PHILADELPHIA — For the second consecutive year, the Eagles’ offense has been a disaster, and just like last season, a new play caller could pay the price for those struggles.
After the 2025 season, former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo was fired by the team after his offense ranked near the bottom of most offensive categories.
After the 2026 season, new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion could meet the same end.
Mannion has lost the confidence of Eagles fans after four consecutive losses. But what about the locker room? Do his players still believe in him?
“Still there,” Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata told NJ.com on Thursday when asked about his confidence in Mannion. “The scheme is there. We’re not executing. It’s a player thing. Now surely, you could place blame on coaching where you need to, in terms of like some plays. But the majority of the plays, it’s player mistakes. It’s player execution. It’s not a scheme thing.”
The Eagles are not giving up on Mannion, but he hasn’t shown much promise through the first six weeks of the 2026 season.
After Week 6, the 2-4 Eagles ranked 28th in EPA per play (-0.111) and 31st in offensive success rate (36.6%), according to RBSDM Stats. The Eagles also ranked 26th in passing, 29th in rushing and 30th in yards per game.
Unless the Eagles make significant improvements on offense down the stretch and start winning more games, Mannion’s job security could become fragile.
“When we go back and watch the tape, a lot of it has nothing to do with him,” Eagles wide receiver Britain Covey said. ”Most of it has nothing to do with him. Has to do with us. And so, yeah, it’s easy to keep confidence when you rewatch the tape.
“Certain people will rewatch the tape and say, ‘Oh, this is a crazy play design.’ They don’t know that this wide receiver ran the wrong route. But we all do in the building. And so that’s not on Sean.”
Mannion has had to navigate a wave of injuries and unexpected changes.
- Quarterback Jalen Hurts will miss the remainder of the season after blood clots were discovered in his lungs.
- Hall of Fame-caliber right tackle Lane Johnson retired four games into his 14th season, and on the following day, the Eagles traded starting offensive lineman Cam Jurgens to the Baltimore Ravens.
- Left guard Landon Dickerson has missed the last five weeks with a bone bruise in his right knee, and new starting center Drew Kendall has also missed the last two weeks with a knee issue.
- Running back Saquon Barkley has missed two weeks with a hamstring injury and left two other games because of injuries.
- Backup running backs Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley were placed on injured reserve. The Eagles have started fourth-string RB Dameon Pierce in their last two games.
- Veteran tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver DeVonta Smith each missed two games due to injuries.
To make things even worse, Mannion could be without Goedert (knee), Smith (hamstring) and wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (ankle injury) in the Eagles’ Week 7 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night.
Now, the Eagles need Mannion to provide a schematic advantage and elevate less talented players to beat the Cowboys and win games throughout the season. More bad results could place him on the hot seat and force the Eagles to consider switching play callers.
“Football is not always linear, and that’s the frustrating part of it,” Covey said about the idea of Mannion being the problem. “Everyone wants to find someone to blame, something to blame, and it’s not always that simple or linear, especially finding an offensive identity. There are so many moving parts and changes. I mean, this year’s been chaotic. I think there is a grace period, but that grace period doesn’t last forever. We got to get it rolling, obviously.”
The Eagles have struggled to execute the core staples of Mannion’s system, including in their Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
The Eagles completed zero of their five under-center play-action passes and gave up two sacks for a loss of 17 yards, according to SumerSports.
Over the next few weeks, Mannion must find solutions to that problem, or his offense will continue to sputter.
“Adaptability is a talent that you only learn as you’re put into the situation,” Covey said. “And we’re all learning that right now. Convictions, or to do the same exact thing are kind of irrelevant [when] you’re not the same team as you thought you’d be. You’re going to have to train up guys and adjust schemes and everything.”
Covey said he “fully believes in what Sean is preaching.” He’s also confident that Mannion will make changes to his offense to help quarterback Tanner McKee play better.
“If it didn’t, I think that wouldn’t be a good sign,” Covey said about the offense changing. “You got a whole new quarterback, so I think it will look different. And that doesn’t mean just because you’re not seeing immediate results, you run away from certain things. Sometimes you got to clean up detail and stuff, but don’t run away from it.”
The criticism of Mannion grows louder each week, but his confidence has not wavered.
“He’s fired us up a couple times where he’s looked at the guys that have had to step up,” Covey said. “He said [during meetings], ‘How many times have you been down in your career? Well, that’s going to happen right now. And I want you to know that you’ve responded every time throughout your career and you’re going to do it again.’ That’s an inspiring thing to tell someone. We all really appreciate just kind of the confidence he’s showed in us.”
The Eagles remain steadfast in their belief in Mannion, too.
“I’ve really enjoyed the offense so far, and I love Sean,” Eagles center Drew Kendall said.
“Who cares what people think?” Covey said. “It’s what do your players think, Whatever other people think, he shouldn’t care. And if you ask all the players, we still have full faith and confidence in him, and we want to be better for him.”
Eagles players watched Patullo get fired last year after the offense struggled throughout the 2025 season, including in their January playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
They don’t want the same thing to happen with Mannion.
“Urgency needs to be picked up, and it starts with people like me,” Mailata said. “In order to have coach’s back and take off some of the heat, we got to have that urgency. It begins with us.”
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