October 10, 2026
Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images
The Eagles look bad so far but owner Jeffrey Lurie's expectations haven't changed.
The Eagles don't look like a very good football team. Their offensive is at or near the bottom in several categories. The defense hasn't performed to expectations.
Injuries, the surprising Cam Jurgens trade this week, and Lane Johnson's sudden retirement have reduced the Eagles to backups – even third- and fourth-stringers – all over the offensive line as they prepare to face a very good Jacksonville Jaguars team Sunday in London, with some wondering if another loss and 2-3 record would signal the start of an eventual fire sale.
But apparently, expectations inside the building haven't changed one iota, a message that came directly from the top.
We start this "5 Eagles Thoughts" with a note on how chairman Jeffrey Lurie sees the current situation:
Lurie appeared on CNN on Friday to discuss some topics, including the death of Bears legend Mike Ditka and NFL international play.
Lurie was asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper – a known Eagles and Philly sports fan – about his expectations for the team, which has lost two straight games.
"We are gung-ho to win big and win our division first and go from there," he said (h/t Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports). We couldn’t be more excited. ... Our expectations are very high."
CNN only posted the portion of the interview about Ditka.
With Jihaad Campbell expected to play and Zack Baun back from a concussion, the Eagles will have their starting linebacker tandem against the Jags.
What's that mean for Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who had 15 tackles and a PBU last Sunday against the Rams while Baun was sidelined by a concussion?
Trotter either goes back to his bench/special teams role, or defensive coordinator Vic Fangio could opt for a rotation that gets Trotter on the field for run down and Campbell for passing downs.
Fangio said Trotter "played very well" against the Rams, and when asked if the third-year pro could see more time on defense, Fangio answered, "Possibly, yeah."
You can tell Fangio is definitely considering it.
With all the injuries on the OL, the Eagles will either start practice squad callup Jake Majors – an undrafted center – at left guard and Willie Lampkin (also an undrafted second-year player with no NFL snaps) at center, or vice versa and Majors will play center and Lampkin will start at left guard.
Either way, both Majors and Lampkin are centers by trade because they have very short arms – and in Lampkin's case, short size as well at 5-foot-11.
The Jags happen to have one of the NFL's lengthiest defensive tackles in Arik Armstead, a 6-foot-7 behemoth who is in his 12th season.
Armstead has 33-inch arms while Lampkin's are 31 1/2 and Majors' are also barely more than 30 inches. Armstead also has eight inches of size advantage over Lampkin and more than three inches over Majors.
Are the Eagles giving way their attack plan by formation? Under new OC Sean Mannion, they've been one of the most predictable teams based on offensive look.
When the Eagles go under center, which they're doing more under Mannion than they've ever done in the Nick Sirianni era, they run 77 percent of the time and play action at just 24 percent. When the Eagles are in shotgun, they pass about at about 68 percent and run at about 31 percent.
It's probably a good idea for Mannion to try to work backward a little, passing more from under center and running more from shotgun. Right now, defenses can tell exactly what they're doing just by their personnel groupings and formation.
The Eagles have just 4.0 sacks this year. On the flip side, Jalen Hurts has been sacked 12 times. It would seem that generating pressure is an issue for the Eagles ... except that it isn't?
The Birds have a 38-percent pressure rate, which is right at league average and right about where the Jaguars are, but the Jags have 10 sacks. The issue for the Eagles isn't pressure generation, it's converting pressure to sacks.
The Eagle have a 3-percent sack rate, well below the league average of about 6 percent. The Giants are the only NFL team with fewer sacks than the Eagles.
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