Philadelphia Eagles News

Morning Roundup: No decision yet regarding starting QB

Dec 07, 2020 at 10:55 AM

Chris McPherson

The Eagles' coaches are back at the NovaCare Complex on Monday reviewing the film and putting together the game plan for Sunday's showdown against the New Orleans Saints, the current No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Eagles will look to snap a four-game losing streak after coming up short in Green Bay on Sunday, falling 30-16 to the NFC North-leading Packers.

With 7:39 remaining in the third quarter, down 20-3, the Eagles put in Jalen Hurts at quarterback to finish the game. Hurts was 5-of-12 for 109 yards with a 32-yard touchdown and a late interception. He also gained 29 yards on the ground. The Eagles made it 23-16 before a late Aaron Jones touchdown run quelled any chance of a comeback.

Here's a recap of everything that transpired in our Morning Roundup, presented by Microsoft.

Microsoft Teams Top Connection

Wide receiver Greg Ward was on the receiving end of a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts, the first scoring throw of the rookie's career, on a fourth-and-18 play in the fourth quarter on Sunday at Green Bay.

1. Who will start at quarterback vs. New Orleans?

Head Coach Doug Pederson told Angelo Cataldi on SportsRadio 94WIP this morning that he has yet to determining who will start at quarterback against New Orleans?

"I'm going to look at a lot of things, including where we are as a team," Pederson said. "I'm going to go back and evaluate where we are at the position. When I make my mind up, I'll know, but I'm not there yet."

2. Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro's game recap

For a few minutes, it looked promising.

The Eagles accepted the opening kickoff Sunday at Lambeau Field and got a little something going. Miles Sanders had a neat spin move away from defenders to gain 6 yards on a run. Quarterback Carson Wentz completed a pass to tight end Dallas Goedert to convert a third-and-6 play and came back two snaps later with a nice 11-yard throw to tight end Zach Ertz.

Maybe, just maybe …

That opening drive stalled after 15 plays and 41 yards, as too many have in this 3-8-1 season, and ended with a 52-yard Jake Elliott field goal and a three-point lead, and that was pretty much all that went in the Eagles' favor as the Packers, behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three touchdown passes, beat Philadelphia 30-16 to extend this post-bye losing streak to four games.

That the Eagles lost wasn't the big story on this Sunday. The immediate future of the quarterback position was on the front burner, as rookie second-round draft pick Jalen Hurts replaced Wentz late in the third quarter and played the rest of the game, throwing a touchdown pass, making some plays with his legs, and injecting some life into an offense that had very little to celebrate before Hurts entered the game.

"At the time, I just felt like where we were as an offense, we needed a spark," Head Coach Doug Pederson said. "We needed something to kind of go our way, so I decided to put Jalen in the game."

• Read the entire column here

3. Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts react to Sunday's result

There is not yet a decision as to who will play quarterback for the Eagles on Sunday when the New Orleans Saints come to town, but both Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts talked about the situation in the aftermath of the team's 30-16 loss to Green Bay on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Wentz started Sunday's game and played five offensive drives, generating a field goal on the team's first possession that took 15 plays and gained 41 yards and ended with a 52-yard Jake Elliott field goal. Wentz completed 6 of 15 passes for 79 yards and also contributed 18 rushing yards on three carries. He was sacked four times as the offense managed just 10 first downs with Wentz at quarterback.

Hurts entered the game for the offense's final possession of the third quarter and played all the way through the fourth quarter, a total of four drives that generated seven first downs and a touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Ward on a fourth-and-18 play. On the scoring strike, Hurts rolled right and threw a perfect pass to Ward in the end zone to complete the 32-yard scoring strike.

"It was great," Hurts said of his first NFL touchdown pass. "On the bright side of things, I'm not going to be a Debbie Downer now. It was a blessing. It was a great feeling. It's a great feeling to throw a touchdown pass to one of my good friends, Greg Ward. It was fun. It was fun."

Said Wentz: "I don't like where we're at this season record-wise (3-8-1). I know I can play better and we can all be better moving forward. We gotta clean some things up."

• Read the entire story here

4. Jalen Reagor impacts both offense and special teams

Jalen Reagor showed on Sunday why he was the Eagles' first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

He caught a 34-yard pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts and returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown against the Packers. It's the first punt return touchdown by an Eagles player since Darren Sproles took an 83-yarder to the house in the upset of the New England Patriots in the 2015 season.

Reagor finished his college career as TCU's all-time leader in punt return average (17.8 yards). And his 34-yard reception was his longest since his 55-yarder in Week 1 at Washington.

"I think we're on the right track," Head Coach Doug Pederson said after the game about Reagor's development. "I think there is still more that we can do. Again, you've got to be smart on how much we give him. I don't want to overload him either. I just still want him to be able to play free, and that was a heck of a punt return today. And I thought he, for the most part ... got to go back and evaluate the film, but it looked like he played pretty well offensively, so he was another bright spot tonight."

5. Defense unable to stop Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams connection

Cornerback Darius Slay battled through a calf injury during the week to get ready for Green Bay's Davante Adams, who entered the game leading the league in both receptions and receiving yards per game. Slay did not exclusively follow Adams on Sunday, but the outstanding receiver caught both of his touchdown passes against the Pro Bowl cornerback as part of a 10-catch, 121-yard performance.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tossed three touchdown passes on the day to become the fastest player in NFL history to reach 400 for his career. Rodgers was able to evade the four-man pass rush throughout the game on the way to finishing with 295 passing yards and the three touchdown tosses for a 128.9 passer rating. Rodgers set a career-best first-half completion percentage going 13-of-14 for 161 yards and two touchdowns for a 154.2 passer rating.

The final blow for the defense came in the form of running back Aaron Jones, who took off for a career-long 77-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the game's final points, ending any chance of a comeback by the Eagles. Jones finished with 130 yards on the ground, aided by the long touchdown.