Jalen Hurts didn’t need a long answer to explain what went wrong for the Eagles on Sunday.
After Philadelphia’s 24-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field, the quarterback cut straight to the point with two words: “Poor execution,” Hurts said.
He kept circling back to that same theme as his postgame press conference went on, repeating it two more times while trying to make sense of a collapse that saw the Eagles lose a 10-point halftime lead and get shut out in the second half. Hurts threw two touchdown passes, but the passing game never found real rhythm, and he finished with just 93 yards through the air.
The most glaring number from the day was Philadelphia’s work on third down. The Eagles went 0 for 12 in those situations, and Hurts made it clear that was a major reason the offense stalled.
“Comes down to you know very little things executing at a high level,” Hurts said. So I think in the end it comes back to alignment, connectedness to what we’re doing, and you know, everybody executing.
“I think in the end, it comes down to executing. Third down was not nearly.
I mean, was not good enough. Not good enough at all.
Situationally, we were not good enough. So, us as a team, we’ve been really good when we’ve been able to be dominant in situational football, and we just got to be better.”
The Eagles were already dealing with injuries before kickoff. DeVonta Smith was out, and Lane Johnson was a late scratch.
Then the day took another hit when Saquon Barkley left the game with an injury, adding yet another problem for an offense that is already trying to find its footing.
Hurts pointed to Johnson’s absence and the way the team handled the next-man-up challenge.
“Very unfortunate for his unavailability today,” Hurts said of Johnson not being available. “In the end [it] was just the next man up mentality.
Kept the focus on the team. Kept the focus on us trying to go out there.
Did our best man. We had an opportunity to do that.
A lot of respect for everyone that stepped in unexpectedly, and even throughout the week, you know, different roles, new opportunities, taking advantage of those. In the end, this is one that you can learn from, obviously.”
The Eagles are back in action next Sunday morning against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Kickoff is set for 8:30 a.m. on NFL Network.
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