Kevin Patullo

Q. QB Jalen Hurts is completing a high percentage of his passes his first few days. Just what have you seen from him and what do you attribute to him? At this point in his career, the ball really doesn’t hit the ground in practice. (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Kevin Patullo: I think Jalen’s done a really good job of just kind of understanding everything now. He’s becoming a really complete player in the pass game. He puts a lot of work into it. Quarterback meetings have been tremendous as far as just understanding what the defense is doing and what we’re trying to do and how to attack them. And he takes a lot of pride in it, right? I mean, he really, over the years, has taken a lot of pride in not turning the ball over and completing balls, and understanding how to stay on schedule and keep us moving in the right direction.

Q. I know you’re team-focused, this whole organization is team-focused, but personally, I’m sure this has been one of your goals in your career as you got into this business. What were the first couple of days like for you from a personal level? Was there surrealness, anything? Just as you’re out there in a different role. (Jason Dumas)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, really, it’s not much different. It feels the same. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s much different at all. I mean, it’s been fun. The meetings have been great. A lot of energy in the offensive meetings as a whole unit. I’ve kind of gone to each position room a little bit and spent some time in there. The tight ends [room] I was in the other day going over some stuff with Jay Mike [Tight Ends Coach Jason Michael] and everybody, and it was good.

It’s been fun. It’s really not much different. It’s probably– there’s a little more just talking to everybody, but overall, it’s about the same. But I’ve really enjoyed it. Like I said, the energy’s been great. On the field, the guys have been tremendous and, in the classroom, everybody’s been really, really good.

Q. I’m sure you’re kind of figuring out, planning out, ‘I’m going to spend time with this group today, this group today.’ Do you have to think about that more? (Bo Wulf)

Kevin Patullo: Sometimes, but I kind of like to talk to everybody. I kind of like to try to get everybody’s opinion on stuff and spend time with the O-Line and wander around with the quarterbacks. Obviously, I spend a lot of time there, but the running backs– and walkthroughs especially, I think it’s really important that you really talk to the guys at each group.

So, when we’re doing these walkthroughs, that’s really where I’m very intentional on spending time with the O-Line, talking through things as we’re doing them because it’s slowed down a little bit. We’re not full speed like we are out there in practice, but I think a little bit you do, but more so you just want to make sure everybody’s comfortable with what we’re doing.

Q. I’m sure you’re still figuring out the identity of this offense, but fundamentally, is this still a run-oriented foundation? (Brooks Kubena)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, I think we’re still the Eagles offense. I don’t think that’ll change. I think it starts with the run game upfront and then we just build from there, and then obviously, we’d like to try new things here and there, and we’ll see how that goes throughout training camp and where it leads us to.

Q. What are your thoughts on QB Jalen Hurts running the ball and if he can maintain his pace– (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: I think it’s all situational, right? So when he wants the ball in his hands, he’s going to do it and he’s going to let us know. And then really it just comes down to if he needs to make a play and he knows he wants to, he’s going to do it, right? So, whether it’s just dropping back and scrambling and making a play with his legs, or if he feels like now’s the time that I want to start running the ball, we will give him that opportunity.

Q. Philosophical speaking, if you look at the quarterback acquisitions. Historically, quarterbacks and running the ball, there’s a certain cutoff point for most of them in terms of when they stop doing it as much or when they don’t want to risk injury. Do you have experience watching that? Do you have a feeling of when there is? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s really a specific timeframe. I think really when you look at it over the years where he’s getting more yards, now currently he’s more on scrambling, right? In the Super Bowl, he did a tremendous job of getting out of the pocket, making plays with his legs.

I had a guy, [former NFL QB] Ryan Fitzpatrick for years, a couple different teams, and he wasn’t a fast guy, but he made a lot of first downs. You know, if something broke down getting out of the pocket, making plays with his legs, and he was an older player and had no problem doing it.

Q. T Jordan Mailata was talking the other day about how there’s been an emphasis on getting out of the huddle quicker. Why is that important? How is that going to help? (Reuben Frank)

Kevin Patullo: I think in general, when you can push the tempo as an offense, now you put the defense in stress, so that’s something we want to continue to do and just kind of operate faster. I think that’s something that can help everybody. It gives us more time to see things and just operate with more efficiency.

Q. How about the logistics of things, install terminology, how much has that changed? Jalen made a big part of that terminology change. You were here before and with former Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, any of that new? (John McMullen)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, I think we’ve tried to streamline as much as we can to keep it consistent for the guys, but at the end of every year– I think I talked about this in the Spring, is when you look at it as a whole and you can take steps out of it and see the big picture, you can basically say, ‘Okay, if we put this over there and this over there,’ it’s a little cleaner for guys that are now coming into a new system because the guys that have been here know the history of it.

But if you’re a new player, [RB] AJ Dillon and some of these other guys, it’s a little bit different. They don’t have the history of the offense. So, when you can put things and move ’em into other buckets, it’s easier to learn and then it kind of allows you to expand on it, too. So, I think there is a little bit of that, but nothing dramatic, if that makes sense.

Q. You mentioned the emphasis you guys place on limiting turnovers, but I guess what’s your risk tolerance for QB Jalen Hurts to maybe take more chances in this? (EJ Smith)

Kevin Patullo: I think really in practice, we’ve talked about this, now’s the time to take some chances, see what you can do and see what it feels like and kind of where the ball can go and what you’re comfortable with. And then in games, obviously every situation’s different. Sometimes you can take a risk. Sometimes the play requires you to take a risk and sometimes it doesn’t. So, I think it’s just understanding the identity of the play and now is the time a little bit to take some chances and see what happens.

Q. Calling a play knowing that there would be a higher risk, how many more of those are you willing to take? (Brooks Kubena)

Kevin Patullo: It just depends on what the defense is doing. Each week, it can be very, very different. Sometimes you have a few, sometimes you don’t. It really depends on the defense that you’re getting.

Q. [Regarding calling plays from the sideline and QB Jalen Hurts’ comfort level over the years.] (Rob Kuestner)

Kevin Patullo: I think [Jalen’s] comfort levels increased so much. Like I said, our quarterback meetings have been so good. The dialogue between him, myself and [Quarterbacks Coach] Scot [Loeffler] and everybody in there with all the quarterbacks and the understanding of what we want to do and how to push it and change. And maybe do some different things too where, as he gets more comfortable, his suggestions are obviously well taken to where I feel like as a team, we can put things together and give him a chance to do what he wants to do at times, but I think really it just comes down to just being able to adjust.

I think he sees the game really well now to where when he comes off the field, even in between series and in practice, he’s able to see it and say like, ‘Hey, it was this, this, and this,’ and so it’s really improved. It’s good.

Q. Are you thinking about going back to the booth? (Bo Wulf)

Kevin Patullo: No, because I’ve been on the field for so long and when I called in New York into Fitz [Ryan Fitzpatrick] and I did a lot of that kind of stuff, I was on the field. I’m kind of used to it, so I have no problem doing it. And I like the interaction with the quarterback. I’ve kind of been in that mode the last four years here, so I’ve kind of pretty much always done that.

Q. Head Coach Nick Sirianni has mentioned certain times last season when he stepped in and made the final calls on plays. How do you guys anticipate handling those conversations? (Jeff McLane)

Kevin Patullo: I’ve been a part of them for the last four years, so I kind of know when and how they’re coming up, and it’s just kind of the flow of the game. Sometimes it’s just situationally, sometimes it’s just a suggestion and for the most part it’s worked pretty well.

Q. As I’ve spoken to play callers over the years, they don’t talk about how fun it is. What is the most fun part about it to you? (Bob Brookover)

Kevin Patullo: It is fun. I look forward to practice every day to see what we can do and what’s going to happen. Obviously, it’s a challenge, but it is fun because really what you’re doing is you’re painting a big picture for everybody and you’re giving the identity of what you want to do and to see where it goes. So, it is a challenge, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s no different than going out and playing a round of golf. You never know what’s going to happen until you swing and then you kind of go from there and react to it. So, it’s a lot of fun.

Q. When it comes to the situational work we see, Head Coach Nick Sirianni will every once in a while call out what the situation is. For you as a play caller, do you put yourself through those situations as well? (Dave Zangaro)

Kevin Patullo: I have, and over the last four years, I’ve been a big part of that. So, for me, it’s not much different. I’ve kind of been in that role before, so it’s pretty normal right now.

Q. Your offense has been together for a few years now. How beneficial is that? Especially early in camp, can you kind of just jump right into maybe the quicker or different installations? Maybe you can kind of move past some different things and get a little more advanced with the situational stuff? (Ed Kracz)

Kevin Patullo: Yeah, I think it really helps, right? Because you’re always building on what we’ve done from the past and you can push the envelope as far as like, ‘Hey, let’s try this off of that because we’ve been doing this for a while.’ So it is fun to kind of do that kind of stuff and go through that and push the guys and stress them to see what we can get away with. And if it works now, hopefully it works later.

Q. At your past stops, the vertical passing game has been a big part of what you’ve done. A, why do you like that? And B, will that be more pronounced this season? (Zach Berman)

Kevin Patullo: I think really it comes down to what the defense gives us, obviously, and we have really good players on the perimeter, right? So anytime you have good players on the perimeter, you want to give them as many opportunities as you can to make big plays, and Jalen’s really good at it. So I think as much as we can do that, it’ll definitely benefit us.

Q. When you look at the offensive line, what have you noticed so far about G/T Tyler Steen and how he’s done? Like the first couple games and obviously the competition there. (Martin Frank)

Kevin Patullo: Tyler’s done a really good job. I mean, he’s done a good job stepping in for us the last few years. You can feel his presence out there now. He’s more comfortable. I think he’s done a really nice job. I think if you asked the other O-Line guys, and they’ve even talked about it a little bit, it’s just how much more he’s grown as a person and kind of his personality out there.

Q. What have you seen from RB AJ Dillon so far? What kind of element do you think he brings to this offense? (Mike Garafolo)

Kevin Patullo: It’s interesting because he is a different kind of player. He’s a big guy that can run downhill and do different things. And what’s actually been really good to see is he’s done a good job catching the ball out of the backfield and his versatility. So, it just gives us another guy that we can put out there and a different piece where we can move other pieces around. So, it’ll be fun to use him this year.

Q. Have you spent a lot of time thinking about RB Saquon Barkley’s workload this year? (Bo Wulf)

Kevin Patullo: It’s interesting. We’ve kind of talked about that; he and I have. I think it’s very game specific. It depends on how the flow of the game goes and how we’ll use it. He does a really good job of knowing himself of when he needs to come out, when he wants to go back in. So, a lot of that will be on him, obviously during games, and he’s really good about paying attention to that.

Q. In the Spring, Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie had mentioned about sort of looking at fullback, maybe moving FB Ben VanSumeren to the offensive side of the ball. How big of an emphasis is that to add that in a little bit more? (John McMullen)

Kevin Patullo: It’s just another thing we can do. So, the more you can stress the defense, the better you are. And we’ve done a little bit of it and we’ll just kind of continue to expand upon that package and see where we can take it because Ben is a really good athlete. I don’t think people realize how good of an athlete he is. So, it’s been fun to have him out there right now.

Q. What’s the understanding of what WR Jahan Dotson can do differently, having a full offseason with him? (Zach Berman)

Kevin Patullo: I think the full offseason obviously helps everybody, and that’s kind of what you can see from the Spring until now. Everybody’s starting to grow their game, and the knowledge of the system and the verbiage has kind of come secondhand, and we can just go out there and roll.