Jalen Hurts' 'committed' comment shows why Eagles replaced Sean Desai, but not Brian Johnson

PHILADELPHIA − Eagles de facto defensive coordinator Matt Patricia went through his unofficial duty as defensive coordinator Thursday by meeting with the media.

It was Patricia's first time with the media after he was awkwardly hired last spring as senior defensive assistant. It came at an extremely tense time for these Eagles, who have lost three straight, suddenly going from a Super Bowl juggernaut at 10-1 to a possible wildcard team at 10-4.

And Patricia certainly didn't help things in his first game calling the defensive plays as the Seattle Seahawks won the game with a 92-yard touchdown drive in the final 1 minute, 52 seconds.

Patricia was well-coached facing the media. He praised the Eagles brass, including head coach Nick Sirianni and the man he's replacing, the in-name-only defensive coordinator Sean Desai. And he even took accountability on the game-winning touchdown, when cornerback James Bradberry was left in man coverage on Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught at 29-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds remaining.

"Yeah, obviously, I would take it all back," Patricia said on the Seahawks game-winning drive. "That drive starts with me. I gotta do a better job to get them in position to get them off the field, and obviously help us win."

And why did he like the call on Smith-Njigba's touchdown?

"Hindsight, I don’t really like it very much right now," Patricia said. "Obviously, it didn’t work out too well."

But really, there's only so much change that the Eagles can handle this late in the season to stop the three-game losing streak. After all, Brian Johnson's job as the offensive coordinator can certainly be called into question after the Eagles haven't scored as many as 20 points in any of their three straight losses.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni wasn't having that narrative.

"If you look at our offense throughout, it still is in the top 10 category in a lot of the statistical categories we look at, except for the turnovers and the explosive plays," Sirianni said. "And we have to do a better job on both of those things. We have to put the players in more positions to create explosive plays.

"So the criticism on the offense, I think, unfairly goes to Brian. Brian calls the plays. ... The criticism on this offense should come at me because this is my offense."

No doubt, Desai is reading that quote and wondering why Sirianni didn't have a similarly impassioned defense of Desai's defense.

Instead, when asked if Desai has a chance of getting his role back, Sirianni avoided the question and said this:

"They've switched responsibilities, and Sean did a really good job helping out in the game on Monday, both in the locker room at halftime and on the headsets. ... I really admire how Sean went about his business last week. I think any of us that have been in a situation where things didn't go the way we wanted it to go, you can go two ways with that.

"That's why Sean is here, and we know he can help us continue moving forward. Really excited to have him continuing to have a role on this team and on this staff."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

So what about the offense? Sure, as Sirianni pointed out, the Eagles are top 10 in yards per game (9th), rushing (8th), scoring (7th), third down (3rd) and red zone (9th).

But the passing offense is a middling 16th, averaging 228 yards per game, on a team with two elite wide receivers in AJ Brown (1,314 yards) and DeVonta Smith (957 yards), and a top tight end in Dallas Goedert (470 yards).

Not to mention a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who last spring got five-year contract extension worth as much as $255 million, coming off an MVP-caliber season in 2022.

Hurts, however, has thrown for more than 207 yards only once in the Eagles' last six games. He threw two fourth-quarter interceptions against the Seahawks.

There's a disconnect somewhere. Hurts called that out after the game, saying, "I don't think we were committed enough," followed by, "We have to make an internal change in how we attack things, how we come to work every day."

On Thursday, Hurts tried to clarify his comments.

"When you think holistically about the things you want to accomplish, and everything we’re trying to do, it all runs through me," he said. "It all starts with me. So, when I say, 'We,' I mean, 'Me.' I’m the point guard out there. I’m the one that makes everything go. And I’m the guy everyone trusts to do and set the pace for everything."

Hurts was then asked if he's seeing the same commitment from his teammates that he's demanding from himself.

"I think everyone has the right mentality," he said. "One thing about leadership is you never want to tell someone else to do something that you’re not going to do, so I take ownership. I try to put the hours in and do the little things that need to be done.

"Everyone has those little things for their process, but you have to be able to do that. That has to be the precedent. The reality is that to win, it takes everyone. ... I take ownership of that, and leading that, and setting the tone and temperature of things."

That leaves more questions, like did Hurts mean to question his teammates' commitment Monday, only to bring it back on himself Thursday, knowing that it's already out there?

And what about Patricia? As much as he has nearly 20 years experience, including six seasons as Bill Belichick's defensive coordinator in New England, winning two Super Bowls, there is only so much he can change this late in the season.

Patricia knows this, too.

"Really, it’s the Eagles defense," Patricia said. "It’s the 2023 Eagles, and that’s what we were trying to develop. ... I think every year, in football, things change a little bit, and schemes change based on the people and personnel that you have. And I think that’s what we were trying to do through the course of the year."

In other words, the Eagles can either change coaches or not change coaches, but if the commitment isn't there, it's not going to work anyway.

This is what the Eagles have to get back. And that's what Hurts meant.

Avonte Maddox practicing, but several are not

The Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for nickel corner Avonte Maddox, who has been on injured reserve since tearing a pec muscle against New England on Sept. 10. Maddox was listed as a full participant in practice Thursday, as was RG Cam Jurgens (pec), who returned to practice after missing the game against Seattle.

The following did not practice: WR DeVonta Smith, LB Zach Cunningham (knee), LB Nicholas Morrow (abdomen), Darius Slay (knee), LG Landon Dickerson (thumb).

Smith's knee injury appears to be a new one suffered in the game.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: What Eagles' Jalen Hurts 'committed' comment says about Matt Patricia