"I think this is the season right now in the offseason where we're collectively trying to build out the system and structure things the way it's going to be for this iteration of the Eagles," quarterback Jalen Hurts said.
He's right. The "iteration" of the Eagles is that this team is not "defending the Super Bowl victory." Instead, the Eagles are a new team and the mission remains the same: To win it all.
And to do that, as the Eagles learned in the aftermath of a Super Bowl win in the 2017 season and a Super Bowl loss in the 2022 season, is the realization that nothing is guaranteed for the following year. Every season brings change and challenges.
Hurts, for example, is coming off a Most Valuable Player performance in the Super Bowl, yet he is pushing himself as the great ones do. Where can he improve? How will defenses attack him this season? What are the nuances of his game that need to elevate?
"You have to be able to decode, detect, and then correct. Refine the things that you need to refine," Hurts said. "The more important thing is being able to detect what I can improve on and how important is it to improve in that. We can all work hard in something, but not necessarily be working hard on the right things.
"Right now, it's just laying the foundation, trying to figure out what this iteration of the team will be."
OTAs are the first time the coaching staff sees the players in offense vs. defense situations, albeit with no tackling or real contact. It serves as a fine test for the mental retention of what the players have learned and how that translates to their on-field play.
It is, as Hurts says, a very necessary piece of the puzzle and one that the Eagles embrace. The team, the organization, is not still in the "thrill of victory" emotional basket. It is onward and upward understanding that a new season is here and that it is all fresh and real and a huge challenge.
That's just the way the Eagles want it. The slate is clean and each movement is one in a forward direction and a refreshed attitude and very much step by step by step by step.