It’s not like Hurts hasn’t had a hand in shaping the offensive vision. While many of the players took a break for the bye week, Hurts and Sirianni had myriad conversations about the direction of the football team.

Hurts said it was “one of the most efficient bye weeks” he has had since coming into the league as a second-round pick in 2020, and noted how he and Sirianni “were able to come together in harmony and have the same goal in mind, trying to get this thing right” — an indication of how far they had come following a rocky 2023 season.

Hurts has pushed for the offense to be more multiple. One of ways that has manifested is in under-center usage. The Eagles had 17 carries for 19 rush yards from under center in their first four games, the fewest in the NFL. They have 61 carries for 295 rush yards over their past five games — an increase in usage from 11% to 26%, via ESPN Research. Their 4.8 yards per rush from under center is the fourth best in the NFL over that time.

Play-action effectiveness has ticked up along with the commitment to the run. Hurts is averaging 15.8 yards per attempt on play-action since Week 6, the best in the NFL over that span.

“I spent a lot of time with Jalen, obviously, during that bye week and just talking through things. Jalen had so much good insight, and then you always listen to your players as far as they are the ones out there seeing it and feeling it,” Sirianni said when asked about his meeting with the linemen.

“And so I think it’s just good feedback. That’s just good organizational football, is to be communicating with everyone to get everyone on the same page. Yeah, I thought it was great. Great, productive meetings.”

The session with Johnson, Mailata and Dickerson was about 20-30 minutes. The speaking time was pretty evenly split among the three of them, Mailata said, with Sirianni doing most of the listening while also sharing his own thoughts.

“He really acknowledged us,” Mailata said. “We felt heard.”

Added Johnson: “He’s very responsive and he’s very back and forth. He’s not going to dismiss you. … That’s why I think Nick is so great. He listens and we make changes and we adapt.”

Johnson’s role as leader has grown since center Jason Kelce retired this offseason. The five-time Pro Bowler has been candid about issues on offense as they’ve come up, and as a 12-year vet, he has the experience and clout to offer solutions. That’s being applied behind the scenes, as well.

“If I get tired of seeing something or something needs to change, I’ll voice my opinion,” he said. “That’s what I like about playing here: Nothing’s ever gone in one ear and out the other or kind of seen as a nuisance.”

To illustrate their point to Sirianni, the linemen pointed back to 2021, Sirianni’s first year on the job. The Eagles had stumbled out to a 2-5 start, but their fortunes changed when they leaned into the ground game more, starting against the Detroit Lions during a 44-6 rout in Week 9. They went on to win seven of 10 to make the playoffs.

“Any time you can limit just dropback passing, that’s so beneficial for a team. That’s another play of less stress,” said Mailata. “When you’re running the ball and you run play-actions, it confuses the defense, and now you’re putting the stress and the onus on them. It was just kind of, we’re tired of being stressed. But in a nicer [way]. We went up there and were like, ‘Come on, help us out here.’

“We stated some examples of games when we’ve used [the ground-heavy approach] and Coach was like, ‘Yeah, OK. Go back to our roots.'”

Westhoff is a cancer survivor, having been treated, including multiple surgeries, for cancer in his femur.

A longtime special teams coach, he had been on Payton’s New Orleans Saints staff in 2017 and 2018. He had not coached after the 2018 season until he was hired by Payton last year, shortly after the Broncos had hired Payton.

Westhoff worked daily with Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica and assistant special teams coach Chris Banjo, who was a Saints special teams standout when Westhoff was on the New Orleans staff. Westhoff and Kotwica worked together on the New York Jets’ staff from 2009 to 2012 under coach Rex Ryan.

Westhoff is one of the most experienced special teams coaches in the league since he joined the Indianapolis Colts staff in 1982. He spent 15 years as the Miami Dolphins’ special teams coach and 12 seasons as the Jets’ special teams coach.

1 Related

The Bears have not changed offensive coordinators in the middle of the season since Perry Moss became Chicago’s first designated OC in 1970.

Waldron had come under heavy scrutiny in Chicago due to the offense’s overall performance and the recent struggles of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

The Bears (4-5) have lost three straight games, scoring a total of just 27 points over that stretch, and are averaging just 277.6 yards per game this season, the third lowest in the NFL.

Waldron, 45, was hired by the Bears on Jan. 23 after spending the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. He replaced Luke Getsy, who was fired after two seasons in Chicago but then became the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders, only to be fired earlier this month.

Eberflus said during the hiring process last winter that the Bears were looking for a “great teacher” at the offensive coordinator post, likely anticipating using the first overall draft pick on a quarterback.

Despite overhauling the majority of their offensive coaching staff and dedicating high draft capital and free agent resources to upgrading the talent on offense, including using the No. 1 pick on Williams, Chicago has underperformed through 10 weeks of the season.

The Bears rank near the bottom of the NFL in points scored (24th), yards per carry (28th), yards per pass (30th), total yards (30th), third downs (31st) and yards per play (31st).

In Sunday’s home loss to the New England Patriots, Williams completed 16 of his 30 pass attempts for 120 yards, his lowest passing output since throwing for 93 yards in his NFL debut against the Tennessee Titans. Collectively, Chicago’s offense was 1-of-14 on third down (7%), its worst mark since 2012.

Williams was also sacked nine times by the Patriots, which brings his total from the past three games to 18. During Chicago’s recent losing streak, Williams has logged his three highest-pressure-percentage games of his career.

Brown is one season removed from serving as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, which coincided with 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young’s rookie season. Brown spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams coaching running backs and tight ends and was also the team’s assistant head coach from 2021 to 2022.

Brown also has playcalling experience at the collegiate level as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach for Miami from 2016 to 2018.

“Thomas is a bright offensive mind who has experience calling plays with a collaborative mindset. I look forward to his leadership over our offensive coaching staff and his plan for our players,” Eberflus said.