The unknown is the element that makes Sunday's opening game against Washington so, well, intriguing. The Eagles have a new offensive coordinator, of course. The Washington Commanders have a new defensive coordinator, Daronte Jones, and with that comes uncertainty.

Let the educated guessing game begin for both teams?

What kind of scheme will the Commanders employ against an Eagles offense that, to be fair, is just as much of an unknown with new coordinator Sean Mannion? Blitz a lot, as Jones learned when he worked with Minnesota Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores? Back off and mix it up, as Head Coach Dan Quinn has done in his defensive-minded coaching career?

Or a little bit of this and a little bit of that? Quarterback Jalen Hurts has to be ready for everything and he knows it.

"You don't really know what you're going to get," Hurts said on Wednesday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. "You try and dig into their background and where they come from, the tree that they're in, and that's something that you honor. Ultimately, I think just going into a Week 1 in general, it comes down to playing clean football, playing with good fundamentals, playing together, everybody being aligned, and trying to keep the focus on those things, the things that we can control."

Hurts has faced Washington 11 times in his career and his cumulative numbers are impressive: an 8-3 record (including the game in Washington in 2024 when he was injured during the game and didn't finish the contest), 14 touchdown passes and another nine on the ground, a passer rating of more than 102, just three interceptions along with nearly 2,500 total yards of offense.

Brilliance.

But Hurts, the one-moment-at-a-time Master of Focus, is intent only on what is in front of him, and that is the 2026 regular-season opener.

"Keeping the main thing the main thing, having the time to prepare and playing together," he said. "I think it's a reflection of the work and the preparation that we've had. So it's a confidence, I think, going into the game and the clarity as a unison, because you go throughout a season, the conversations of what we should be doing, how we should be doing it kind of arise. And it's very clear usually when you go into Week 1. I think that's one of the more challenging things going throughout the season is how do you maintain that? So just want to try and start off on the right foot.

"I think the goals that Coach (Nick) Sirianni has set for us are great points to follow and just playing fundamental football, playing assignment, alignment, key football, controlling the things we can on the field, playing with great mentality, great edge, and high effort and going out there and playing. You alluded to recipes of success in Week 1. I think that's been a big part of that. And so it starts with Coach and goes on to everyone getting in line and executing what he's asking us to do."

Hurts says his mission is to be "hip to hip" with Mannion, who is likely to be stationed and calling the plays from the Coaches' Booth for this game. Hurts hasn't had a coordinator in the booth since his college days, he said, so the flow of information will be slightly different than what he's experienced in his six NFL seasons.

No matter. The calls are the calls. It all is part of the flow of information. The process, if you will.

At the end of the day, and Hurts knows this better than anyone, it's about the team jelling and becoming one. All in. All together.

"Just take it a day at a time and continue to work and experience work, build, work, let the chemistry develop naturally," Hurts said, ending his press conference and heading back to the lab with his coaches to work on starting the 2026 regular season the right way.