Perhaps we take it as routine the way it works for the Eagles along the offensive line, but if you take a step back and really understand things, what the team has accomplished is downright remarkable.
There are four Pro Bowl players who are starters – All-Pro level stars – and it has been that way for years and years. Brandon Brooks retires and Landon Dickerson steps in. Jordan Mailata becomes a revelation at left tackle. Lane Johnson is a future Pro Football Hall of Famer at right tackle.
And Cam Jurgens earns a starting job at right guard and then slides over to center and becomes a Pro Bowl selection. This is the foundation of what the Eagles are, and if anyone out there is old enough to remember the not-so-good-old days when the team tried to piecemeal the line together and the process failed, you appreciate even more the institution the Eagles have built now.
Jurgens is the latest young star to emerge, and for the Eagles it is not the least bit surprising. They were thrilled to take him in Round 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft and have him learn with Jason Kelce still at the top of his game. Jurgens played well at right guard in 2023 and then made the move to his natural position in 2024, leading the way as the Eagles' offense overpowered teams in the run game and sliced and diced in the passing game with his brains, brawn, athletic ability, and toughness leading the way.
What happened in the NFC Championship Game was truly amazing and overlooked in all the euphoria of the World Championship season: Jurgens, with a back injury that required offseason surgery, strapped up all of his toughness to replace Dickerson, who slid over from guard to start at center in that game against Washington as he was hobbled with a knee injury, and played in the second half of that blowout win.
Toughness. Desire. Selflessness.
The embodiment of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It just felt impossible physically all week for most of the playoffs," Jurgens said on Monday, drenched in sweat as he continues to work his way to full health following surgery that happened immediately after winning the Super Bowl. "You've just got to mentally will yourself to say you're good and keep going and press on and get through it. It helps when you're going through it and everybody else is dealing with stuff and you've got to be there for the guys. That's just the name of the game."
That's just the way it works for this offensive line. They are there for each other. Nobody wants to be the weak link. They feel a responsibility to each other, to the team, to Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland, a "relentless" coach – Jurgens' word – and to the idea of carrying the offense collectively on its shoulders.
Jurgens signed a contract extension in the offseason, giving all four of those players long-term security here. It is a terrific situation, and for that, the Eagles are grateful. Since the days of Andy Reid, the Eagles have built from the line of scrimmage out, and you see the way that approach has benefited the team.
Win for each other. Be there for your brother. That is the Eagles' way. There is work ahead for the offensive line to be sure – the right guard starting job is open, with Tyler Steen taking the first-team reps early in Training Camp – and that's something the offensive line embraces.
They want to be great for each other.
"I think it comes naturally," Jurgens said. "I think it comes from the level and standard being so high that you just don't want to let people down and when you have a close bond to the guys in the room that you do and you care about them, you just don't want to let them down.
"I think that's kind of where it's at."
That's why players like Jurgens and Dickerson did what they did to help the Eagles win the NFC Championship Game. They were there for their team. In the long run, that carries the kind of power that helps a team win Super Bowls.
