A lot of concern for the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the 2024 season revolved around what their offense would look like without Jason Kelce.
But as it turns out, they're going to be just fine.
Fans caught a glimpse of life after Kelce last week, and while it wasn't very pretty and their "new" tush push needs some work, the Eagles still left Brazil with a 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Without Kelce holding it down, the Eagles offensive line ended the week ranked second in pass blocking with a Pro Football Focus grade of 87.6 and fourth in run blocking with a 75.5 PFF grade.
Not only was last Friday's matchup Cam Jurgens' first NFL start at center, but it was also Mekhi Becton's first start at right guard.
There were some snapping issues with Jurgens but overall, it was a solid outing from the third-year offensive lineman and the rest of the offensive line that helped the Eagles pile up 410 total yards.
Head coach Nick Sirianni was very pleased with both players.
Sirianni said Becton did a good job in the passing game.
"I thought they did a nice job," Sirianni said. "Mehki is so big, and what you saw there with Mehki on Friday night was he was controlling the guy — he was going against good players, right? That’s a good front.
He was controlling them at the line of scrimmage and there wasn’t a lot of pushback into Jalen [Hurts’] face because he is so big and so long that he was able to control there. So, I thought he did a really nice job, particularly in the pass game, of keeping the pocket firm inside."
Meanwhile, Jurgens' shining moments came opening up lanes for the run game.
"Cam had some really nice plays," Sirianni said "You know, Cam, there were a couple plays where Cam’s getting that initial hit, whether he’s working with Landon [Dickerson] or working with Mekhi, and then getting off to that second level. The one play that really comes to mind is Saquon’s touchdown run where it looks like him and Mehki are working a combination block and Cam gets that block in with him, that made-block as we call it, in with him to get him up into the second level."
Sirianni made note that Jurgens, who played center at Nebraska, looked like a natural.
"But as far as those two guys playing their first game at those positions – now, Cam played that position his entire life," Sirianni said. "It’d be fair to say that Cam was, not out of position, but playing a new position last year. So, center for Cam is very natural.
"But I thought Mehki did a really nice job his first game starting at guard."
