During Thursday’s practice at the Linc, Jalen Hurts and his newest receiver Jahan Dotson were seen talking some things over at the beginning of the mock scrimmage.
It didn’t end there.
“I stayed after practice with him and got a bunch of reps at the stadium,” Dotson said on Sunday. “Just getting extra reps because you’re not going to hit everything in practice so the different things that you know are going to come up at some point, just hitting them after practice and getting those 1-on-1 reps and talking through things.”
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That extra time between Hurts and Dotson is important.
Hurts really tries to make sure he builds a rapport with each of his receivers — it’s why they spend so much time together in the offseason — but Dotson was traded to the Eagles on Aug. 22, which gave him just 15 days before the season opener on Sept. 6 in Brazil. Time for a crash course.
In addition to learning a new playbook (he’s spending a ton of time with receivers coach Aaron Moorehead for that), Dotson also wants to learn how to play with Hurts. The QB and the receivers need to be on the same page.
“We’ve really just been taking it day by day. Taking it day by day,” Hurts said. “Really excited for him. He’s come in, kind of quiet, yet I can see the dedication. I can see the refreshment in him and his excitement to be here. We do our things, we have our conversations and we’re just going to continue to build.”
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While the Eagles have a new offense in 2024 under offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, the level of comfort Hurts feels with his top weapons has translated. In the summer, Hurts explained that the continuity player-to-player made it so some things carried over.
Hurts has a ton of reps under his belt with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. They have all played together for two full seasons.
He has now had just a few practices with Dotson. They’ll get two more practices this week in Philly and a walkthrough in São Paulo before they play their first game together on Friday night.
Dotson, who had to play with several quarterbacks during his two years with the Commanders, said the biggest thing is communication.
“Just talking to him as much as possible,” Dotson said. “Seeing the things that he’s comfortable with me doing. And just communicating. I feel like communicating is the biggest thing, on and off the field, in the meeting rooms. When he sees different things, communicating that to me. I’m asking him where I should be, timing-wise and different things like that.”
Then the key is to take what they talk about and implement it on the football field to the point where Hurts will feel comfortable trusting Dotson in a game. The bulk of the passes are still going to go to Brown, Smith and Goedert, but having a WR3 the Eagles and Hurts can trust is huge. Heck, it’s why GM Howie Roseman pulled the trigger on the trade.
And it’s why Hurts and Dotson stayed on the field at the Linc on Thursday, long after the busses took most of their teammates back across the street.
Don’t worry. One bus waited.
“They stayed for us,” Dotson said with a smile.
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