Eagles eager to bounce back against Giants
Previewing Thursday's matchup vs. New York
From The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/6yxfc4yt
PHILADELPHIA — “Thank God it’s a short week,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said with a smile on Tuesday as the team prepped for Thursday night’s Turnpike matchup against the New York Giants.
He was eager to shake off the stench of Sunday’s stunning defeat to Denver at Lincoln Financial Field.
“You can be on top one day and on the bottom the next,” he said. “So it’s the perspective of a competitor that you can never get too high and never get too low.
“It’s the NFL. While it is an agonizing feeling (to lose), you have to take pride in everything that is required to win — truly take pride in everything’s that’s required to win. I know this is a hungry group … and I know we’re excited for the opportunity in front of us to continue to improve.”
The Eagles’ field general is sometimes panned for speaking in clichés, but he lives by these words. Take them at face value.
When he alluded to the “agonizing feeling” of defeat, the pain and torment were evident in the strains on his face. And when he mentioned “everything required to win,” he meant everything from diet to exercise to routine to sleep schedule to mentality to being centered psychologically and spiritually.
He meant revolving one’s entire life every day around winning and being great.
More on the private meeting
Hurts, receiver A.J. Brown and running back Saquon Barkley met for two hours Monday to address what needs to change for the offense to start clicking. Neither Brown nor Barkley — two of the most dynamic players in the league — has seen much involvement so far this season.
“Love the fact that we all get together and are looking for solutions to continue to get better,” coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday. “That’s this team. That’s the mindset of this team. … You love that.
“And I say to our coaches, anything we’re preaching, we better be living ourselves. And you have the same thing with the captains of your team and the leaders of your football team. … This isn’t all that different than last year, going through these things as well. You buckle down, you find solutions, you find answers to the problems. And you work yourself to get better from that.”
Reaching out to Saban
Hurts said he reached out to his former coach at Alabama, Nick Saban, after the Eagles’ lost to the Broncos. It was the Birds’ first loss of the season and first at home since September of last year against Atlanta.
“We had a conversation, caught up a little bit,” Hurts said. “It’s always good to get good direction from him and hear his voice and his perspective.”
Hurts also shared his thoughts about Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart: “I got a lot of respect for his game. I know he played for Coach (Lane) Kiffin. He’s a hell of a player, and he’s honestly in a great situation to learn a lot. I’m rooting for his success.”
Kiffin was Dart’s head coach at Ole Miss. Kiffin was also Jalen Hurts’ offensive coordinator during his freshman season at Alabama in 2016.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll replaced Kiffin as Hurts’ OC at ‘Bama in 2017.
Saquon Barkley documentary
Premiering Thursday on Amazon Prime is a documentary about Saquon Barkley entitled “Saquon.” It was produced by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, a New York City native. The timing of its release is no coincidence with Barkley returning to MetLife Stadium again to face his former team in primetime on Prime.
The doc reveals that the running back requested a trade from the Giants in 2023 because he was frustrated over contract negotiations and not feeling appreciated by the organization. Team owner John Mara denied his request.
Barkley left the Giants as a free agent in 2024 and signed with the Eagles, whereupon he embarked on a historic season in which he broke the rare 2,000-yard rushing milestone and helped lead the Birds to a Super Bowl championship.
Injury report
Eagles: LG Landon Dickerson (ankle) and TE Grant Calcaterra (oblique) are out. DT Jalen Carter (heel) and LB Nakobe Dean (knee) are questionable.
Giants: LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (hamstring), LB Swayze Bozeman (ankle) and WR Darius Slayton (hamstring) were ruled out.
Key Giants players and trends
DT Dexter Lawrence, LT Andrew Thomas, EDGE Brian Burns, EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, LB Bobby Okereke, WR Wan’Dale Robinson, rookie QB Dart, rookie RB Cam Skattebo, S Jevon Holland, backup QB Russell Wilson.
Elite WR Malik Nabers (ACL) is out for the season. RT Jermaine Eluemunor (back) could be a gametime decision.
Robinson has helped pick up the slack in Nabers’ absence. Perhaps third-year WR Jalin Hyatt, who won the Biletnikoff Award with the Tennessee Vols as the best college receiver in the country in 2022, will begin to emerge if Dart can get him the ball. But Hyatt has been virtually invisible since New York drafted him in the third round in 2023.
Dart, who has shown the ability to run but not necessarily to pass, has been leaning on second-year TE Theo Johnson as a safety net.
The Giants have a formidable defensive front and regularly generate pressure, but they rank 25th against the run (140 yards per game). Perhaps Barkley can break out against his former team. Last October when he returned to MetLife, he rushed for 176 yards in a 28-3 Eagles romp.
The Giants have been mostly terrible this year and are hoping Dart leads them into a brighter future.
Pregame position grades
Here’s how the teams match up heading into Thursday night, based on health and how they’ve been playing recently. Performances will be evaluated postgame.
QB: Eagles B+, Giants C-
RB: Eagles B, Giants C-
TE: Eagles A-, Giants C+
WR: Eagles A-, Giants C
OL: Eagles B, Giants C
DL: Eagles B+, Giants B+
LB: Eagles A-, Giants C+
CB: Eagles A-, Giants C
S: Eagles A-, Giants C
ST: Eagles A, Giants C
On the air
Eagles (4-1) at Giants (1-4), Thursday, 8:15 p.m., MetLife Stadium.
TV: Prime Video: Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung.
Radio/streaming: 94.1-FM WIP: Merrill Reese, Mike Quick and Devan Kaney. Tico: Rickie Ricardo, Oscar Budejen and David Gerhardt. Westwood One: Jason Benetti and Devin McCourty.
Rivalry
NFC East: Eagles in first place, Giants in fourth place.
Series record: Eagles 96-89-2. Regular season: Eagles 93-87-2. Postseason: Eagles 3-2.
Last meeting: Jan. 5, 2025. Eagles won 20-13.
Win streak: Eagles have won last two meetings, burying New York 48-16. The second game was in Week 18 with Birds backup QB Tanner McKee getting his first NFL start.
They won 12 in a row from 1975-1981. The Giants won nine straight from 1938-1942 and 1997-2001.
Betting odds
Spread: Eagles by 7.
Over/under: 41.5.
Money line: Eagles -375, Giants +295.
NOTES: The Eagles are tied with Kansas City for the highest road winning percentage (.722, 26-10) since 2021, when Sirianni arrived here. … Sirianni is 7-2 vs. the Giants, which is tied for his most wins against any opponent (Washington). … The Birds are 15-3 in their last 18 meetings with the Giants. … The Eagles lead the league in red zone offense (92.3%), scoring TDs on 12 of 13 red zone drives. The Giants’ defense has struggled in the red zone.
—
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.