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  • Sean Mannion needs to be a Jalen Hurts whisperer. Play-calling is only part of that.

    Sean Mannion needs to be a Jalen Hurts whisperer. Play-calling is only part of that.

    It almost surely did not escape Jeffrey Lurie’s notice that his offense turned out OK the last time he hired a Packers quarterbacks coach.

    It shouldn’t escape ours, either.

    Sean Mannion may not be the next Andy Reid. The Eagles didn’t hire the 33-year-old Green Bay assistant with the thought that he would become Reid. But Reid was Mannion at one point in time: an under-the-radar position coach without play-calling experience who was hired for a big boy job well ahead of schedule. This was back when Mannion was six years old, of course.

    Has it really been 27 years?

    Eagles hire Packers QB coach Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator

    It has. Mannion and Reid don’t have much of a connection apart from having both sat at the same desk (figuratively … although, knowing Lambeau Field, maybe literally, too). Matt LaFleur is not Mike Holmgren. Sean McVay is not Bill Walsh. The lineage of Packers quarterbacks coaches who became offensive coordinators includes one Ben McAdoo. Having occupied the position is a trait neither prescriptive nor predictive. It is descriptive in one sense, though. A lack of play-calling experience should not be a deal-breaker for a team that is looking to overhaul its offensive identity.

    In fact, play-calling isn’t the thing that will determine Mannion’s success or failure as Eagles offensive coordinator. It is the thing that we will focus on, no doubt. For a variety of reasons. First, because play-calling is the only part of the job that we actually get to see. Second, because guys like Walsh and Reid and McVay (and Mike Martz, Kyle Shanahan, etc.) have led us all to believe that football games are won the same way Jimmy Woods won video games in The Wizard. Which is silly, when you stop and examine the time card. Even at 70 plays per game and a full 40 seconds between plays, an offensive coordinator spends less than an hour of his work week calling the plays. The bulk of the job is the 79 hours that precede it.

    Can Sean Mannion have the same strong working relationship with Jalen Hurts that Kellen Moore (right) experienced?

    The Eagles need Mannion to be a good coach. Jalen Hurts needs Mannion to be a good coach. Those two things are one and the same. Because Jalen Hurts is the Eagles. Where they go from here as an offense depends almost entirely on who he is as a quarterback. Rather, it depends on who Hurts can be. Who he is? That isn’t good enough. All of us saw that this season. Not all of us understood what we saw. But we saw it. Plain as unflavored yogurt.

    That’s not to say the Eagles’ disappointing 2025 campaign was all on Hurts’ shoulders. Seven months isn’t nearly long enough to transform from a player capable of winning a Super Bowl MVP to a player who simply isn’t good enough. His advocates are correct in that. Hurts would have been equally capable of winning the honor this season as he was in 2024, assuming the rest of the offense was also as capable as it had been. Therein lies the disconnect. You’ll make a you-know-what out of yourself if you’re assuming Hurts’ supporting cast will ever be as good again.

    It’s funny. Nick Sirianni’s detractors constantly portray him as the unwitting beneficiary of a world-class roster. He is the dim-witted only son bequeathed an empire, a head coach who happened to stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. He showed up in board shorts at his interview and then rode the wave of Howie Roseman’s roster. But a roster that good doesn’t stay it for long.

    What the stats say about new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion

    Rarely is the same rubric applied to the quarterback. No, A.J. Brown wasn’t the same singularly dominant receiver he has been, which compounded his general malaise. No, the offensive line didn’t manhandle opponents the way it had in previous seasons. Yes, Saquon Barkley was a little less dynamic than he was when he was jumping backward over erect defenders. Each of those claims is perfectly valid. As is the rebuttal: welcome to life as most NFL quarterbacks live it.

    Hurts can’t be the same as he was. He needs to be better. That’s going to take some very good coaching, provided he is no longer willing and/or capable of being the freewheeling scrambler he was in 2022. Being that player afforded Hurts the luxury of not needing to do the things that most other championship quarterbacks must do. He didn’t need to parallel process his pocket navigation, feeling pressure subconsciously while focusing downfield. He didn’t need to recognize that the deep crosser would clear before settling for the hitch in his foreground. He didn’t need to wait for a defense to man-up Brown on a vertical route to generate an explosive play.

    It’s probably time to acknowledge that Jalen Hurts’ supporting cast isn’t going to suddenly revert to its 2024 form.

    Hurts needs to do those things now. That’s the problem. Those things aren’t sustainable. Lane Johnson isn’t going to play forever. Even if he does, he won’t always be the same player. And the four guys alongside him won’t all remain healthy as consistently as he has.

    Same goes for the pass-catchers. Here’s a quick a thought exercise. In the four years since the Eagles traded a first-round pick for Brown on draft day, has any other team managed to swing a move at the position that was even 75% as impactful? The Chiefs have spent five off-seasons trying to replace Tyreek Hill. The Patriots haven’t had a receiver of that caliber since Randy Moss. A great quarterback makes the most of what he has.

    Just to reiterate: Hurts doesn’t need to be Tom Brady. He needs to be better than he was in 2025 in order to win with the supporting cast most quarterbacks have, which is the supporting cast he is likely to have moving forward. Mannion will play a significant role. His profile is intriguing.

    Five things to know about new Eagles OC Sean Mannion, from his playing career to his Andy Reid connection

    Nobody can understand a quarterback like somebody who has played the position. Kellen Moore was a quarterback. His quarterbacks coach was a quarterback (former NFL backup Doug Nussmeier). Shane Steichen was a quarterback. None of them were as good as Hurts. But they understood what quarterbacks see, how they process, what they need. Sirianni and Kevin Patullo were wide receivers. So were McVay and Shanahan. Again, neither prescriptive nor predictive. But we are talking about Mannion.

    Mannion is a quarterback, and he has played the position in lots of different settings, under lots of different coaches, including McVay and Kevin O’Connell, as well as Klint Kubiak and Kevin Stefanski. He has coached under LaFleur, who has won a lot of games with a quarterback (Jordan Love) who lacks a lot of what Hurts brings to the table. Mannion’s coaching profile is about as ideal as you can draw up for a guy who has only been a coach for two seasons.

    Sean Mannion understands quarterbacks because he was one… very recently, in fact.

    It is also a vote of confidence in Sirianni. The Eagles could easily have opted for a coach who possessed the play-calling experience that Patullo lacked. Jim Bob Cooter, Matt Nagy, Bobby Slowik — any would have made a fine interim-head-coach-in-waiting. Instead, they went with a coach who lacks anything close to the political capital that Moore brought to the table when they hired him to replace Brian Johnson after 2023.

    Will it work? Who knows. It is the only honest answer. All we can say: it is a sensible move. In the end, it all depends on the quarterback.

  • Philly’s school board heard pleas to halt school closings and reconsider Watlington’s facilities plan

    Philly’s school board heard pleas to halt school closings and reconsider Watlington’s facilities plan

    Meeting for the first time since Superintendent Tony B. Watlington presented his sweeping facilities plan, Philadelphia’s school board heard an outpouring of angst Thursday night from community members upset over 20 proposed school closures.

    “Closing schools ruins families and neighborhoods, especially Black, brown, immigrant and working-class communities,” said Caren Bennicoff, a veteran teacher at Ludlow Elementary in North Philadelphia, one of the schools targeted for closure. “A facilities dashboard can’t measure what a school means to children.”

    Watlington said the plan represented a “once in a lifetime, significant opportunity” for the city to modernize schools.

    Prior to the meeting, more than 50 people gathered in the bitter cold outside Philadelphia School District headquarters, waving signs and shouting into bullhorns to show their displeasure with Watlington’s proposal.

    Emily Brouder, 23, of West Philadelphia, Penn student and intern at Lankenau High School, holds a sign that says “Closing Schools Is Trash.”

    Some of the demonstrators warned that removing children from their neighborhood schools would be traumatizing to already vulnerable kids.

    Philly’s building plan would close this high-performing magnet. Lankenau is fighting back.

    “These schools are another home for these families,” said Margarita Davis-Boyer, president of the Lankenau High School Home & School Association. She said schools are a place where kids can get a meal, see a friendly face, and feel safe, especially when home may not offer the same reprieve.

    “It’s just an injustice,” she said. Lankenau, the city’s environmental magnet school, would close under the plan, becoming an honors program inside Roxborough High School.

    A strong Lankenau contingent packed both the rally and the board meeting, which happened immediately afterward.

    LeeShaun Lucas, a Lankenau senior, is upset the school might close.

    “To me, closing Lankenau doesn’t make sense,” Lucas said.

    Lankenau’s campus is unique in the city — set against a wildlife preserve and a farm, a stream, and a forest.

    Lucas has studied how to make the Schuylkill healthier by studying mussels, he said. He’s taking a dual enrollment GIS class — the only such high school in the city to offer such an opportunity, school officials believe.

    That exposure has shaped Lucas, he said.

    “I truly believe that voting to close Lankenau Environmental would be a mistake,” Lucas said. “Please vote to save Lank so that others may benefit from the type of learning that is only possible at Lankenau Environmental.”

    Superintendent Tony B. Watlington (center), Board President Reginald L. Streater, and Board member Sarah-Ashley Andrews at the School board meeting Jan. 29.

    Disparate impact

    Ryan Pfleger, an education researcher, said if underutilization and facility condition truly shaped Watlington’s recommendation, the burden of closure would fall roughly evenly across racial groups.

    But that’s not the case with Watlington’s plan.

    “Black students are overrepresented, roughly 1.6 times more likely to be enrolled in schools slated for closure,” Pfleger said. “Fifteen of 20 schools proposed for closure are majority Black. White students are underrepresented, about four times less exposed than expected. The schools slated for closure are also disproportionately low income.”

    Pfleger’s conclusions match an Inquirer analysis of the closure data.

    The plan, Pfleger concluded, “does not rectify educational injustice.”

    Conwell shows up

    A strong contingent of Conwell supporters also told the board they were unhappy with the plan to close their school, a magnet middle school in Kensington.

    Conwell has just over 100 students in a building that can hold 500. But Erica Green, the school’s principal, said it’s worth saving.

    “Conwell for many years has been the cornerstone in the Kensington community, a place where students flourish, where leaders are born; alumni included leaders in government, education, law, media, public safety, and professional sports: Living proof that diamonds truly are in our backyard,” Green said. “Times have changed, but excellence at Conwell has remained the same.”

    Conwell is celebrating its 100th anniversary and has been the recipient of public and private donations to advance its building conditions and program offerings.

    “Do not let the almighty dollar drive a choice to remove a beautifully designated historic school and beautifully gifted young people,” an impassioned Green said. “The essence, prestige and impact of Conwell Magnet Middle School cannot be duplicated.”

    Priscilla Rodriguez, whose two sons attended Conwell, worries about the implications for families that rely on it for stability.

    “When a school closes, families don’t just adjust. They struggle,” Rodriguez said. Conwell families “are already dealing with a lot. You won’t make it any better by closing Conwell.”

    An incomplete plan?

    Katy Egan came to the board with a long list of questions, none of which were addressed in Watlington’s plan: Which schools will be modernized? When? How? How will displaced students get to their new schools? What’s happening to students with special education plans forced to leave their schools? How do you plan to keep kids safe while merging schools?

    Egan, a member of Stand Up for Philly Schools, called the blueprint “a 25% plan.”

    But, she said, “we deserve more than 25%, and our students deserve everything.”

    Community members can weigh in on the plan in the coming weeks at meetings around the city, and Watlington is scheduled to formally present it to the board on Feb. 26.

    No vote will happen in February though, said board president Reginald Streater, who declined to weigh in on the merits of the plan until it’s handed over to the board.

    In other board news

    In other board matters, Watlington said he would soon ask to eliminate half days from the district’s calendar entirely.

    The news came as he detailed a slip in year-over-year student attendance: in December, 54% of students attended school 90% of the time, compared to 66% in December 2024. That’s the largest drop in Watlington’s superintendency, he said.

    He attributed the challenges to a two-hour delay for snow, light attendance prior to winter break — and light attendance during a half day called for professional development.

    Watlington said at next month’s board meeting, he’ll propose amending the 2026-27 schedule to remove half days entirely.

    “Half days in the calendar do not serve us well,” he said.

    The board also installed three new student board representatives.

    The non-voting members are: Brianni Carter, from the Philadelphia High School for Girls; Ramisha Karim, from Northeast High; and Semira Reyes, from the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.

  • Philly threatened shoveling fines. Then it left its own parks and properties snowy and icy.

    Philly threatened shoveling fines. Then it left its own parks and properties snowy and icy.

    Before 9.3 inches of snow and sleet blanketed Philadelphia, in the biggest snowfall the city has seen in a decade, officials were adamant: Shovel or face a fine.

    In a news conference last week, Director of Clean and Green Initiatives Carlton Williams said residents would have six hours to shovel after the last bit of snow fell. Failure to do so could result in a $300 fine.

    But four days after the last icy flake fell, residents across Philadelphia say the city has set a bad example on the shoveling front, noting various city-owned properties, many of them parks, remain inaccessible for people with strollers, wheelchairs, and those who have limited mobility, and a frigid obstacle for even the most nimble.

    “It feels emblematic of the city’s attitude towards its residents, where it’s like they have rules and laws for everybody, but if they can’t manage to do something, it’s like, ‘We don’t have the resources. People need to be patient. We’re trying,’” said Coryn Wolk of Cedar Park.

    The 36-year-old said she does have some sympathy for the city, as do many others, because it is responsible for so many sidewalks and buildings, and the icy weather isn’t helping cleanup efforts. But as she walked through Malcolm X Park Thursday, frustration set in as she trudged through a sidewalk of tightly packed, icy snow.

    The city did not respond to a request for comment regarding shoveling issues but its rules say paths on sidewalks must be three feet wide. Those on streets with sidewalks less than three feet wide can carve out paths that are one foot wide.

    A sidewalk of Malcom X Park in West Philadelphia on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.

    Still, Greys Ferry’s Lanier Park, Ridgeway Park in the Hawthorne section of the city, and Cobbs Creek Park also had sidewalks covered by a trampled layer of gray and yellow snow Thursday. In Center City, outside the former Philadelphia History Museum, another city-owned property, passersby had molded a narrow path that should have been shoveled.

    A sidewalk along Lanier Park in Grays Ferry on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.

    Residents say the problem extends to trolley and bus stops that line streets, describing large mounds of snow they need to climb like athletes to reach their modes of transportation.

    Chase Howell, 29, described a herculean snow trudge through Center City with the child she nannies Wednesday. In one instance, she tried to catch the Route 4 bus along Broad and Spruce Streets only to find there was “no way to access the bus lane” because of snow pileups. To her disappointment, the next bus shelter north “was halfheartedly shoveled a foot wide but incredibly slippery.”

    In the process of lifting and pushing the stroller, Howell hurt her back, but she said that’s secondary in her whole ordeal.

    The city owes residents who use wheelchairs more than this, she said. “City curbs should be shoveled three feet wide just as the requirement is for residences and businesses.”

    Those stops and bus shelters are not under SEPTA’s purview. The responsibility of cleanup falls to the city and others who own property next to the stops, according to the agency’s spokesperson Andrew Busch. SEPTA, however, is responsible for the bus stops at the major transit hubs and clearing platforms, entrances, lots, and other areas at train stations.

    Walking around West Philadelphia, Razan Idris has seen plenty of businesses and properties that have also neglected to clear their sidewalks. But she thinks the cleanup is part of a larger issue that can be applied to property owners who don’t pick up trash or who let their buildings rot.

    “I see it as kind of the same thing, like there is little to no accountability for whoever is owning a building or an area or a lot,” said the 30-year-old.

    But ultimately, the buck stops with the city, said Idris.

    The former Philadelphia History Museum, which is city-owned, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.

    By failing to care for public sidewalks surrounding parks and municipal properties, other residents feel the city is sending a message that the rules on shoveling aren’t being enforced.

    In South Philly, pedestrians trudged through crusty snow on the sidewalk along West Passyunk Avenue next to the former Melrose Diner. The sidewalk looked like it hadn’t been shoveled since the storm hit last week.

    The property is owned by M R Realty Limited Partnership, state records show. Business owner Michael Petrogiannis did not respond to a request for comment.

    A passerby, who only identified himself as Derek, complained about how some property owners leave their neighbors with the responsibility of making the sidewalks safe for use.

    “They don’t come out and shovel,” he said. “So I’m the one shoveling for them.”

    Staff writers Henry Savage and Max Marin contributed to this article.

  • What the stats say about new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion

    What the stats say about new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion

    After a search that lasted 16 days to find the replacement for Kevin Patullo, the Eagles on Thursday announced that 33-year-old Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion is their next offensive coordinator.

    Mannion played mostly as a reserve for nine NFL seasons and was a player in the NFL just two seasons ago. He has been a coach for the previous two, and now has risen from first-year offensive assistant to first-year quarterbacks coach to first-year offensive coordinator with the Eagles.

    Get the theme here? We’re talking numbers. And while Mannion hasn’t been a coach long enough to have too many data points to parse to infer much about what his hire means, there are at least some meaningful stats and numbers that could be meaningful.

    Let’s have a look.

    66.3%

    That was Jordan Love’s completion percentage in 2025, Mannion’s first as quarterbacks coach. That was Love’s best mark in his three full seasons as a starter in the NFL. The 66.3% completion rate wasn’t the only high Love set in 2025. He also had his best season as a starter by passer rating (101.2, which ranked sixth among all NFL starters), and threw his lowest total of interceptions (six, down from 11 in each of his first two seasons as a starter).

    Jordan Love had a strong 2025 despite a substandard performance against the Eagles.

    All while the Packers dealt with a constant list of key injuries on offense.

    What’s more, backup Malik Willis had an 85.7% completion rate in 35 attempts in relief of Love.

    Five things to know about new Eagles OC Sean Mannion, from his playing career to his Andy Reid connection

    +95.6

    The NFL MVP race is between Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford, but Love was third in the NFL in pass EPA (expected points added) at +95.6, according to Next Gen Stats. EPA measures the average points added by the offense on each play.

    Love had the same EPA per drop back as Stafford (+0.20).

    Could more play action be in the cards for Jalen Hurts during the Sean Mannion era?

    28.3%

    Mannion has had a lot of influence in his years as a player and coach from some well-regarded offensive minds. How might he shape the way the Eagles’ offense looks moving forward?

    Love’s numbers could offer some clues.

    His play-action rate of 28.3%, for example, was fifth-highest in the league. Jalen Hurts ranked 23rd at 23.8%, according to Next Gen.

    13%

    Hurts threw more deep balls per attempt than any other quarterback, despite what you may think about the Eagles and their conservative nature. According to Next Gen, which counts a deep pass as a ball that travels 20 air yards, Hurts threw a deep ball on 13.2% of his throws.

    Right behind him was Love, who went long on 13% of his passes.

    Throwing them is one thing, completing them is another. Hurts rated 14th in deep ball completion rate (38.3%) while Love completed only slightly more (40.4%, 10th).

    Look for Sean Mannion’s scheme to borrow heavily from those of Sean McVay (left) and Kyle Shanahan.

    59%

    Only four teams ran less motion before the snap than the Eagles’ rate of 44%. Green Bay, meanwhile, used motion on 59% of its offensive plays, which was the eighth-highest rate in the NFL.

    Motion is a staple of the offenses run by Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, whose influences are all over Mannion’s past. McVay’s Rams were fourth in motion rate while Shanahan’s 49ers were third.

    Of course, the best coaches find a way to use their players to fit their players’ strengths, but Mannion is likely to incorporate a lot of the things he’s learned along the way.

    13,600

    Here’s a bonus set of numbers that have nothing to do with Mannion’s coaching career but are worth mentioning anyway.

    This first one is worth it because Mannion is a quarterback guy whose new job is largely about maximizing Hurts’ skill set.

    Mannion may have thrown only 36 passes at the NFL level, but he was a prolific college quarterback at Oregon State, where he threw for 13,600 yards, a number that ranks 19th in FBS history.

    1

    Mannion had one career NFL touchdown pass, and it came in his final game, which was his third career start.

    On Jan. 2, 2022, Mannion filled in for Kirk Cousins (COVID-19) in a Week 17 game vs., ironically, the Packers. In a 37-10 loss, Mannion completed 22 of 36 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. He rushed twice for 14 yards and was sacked twice.

    K.J. Osborn caught Mannion’s touchdown pass, a 14-yard connection on the final play of the third quarter.

    How’s that for a useless trivia answer?

    31

    Here’s another one. Mannion might be young, but the Eagles once hired a younger offensive coordinator.

    In February 1995, the Eagles hired a 31-year-old to be their offensive coordinator. His name was Jon Gruden.

  • Man pistol-whipped in head during snow-related argument over parking space in Kensington

    Man pistol-whipped in head during snow-related argument over parking space in Kensington

    A 45-year-old man was pistol-whipped during a snow-related altercation over a parking space Thursday afternoon in the city’s Kensington section, police said.

    Around 1:20 p.m., police responded to a report of a shooting on the 2700 block of A Street and found the man bleeding from a head injury, police said. The man identified two alleged perpetrators and was transported to Temple University Hospital.

    The alleged victim and a 21-year-old man had been involved in a snow-related argument over a parking space that escalated into a physical altercation, police said.

    During the fight, the older man produced a knife and the 21-year-old pulled out a legally owned handgun, police said. However, both men put their weapons down and continued fighting.

    A 36-year-old woman then retrieved a firearm from a vehicle, hit the victim on the head with it, and fired it into the ground, police said.

    The two alleged assailants were arrested and all the weapons were recovered by police.

    The incident remains under investigation, police said.

  • Eagles’ Clint Hurtt discusses coaching the Senior Bowl and his interview for the Dolphins DC job

    Eagles’ Clint Hurtt discusses coaching the Senior Bowl and his interview for the Dolphins DC job

    MOBILE, Ala. — Standing in the north end zone of Hancock Whitney Stadium on the University of South Alabama’s campus, Clint Hurtt, the Eagles defensive line coach, had the sun shining on him while decked out in a black Eagles T-shirt and black pants. Hurtt was the head coach of the National team at the 2026 Senior Bowl, and was responsible for planning, delegating, and monitoring the two-hour practice session.

    For Hurtt, who has more than a decade of NFL coaching experience that included two seasons as the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator, the opportunity to run the show along with the hands-on experience leading a group of players are “things you can’t take for granted.”

    “If you have aspirations to be a head coach one day, it’s a different circumstance in terms of getting practice schedules together for the players, for the coaches, the installation, all those things that happen throughout the day,” Hurtt said Thursday. “There’s things that you know that happen when you’re following the lead of the respective head coach that you work for, but to do it yourself, it’s a great experience to be a part of. And obviously you’re not doing it alone. The [other] coaches are obviously a big part of that, and they help out with that stuff.”

    Eagles hire Packers QB coach Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator

    The focus is on helping build up and coach the next generation of NFL players this week, but Hurtt’s name has also circulated in coaching searches. He interviewed with the Miami Dolphins last weekend for their vacant defensive coordinator job under new head coach Jeff Hafley.

    Hurtt, 47, didn’t delve into much detail but confirmed the interview “went well and the feedback I got was that it went really well.”

    The preparation for his Senior Bowl assignment started well before Hurtt got boots on the ground in Mobile earlier this week. Hurtt, who played collegiately at Miami and began his coaching career shortly after, said his staff assembled from other NFL teams had meetings on Zoom to organize the daily practice and game day plans for the Senior Bowl. He leaned on Eagles running backs coach Jemal Singleton, the offensive coordinator for the National team this week, to help orchestrate the offensive plan.

    From planning for two-minute drills to red-zone work throughout the week, Hurtt is shouldering more on-field scheduling responsibilities than he typically would with the Eagles.

    Before coming to the Eagles, Clint Hurtt spent seven seasons with the Seahawks, including two as defensive coordinator.

    “When you’re the head, you have to have answers for everybody, for all position groups,” Hurtt said. “[Having been] a coordinator, before being used to that, coaching linebackers and the secondary and things of that nature. So it’s been really good and enjoyable with these kids. And they’re all hungry for knowledge.”

    One player benefiting from Hurtt’s coaching is Western Michigan edge rusher Nadame Tucker, one of the standouts of the week for the National team. Tucker, who spent his first three seasons at Houston before having a breakout season in 2025 with 21 tackles for losses and 14½ sacks for Western Michigan, said he “gravitated toward [Hurtt]” and appreciated his similar approach to football.

    “I feel like coaching D-line, to get guys to listen to you, that’s how you should be, man,” Tucker said after practice Tuesday. “So he’s my great idea of a D-line coach. He’s a stern guy, a guy that’s going to pull the best out of the players and want the best out of his players. … I just keep working with him and learning from him and learning from all the [coaches].”

    The Eagles might be a few steps from a Super Bowl return. Here’s how they can get them right.

    Hurtt is using this week to gain more exposure to coaching and the detailed nature of running practices, things he never experienced.

    “When you want to go into a job interview to try to escalate, improve your career and move up the ladder, there’s things that you have to learn along the way. But it’s hard to do that if you don’t get exposure,” Hurtt said. “I always constantly self critique, every evening, try to sit back and say, ‘OK, what went well today? What I’ll continue to do, what things can we improve on?’ Always looking for critical feedback. And because I like the criticism, I’m always self-talking on what are the things that we can do to get better, where can I be better, to be better for the players and be better for the staff.”

    Hurtt’s head coaching experience will come to an end on Saturday with the Senior Bowl game (2:30 p.m., NFL Network). But for now, he’s relishing this opportunity with the future NFL players who are soaking up knowledge from Hurtt and his coaching staff.

    “Being passionate, you want the kids to feel your energy and where you’re coming from, because then they understand how you want things to be,” Hurtt said. “The coaches [are] obviously doing that, too. It’s a great energy from our defensive coaching staff and offense as well. But I want every coach to be authentically themselves, too. Don’t try to replicate anybody else that’s around you. Got to be you, because that’s what the players are going to respond to the best.”

  • Five things to know about new Eagles OC Sean Mannion, from his playing career to his Andy Reid connection

    Five things to know about new Eagles OC Sean Mannion, from his playing career to his Andy Reid connection

    After weeks of searching, the Eagles have hired Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion as their new offensive coordinator.

    Here are five things to know about the man who will be calling plays for the Birds next year:

    He was a quarterback at Oregon State

    Mannion played for the Beavers from 2011 to 2014, and still holds 18 Oregon State records, including most passing yards, passing touchdowns, and most completions in school history. He held the record for career passing yards in the Pac-12 with 13,600, until Washington State quarterback Luke Falk passed him in 2017.

    After graduating, Mannion was drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft.

    Sean Mannion played against the Packers before he was a member of their staff.

    He’s played in the NFL

    Mannion spent nine seasons with three NFL organizations: the Rams, Vikings and Seahawks.

    He was a career backup, appearing in 14 NFL games, starting three of them, and throwing for 573 yards with one career touchdown pass (to K.J. Osborn) and three interceptions.

    He’s risen quickly through the ranks

    Following the 2023 season, Mannion retired from playing and secured an interview to join the Bears’ coaching staff. He reached out to Matt LaFleur, who had coached him while he was a player, to ask him for advice on his interview.

    “I jumped on a Zoom call with him in the second half and he showed me what he was going to present, and I told him, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good. I think you should come up to Green Bay right when you’re done with that interview,’” LaFleur told ESPN. “And I’m surprised that they let him out of the building. They tried to get him, but I guess we had more to offer. But we’re lucky to have him. I really do think this guy’s going to have a bright future for us and certainly in the coaching profession.”

    Mannion was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2025. Now, in 2026, he’ll be a first-time play-caller at age 33.

    Sean Mannion was part of a staff that made consecutive playoff appearances in Green Bay.

    His dad also coaches

    Mannion’s father, John Mannion, is a longtime high school football coach. He has coached at Mountainside High School in Beaverton, Ore., since 2017, and in 2023 he was honored by the American Football Coaches Association with the Power of Influence Award.

    John told ESPN that a 7-year-old Sean came along on a scouting trip to another school, and spent the entire game taking his own notes on a yellow notepad. When he was hired by the Packers, John, who’d kept the notepad ever since, gave it back to him as a gift.

    He’s following Andy Reid’s path

    The last time the Eagles hired the quarterbacks coach from Green Bay, that man was Andy Reid, who was head coach of the Eagles from 1999-2012. If it worked once…

  • ‘Violence will not be tolerated’: Woman who pepper-sprayed conservative influencer on SEPTA bus charged with assault

    ‘Violence will not be tolerated’: Woman who pepper-sprayed conservative influencer on SEPTA bus charged with assault

    A former WHYY intern who pepper-sprayed a conservative influencer on a SEPTA bus was charged with simple assault and other crimes by prosecutors in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Thursday, officials said.

    Video of the Jan. 19 incident between 22-year-old Paulina Reyes and 22-year-old Francis Scales quickly went viral on social media, garnering millions of views and spurring reactions from right-leaning influencers and Elon Musk.

    During the confrontation, Reyes — whose internship with WHYY had ended before the incident — accused Scales of being a “fascist” and a “racist” for posting content online she viewed as insulting to Muslims and people of color.

    Attorney General Dave Sunday, in announcing Thursday that his office’s mass transit prosecutor would oversee the case, said “violence will not be tolerated as a means to conduct political debate, protest, or exhibit differences.

    “This type of violence is senseless, as we have an individual facing criminal charges over political disagreement,” the attorney general said in a statement.

    In addition to simple assault, Reyes is charged with possessing an instrument of a crime, a misdemeanor. She also faces charges of harassment and disorderly conduct, which are summary offenses.

    Reyes was arraigned Thursday morning and released without having to to post bail.

    The mass transit prosecutor for Philadelphia, Michael Untermeyer, worked with SEPTA police to bring the charges, according to Sunday.

    The special prosecutor position, created in 2023 to pursue crimes committed on SEPTA, had been slow to take cases up until last year.

    It has drawn criticism from District Attorney Larry Krasner, who last year challenged the law that created the post, saying it was unconstitutional, unfairly singled out Philadelphia, and stripped his office of authority.

    A spokesperson for Krasner did not immediately return a request for comment on the special prosecutor’s decision.

    Footage of the South Philadelphia incident ricocheted across conservative media, and some influencers had accused Reyes of being an “Antifa agitator” and called for her arrest. Musk’s comments on X, suggesting Reyes had “violence issues,” generated hundreds of thousands of views alone.

    Reyes told The Inquirer in an earlier interview that she had been defending herself against Scales, who was filming her, and that resorting to pepper spray was “not something I wanted to do.”

    She said she has since received death and rape threats for her role in the confrontation. She did not return a request for comment Thursday.

    Reyes and Scales knew each other from attending the Community College of Philadelphia, where Reyes is still a student.

    Videos on Scales’ social media page, Surge Philly, show the commentator interviewing attendees at protests, asking them questions about charged topics such as immigration enforcement. He has also been a vocal critic of Krasner.

    Scales said Reyes’ pepper spray got in his face and eyes, and Sunday, the attorney general, said Reyes also punched the man. A friend who was with Scales filmed the incident. Scales, too, filmed Reyes, saying he did so for his own safety.

    Scales said in a statement that he was grateful for the attorney general’s decision to bring charges, and that he hoped that would deter others from similar actions.

    “No one has the right to physically attack another person because of different opinions,” Scales said.

  • Eagles hire Packers QB coach Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator

    Eagles hire Packers QB coach Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator

    The Eagles are hiring former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion as their new offensive coordinator, the team announced on Thursday night.

    Mannion, 33, played for nine NFL seasons as a quarterback, including three on practice squads, from 2015-23. He began his coaching career in 2024 as an offensive assistant with the Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur. Mannion quickly worked his way up the ranks, taking over as quarterbacks coach last season following the retirement of Tom Clements.

    Mannion, who replaces Kevin Patullo, joins the Eagles as the fifth offensive coordinator of the Nick Sirianni era. While Mannion does not have any play-calling experience in his brief coaching career, he will take on that responsibility with the Eagles.

    In a statement to the Eagles website, Sirianni said he was “thrilled” to add Mannion to the staff.

    “My goal throughout this process was to operate with an open mind regarding the future of our offense to find the best fit for the Eagles,” Sirianni said. “Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of talented candidates and great offensive minds. I am appreciative of the time I was able to spend with each of them. Some came with years of experience running an offense and calling plays. Others were young, sharp, and dynamic coaches on the rise. I felt it was important to be patient and thorough to allow the right fit to reveal himself to us. Sean did just that.

    “It was quickly apparent in meeting with Sean that he is a bright young coach with a tremendous future ahead of him in this league. I was impressed by his systematic views on offensive football and his strategic approach. Sean’s 11 years in the NFL have provided him a great opportunity to learn from and grow alongside some of the best coaches in the game. As a result, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable to our team moving forward. I can’t wait to see Sean with our team, and I want to welcome him and his wife, Megan, to the Eagles family.”

    The hiring of Mannion comes after a two-week interview process to fill the vacancy left by Patullo, whose one-year stint as the offensive coordinator ended on Jan. 13. The Eagles reportedly interviewed more than a dozen candidates, with at least four of them landing second interviews, including Mannion, Jim Bob Cooter, Josh Grizzard, and Jerrod Johnson.

    Sean Mannion (14) counted the Vikings among his playing stops.

    Mannion began his NFL playing career when he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams as the No. 89 overall pick in the third round of the 2015 draft out of Oregon State. He also had playing stints with the Minnesota Vikings (2019-21 and 2023) and the Seattle Seahawks (2021-23).

    In addition to working with LaFleur, Mannion has been coached by members of the Kyle Shanahan tree, including current NFL head coaches Sean McVay of the Rams, Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings, and Zac Taylor of the Bengals, among others.

    Over the last two seasons in Green Bay, Mannion has worked with quarterbacks Jordan Love and Malik Willis. His development of Willis is particularly notable, as the 26-year-old quarterback went from being a disappointment with the Tennessee Titans to a more-than-capable backup and spot starter with the Packers. Willis went 30-for-35 for 422 yards (85.7%) and three touchdowns (no interceptions) in four games (one start) with the Packers in 2025.

    Mannion will be tasked with refreshing an Eagles offense that floundered just one season removed from their Super Bowl win. With Patullo at the helm, the Eagles ranked 19th in the league in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play.

    The addition of Mannion could particularly stand to benefit Jalen Hurts given the new offensive coordinator’s history playing the position. While Mannion started just three games in his NFL career (14 total appearances), he played in 47 games over four seasons at Oregon State and set nearly every school passing record. His 13,600 career passing yards rank in the top 20 in FBS history.

    This isn’t the first time the Eagles have hired a former Packers quarterbacks coach to a prominent role on staff. In 1999, the Eagles tapped 40-year-old Packers quarterbacks coach Andy Reid as their head coach, a post he held for 14 years. Like Mannion, Reid did not have play-calling reps, although he had much more coaching experience.

  • Basketball star Paige Bueckers is not afraid to use the platform her fame has given her

    Basketball star Paige Bueckers is not afraid to use the platform her fame has given her

    Paige Bueckers has lived in a big spotlight since her senior year of high school. It, understandably, hasn’t always been easy, but she is pretty comfortable with it these days.

    She also is comfortable using her fame as a platform, and she has done so again.

    The 24-year-old grew up in Hopkins, Minn., about 10 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recent swarming of the Twin Cities, from raiding homes and business to the killings by ICE officers of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, hit especially close to home for her.

    On Friday night, Bueckers will be in another big spotlight, in a city that has paid much attention to ICE’s actions. The Unrivaled basketball showcase will have a sellout crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena and another national TV audience watching from home.

    “Innocent lives are being taken; innocent families are being broken apart,” Bueckers said Thursday amid the four touring teams’ practices at the Alan Horwitz Sixth Man Center. “People are afraid to send their children to school, people are afraid to go to work and provide for their family, people are afraid to go to the grocery store. What’s going on is not OK, and at some point — we feel like, and we hope and we pray, that there’s a change in direction in where this is heading.”

    All of Unrivaled’s games this season except Friday’s are played in Medley, Fla., just outside Miami, with the season running from early January to early March. That has kept Bueckers away from participating in protests at home, which she said she would do if she could.

    What is Unrivaled, which kicks off its tour in Philly Friday night, and how is it different from the WNBA?

    “I’m very proud to be from Minnesota, and to see the community come together and show strength and unity and try to do everything possible to stay together through this really tough time,” she said. “That’s kind of what Minnesota is all about. So it’s tough, just being from there and not being able to go there and help and [have] feet on land, but you try to do everything from afar to support.”

    In the meantime, Bueckers has put her money where her mouth is.

    Paige Bueckers getting some shots up:

    [image or embed]

    — Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 11:37 AM

    At the start of the week, she won Unrivaled’s $50,000 prize for having the best free-throw shooting percentage through the three-on-three league’s first five games of this season. Soon after that, she put the same sum on the table as a donation match to the Hopkins Strong Relief Fund.

    The fund describes itself as “an ongoing drive to help feed Hopkins children and meet other urgent needs during this time of heightened stress and uncertainty in our community.”

    Here’s why Unrivaled picked Philadelphia to be the first stop on its nationwide tour

    ‘We have this platform to say things’

    Bueckers, who also plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, spoke resolutely about the importance of leveraging her fame.

    “I feel like I’ve been very blessed and fortunate,” she said, “and God has given me this platform to speak out on things that are important to me and use my platform for good. And whether that be donations or just speaking out or standing up for what I think is right, I think that’s very important.”

    Paige Bueckers (5) in action with the Dallas Wings last year.

    She also was ready for a response she has seen often across society.

    “As athletes, it can be so easy for people to say, ‘Just play your sport. Don’t worry about politics; don’t worry about all of life’s issues,’” Bueckers said. “But I think as somebody who’s in the entertainment business, and we get this platform, and we have this platform to say things, I think it’s important for us to use our voice and stand up for what we believe in.”

    Philly has long been a special place for tennis legend Billie Jean King. And she wants to see the WNBA succeed here.

    Fellow superstar Breanna Stewart of Mist BC and the New York Liberty made a major statement Sunday when she held up a handwritten “ABOLISH ICE” sign during that day’s player introductions.

    “All day yesterday, I was just disgusted from everything that you see on Instagram and in the news,” Stewart said afterward. “Everyone here [at Unrivaled] is feeling that way, one way or another. … We’re so fueled by hate right now instead of love, so I wanted to have a simple message of ‘ABOLISH ICE,’ which means having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence.”

    Another Minnesota native playing in Unrivaled, the Lunar Owls’ Rachel Banham, added her voice on Thursday.

    “There’s a lot of things that need to, on a deeper level, be fixed, right?” said Banham, who also plays for the Chicago Sky. “I think the biggest thing that we can control — I mean, obviously, use your voice, continue to pray, continue to be there for people who need it. Lend a helping hand, if you can, because a lot of us have that privilege to be able to do that.”

    She also acknowledged the scale of the current task.

    “It’s going to be something that’s going to be [from] higher up, right?” Banham said of finding a solution. “It’s come from the top, government-wise.”

    Bueckers did not say whether she’ll do something specific at Friday’s games. But she praised the WNBA’s tradition of player activism for “having always inspired me in that way.” She also spoke of her own history having “grown up, and I’ve seen, and I’ve been a part of, peaceful marches and protests and the community coming together just because of tragic events.”

    She added that the Unrivaled player group has “talked about” doing something collectively, and “we want to do something to stand up for [it].”