September 13 is so close – we can taste the regular season, the excitement, the energy, the passion. And yet it is, in reality for a football team, so far away in that there is a ton of other stuff to accomplish hour by hour, day by day.
So, it is here that we are hearing Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion hold a press conference on Monday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, answering questions on the "right-now" topics – roster battles, what he has seen in the two preseason games, etc. – and holding off, understandably, on the big-picture questions about the Eagles' scheme and what he envisions for the coming regular season.
Specifically, Mannion is asked about pass protection and the mechanism for making sure everyone is on the same page and how the fullback position might impact the offense in 2026.
"You know what," Mannion said, "I guess we'll have to wait and see. I don't want to reveal too much. But, you know, certainly position versatility, alignment, flexibility – those are things we place a premium on. You know, so it's – I guess, again, I apologize for not answering the question, but I don't want to reveal too much. But those are things that are very valuable to us as an offense and that we challenge our guys to do across all our position groups."
This is a perfect answer from a coach who has very quickly become excellent in the press-conference part of his job. Mannion receives high marks from everyone who works with him on a day-to-day basis, who understands the big picture of his thinking and what we see is what we hear of him answering questions.
Because, and this is important, what we are seeing from the offense in the Training Camp practices at the Jeff – and on [Tuesday night at Lincoln Financial Field](https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/publicpractice/) – and in the preseason games are the basics. The Eagles are like every team in the NFL – installing the offense, showing the public only what it has to show to properly evaluate the 90-man roster.