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  Speaker 2: Then I do think that Tyler Steed is going to
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  get off to a pretty good start, and I'm expecting
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  him to run away with that job.
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  Speaker 1: To be clear. Then you look at.
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  Speaker 2: Someone like will Shipley stepping into a second running back
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  role that was previously held by Kenny Gamwell, and that that's.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Something that I don't know that there is going to
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  be a whole lot of a drop off.
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  Speaker 2: And that's not to minimize what Kenny Gingwow has done
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  during his time with the Eagles, because he was an
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  effective two and four minute running back some way that
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  the coaches had an immense amount of confidence in, and
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  he was sounded pass protection and surprisingly in short yarded situations.
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  Speaker 1: And he didn't have a huge bill. He just knew
• 2:20
  how to get low and use leverage and all of that.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm not just gonna sit here and tell you
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  that that's a minor loss. That's something that the Eagles
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  are going to have to continue to work around and
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  they're gonna learn a lot about Will Shipley this offseason, well,
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  especially in training camp. But those two things I've just
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  outlined why they're not really of concern.
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  Speaker 1: I think Shipley offers some.
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  Speaker 2: Dynamic qualities that would serve the offense well, especially under Batulo.
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  And who knows if the Eagles decide to lean on
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  the pass receiving elements of the running backs, well, he's
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  gonna reap the benefits. Well Shipley, It's gonna come down
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  to pass detection. But he obviously has the juice to
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  be able to step in and sort of amplify the
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  offense even more than it was last season. But that's
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  not to minimize the accomplishments of Kenny Gangwoll or the
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  impact of the Kenny gangwell. But Stein and shipleer two
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  individual players who are going to be pressed into service
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  this year in a more prominent light. But the big
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  question I have is sort of from a broader perspective,
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  and it is how will the offense evolve under new
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  offensive coordinator Kevin Patula.
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  Speaker 1: It's a fair question, especially when.
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  Speaker 2: At every turn, whether it was Aj Brown or Jalen Hurts,
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  they've all talked about the offense's need to evolve, And
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  I mean that's not anything groundbreaking. Clearly it does, but
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  let's take a step back for a moment and look
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  at what that could possibly meet. Because last season the
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  Eagles were, obviously He's heavily run centric, and that was
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  really out of necessity because to start the season the
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  passing game was choppy, it was staggering, and it really
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  lacked cohesiveness. So coming out of the bye week, Nick
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  Sirianni was receptive and responsive to feedback he got from
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  his offensive line, and the Eagles adopted an entirely new
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  philosophy coming out of that bye week, and that was
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  to lean on sat Mom Barkley and that offensive line
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  and really have the offense run through them versus off
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  the arm of Jay when hurts of the passing game.
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  Speaker 1: That's not a slight and anything.
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  Speaker 2: It's an acknowledgment and a recognition of what was working,
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  and tried to stay true and lean into those and
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  lean into those strengths, and right coming out of the
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  bye week, it was apparent that that offensive line was
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  continuing to round in the form that were playing with
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  toughness and nastiness and attitude, and Saquon Barkley was rounding
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  into form in his own right, it made a ton
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  of sense. Not surprised that they went that route and
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  didn't stick with the passing game a little longer than
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  than it maybe ordinarily would have.
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  Speaker 1: And I think for the Eagles to get.
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  Speaker 2: The season off on the right foot, they had to
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  go to the bread and butter and not not necessarily
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  try to force a square pegg at all round hole
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  if it wasn't working.
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  Speaker 1: Because every week obviously is.
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  Speaker 2: So important in the NFL, and the offense is far
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  too talented for it to becoming the defensive. So I
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  look at this offense this year, and when you hear evolve,
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  it certainly doesn't have to do. It is somebody who
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  rushed for two thousand yards last year, and I mean,
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  and he could have probably done more. He was sat
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  down at different points of the game and different than
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  you know when the Eagles got out to be leads
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  and all of that.
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  Speaker 1: So if it's not the running game, then what needs
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  to evolve. Well, that's simple the passing game.
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  Speaker 2: But it's a little bit more complicated when you get
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  sort of dell beneath the surface. Because last season Kevin
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  Patullo oversaw the Eagles passing game, which really didn't meet expectations.
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  But I think that Kevin Petulo has a unique perspective
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  here because he has that knowledge of what works and
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  what didn't work. How can what would he have done differently?
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  How can he accentuate what his personnel does well? And
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  sometimes taking a step back and seeing it from a
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  different lens affords you that opportunity and that insight to
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  go into it with with with a different with different
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  ideologies or a different approach. And I think you're going
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  to see the passing game have more wrinkles.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to see what I'm expecting to be more
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  advanced route concepts.
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  Speaker 2: Last year, if you remember, the offense was largely horizontal.
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  When the offense took to the air, there wasn't a
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  lot of downfield throws.
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  Speaker 1: I thought it was really compressed.
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  Speaker 2: And that's not to mention that the middle of the
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  field was grossfully underutilized. But it is something that needs
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  to be acknowledged and something that I am expecting the
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  Eagles to tap into.
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  Speaker 1: This year with Batullo.
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  Speaker 2: But for the Eagles to really make that step forward,
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  and you hear the word evolved, It can't run it back.
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  Speaker 1: The team can't run it back. In the way that
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  it did last year. And when you hear.
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  Speaker 2: Someone like say bon Barb, we talk about what he's
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  learned and what he's you know, this offseason, what he's
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  done differently and scaling things back a little bit. That's
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  not to say that he's completely resting or relaxing.
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  Speaker 1: It's that he knows what's the workload that's ahead. And
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  I think for the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: To really be able to realize the full potential of
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  its offense, you got to scale it back a little bit.
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  Maybe you rely on those ship a little bit more
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  as that number two running back, But I really do
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  believe that the passing game really has to take flight
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  here and it has to look a little bit more creative.
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  Speaker 1: The route concepts have to be more advanced.
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  Speaker 2: Jaywen Hurts has to continue to springs, because we've seen
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  from Jaywen has been somebody who has been decisive. He
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  gets rid of the football in a timely and efficient manner.
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  He's throwing the ball with accuracy and touch. But build
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  off of that and push the ball down the field
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  a little bit more and find ways to open things up.
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  Speaker 1: Because I'm going.
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  Speaker 2: Into the season with the expectation that aj Brown is
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  going to leave no doubt that he's the best receiver
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  in the National Football League. I firmly believe that, and
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  I know that it's sound. You can make that proclamation
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  at this point of the season.
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  Speaker 1: But when you hear a.
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  Speaker 2: Coach to take the offense needs to evolve, and you
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  see the motivation from Jayalen Hurts and from AJ Brown
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  and from really the whole offense, the avoidance of complacency, well,
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  I think you have no choice but to believe that
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  the passing game is going to look markedly different than
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  it has in the past.
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  Speaker 1: And I think a lot of that has to do
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  with the middle of the field utilization.
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  Speaker 2: But I also think that you're going to see the
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  team take shots down the field. When they did that
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  in twenty three and even twenty two, you saw the
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  unique stresses of that put on defenses.
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  Speaker 1: But until we see it on the field, it's kind
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  of hard to take that and run with it.
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  Speaker 2: That's just my opinion. That's what I'm believing we're going
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  to see from the offense. And you talk about fresh
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  concepts and a new way to look at things and
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  constantly leaning into different resources, Well, if you do that,
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  then that would suggest that you're going to do.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to change it up a little bit, and
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  I'm expecting the passing game to be the beneficiary of it.
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  And I think Jalen Hurts in his own right, is
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  going to.
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  Speaker 2: Take a next step as a passer, as a full
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  field processor and all those things and really leave no
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  doubt in the minds of whatever skeptics remain that he
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  is among the elite at his position. And I think
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  Batulo and Jay when Hurts are going to have that
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  working relationship that's already been established that should allow that offense,
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  particularly the passing attack, to get out to a fast
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  start and hit the ground running once training camp begins
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  and carry that momentum through to the regular season. So
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  that's my biggest question mark on the offensive side, as
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  we continue to sort through some things moving to training camp,
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  sort through different storylines, and tomorrow we're going to explore
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  the biggest question that I have on the defensive side,
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  and then on Saturday there'll be the biggest question that
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  I have on the special teams front and how that
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  could possibly shake out or what are some of the
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  options there. But there's plenty to dissect and explore as
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  we move through this Eagles offseason.
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  Speaker 1: And get you to training camp.
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  Speaker 2: But again, this is Andrew de Checko and this is
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  another edition of to check o'delle.
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  Speaker 1: I'll talk to everybody tomorrow. Have a good one and