September 13 is so close – we can taste the regular season, the excitement, the energy, the passion. And yet it is, in reality for a football team, so far away in that there is a ton of other stuff to accomplish hour by hour, day by day.
So, it is here that we are hearing Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion hold a press conference on Monday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, answering questions on the "right-now" topics – roster battles, what he has seen in the two preseason games, etc. – and holding off, understandably, on the big-picture questions about the Eagles' scheme and what he envisions for the coming regular season.
Specifically, Mannion is asked about pass protection and the mechanism for making sure everyone is on the same page and how the fullback position might impact the offense in 2026.
"You know what," Mannion said, "I guess we'll have to wait and see. I don't want to reveal too much. But, you know, certainly position versatility, alignment, flexibility – those are things we place a premium on. You know, so it's – I guess, again, I apologize for not answering the question, but I don't want to reveal too much. But those are things that are very valuable to us as an offense and that we challenge our guys to do across all our position groups."
This is a perfect answer from a coach who has very quickly become excellent in the press-conference part of his job. Mannion receives high marks from everyone who works with him on a day-to-day basis, who understands the big picture of his thinking and what we see is what we hear of him answering questions.
Because, and this is important, what we are seeing from the offense in the Training Camp practices at the Jeff – and on Tuesday night at Lincoln Financial Field – and in the preseason games are the basics. The Eagles are like every team in the NFL – installing the offense, showing the public only what it has to show to properly evaluate the 90-man roster.
There is no giveaway on what Head Coach Nick Sirianni, Mannion, and the rest of the offensive coaching staff plan to do against the Washington Commanders. This offense is going to be rolled out on a week-to-week basis. It is only fair to understand that there is going to be some self-discovery along the way as the scheme is mixed and matched to what the Eagles think will be advantageous to the offense.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts says it all the time and it's true: The Eagles are working toward an offensive identity. It doesn't happen overnight. It often doesn't happen in the course of the opening month of a season – we witnessed that both in the 2021 season, Sirianni's first, and in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2024.
It takes time to grow. It takes time to learn what works best on either side of the football.
The point here is this: Sirianni and Mannion and Hurts and every player who has been interviewed in the media has spoken about progress and growth and the process of working toward the end result and every bit of those messages has been positive. And yet there are some who watch a practice or tune in to a preseason game and wonder ...
Fair. Everyone has the right to an opinion. Nobody knows what this is going to look like when it's all said and done. But what is undeniable is that the Eagles are pleased with where they are with the full understanding that there is a lot more to get done.
Message from this viewpoint: Enjoy the book, page by page. Don't be in a hurry to get to the final chapter. It takes time to write a great novel, or cook a great meal. There are a lot of ingredients that go into the final product, some trial-and-error experimenting.
We've been in this position before, albeit not quite with an offense that potentially offers as much change as this one from previous Eagles' offenses we've known. It's hard to wait. The excitement level is building. Trust that the coaching staff and the players are truly feeling good about the progress being made, even if it's not glaringly obvious to the outside world.
