With A.J. Brown and the “tush push” no longer hogging headlines, the Philadelphia Eagles hope for a distraction-free start to the season on Sunday against the visiting Washington Commanders.
Of course, this is Philly, where the next controversy is always right around the corner, but for now the focus is squarely on football entering this early encounter between NFC East rivals.
Meanwhile in Washington, a city where bipartisan battles are the national pastime, fans and analysts are divided over whether we will see the 12-5 Commanders of 2024 or the 5-12 version from last season.
As so often happens in the NFL, quarterbacks and coaches from both teams are under the biggest spotlights.
Eagles signal-caller Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni are 5-0 in season openers. Sirianni attributes his Week 1 success to building good practice habits throughout OTAs and training camp.
“I think people get it confused, and they think practicing hard has to be long,” Sirianni said Wednesday.
With Brown now in New England, Hurts has a new undisputed No. 1 wideout in three-time 1,000-yard receiver DeVonta Smith. He also has a new offensive coordinator in 34-year-old Sean Mannion, a healthy Saquon Barkley (3,145 rushing yards through 32 games with the Eagles) and one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.
To replace Brown’s production (5,034 receiving yards in four seasons with the team), the Eagles drafted Makai Lemon in the first round and acquired Dontayvion Wicks from Green Bay.
Despite being a three-time Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl MVP by the age of 28, Hurts still has his share of doubters entering his sixth full season as the starter. He refuses to let the outside noise divert his attention.
“I’m truly focused on being the best that I can be right now,” he said. “That’s where my energy is. There’s a lot of change. I’m focused on this offense. I’m focused on building with Sean (Mannion) and being at my best.”
Defensively, the Eagles locked up star tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis with big contracts this offseason and gave edge rusher Jonathan Greenard a four-year, $98 million deal.
Greenard returned to practice on Wednesday on a limited basis after missing training camp with a pec injury. Also limited was rookie tight end Eli Stowers (hamstring), a second-round pick.
Injuries derailed Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels last season following his brilliant Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2024. He finished 2-5 in 2025, missing more than half of the season with hamstring and elbow issues as his completion rate dropped from 69.0% as a rookie to 60.6% and his yards per carry fell from 6.0 to 4.8.
“I just think I didn’t get into a flow, you know, in and out the lineup with injuries,” Daniels said Wednesday. “But, you know, as for all the analytics people, stats, whatever, it is what it is, man.
“What I did Year 1, what I did Year 2 doesn’t matter,” he continued. “I mean, that’s what people are going to talk about. You know, recency bias and all that. Year 2 is what it is. Now we’re on to Year 3.”
Third-year head coach Dan Quinn is 2-3 against Philadelphia since taking over in Washington, which includes the 55-23 loss in the NFC Championship Game after the 2024 regular season. Quinn has two new coordinators with David Blough at the offensive controls and Daronte Jones taking over a defense that allowed 26.5 points per game in 2025.
“The best teams I’ve been part of have a strong connection in the locker room first,” Quinn said Wednesday. “… This team is just connected, maybe more quickly than we’ve had.”
In Wednesday’s initial injury report, outside linebackers K’Lavon Chaisson (knee) and Odafe Oweh (calf) and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) were listed as limited.
