The first time Sean Mannion stood in front of the Eagles offensive players, the new coordinator delivered a clear message about where the group needed to begin.

“He got up there and said, ‘Our foundation is outside zone,” Eagles right tackle Jordan Mailata said Friday. “Everything is going to start from that.'”

After an offseason full of intrigue about what the Eagles’ revamped offense will look like under Sean Mannion, things are starting to come into better focus in the closing days before the season opener against the Washington Commanders.

Much of the discourse and scrutiny from afar has come around the pass game. Jalen Hurts’ interception tally became a topic of conversation during training camp as Mannion installed the new system, and the questions about how the former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach could get the best out of Hurts has been central over the last few months, as well.

But Mannion’s eyes are fixed on what he refers to as, “the engine.”

For as much change as this scheme will bring — and there will be plenty as Hurts shifts to being under center more with a focus on outside zone rather than “tight” zone — what won’t change, it seems, is the philosophy from past iterations of this Eagles offense built around the run game first and foremost.

“Since he’s been here, he’s put an emphasis on it,” Eagles right guard Tyler Steen said. “Coming from a former quarterback, that’s been pretty cool to see. I think he realizes a lot of the stuff that we do is going to come off the run game, so he wants to put a lot of emphasis on it.”

From Mannion’s emphasis on the run game to the different wrinkles players expect to emerge as the season goes on, here are four things I learned about Mannion’s run scheme this week:

An early emphasis

Like Mailata, Steen said he realized on the first day that Mannion was equally focused, if not more focused, on getting the run game ironed out.

“He explained what we want to be as an offense,” Steen said. “Installing the plays that we did, the bread and butter plays for the offense, he made it pretty clear, with an attention to detail and just how a lot of the plays had little tags and things like that. You think outside zone is one simple concept, but there’s like 20 ways to run outside zone.”

The Eagles’ front has gone through that learning process during training camp.

Veteran tight end Johnny Mundt is one of the few players with past experience running a system similar to the one Mannion has installed and said he spent the early days of the summer directing traffic with the offensive line as the group got up to speed with the nuances of the system.

By the end of the summer, Mundt said, the group started making the calls before he could get them out himself.

“The scheme is well thought out as far as how those edge guys are playing and what they’re doing on the interior,” Mundt said. “Are they a movement kind of team, are they going to try to peel off combinations? Things like that are really well thought out and they’ve done a good job collectively as a staff.”

Mailata added, “He knows how you can beat the play, so he details that and coaches us on that. It’s pretty fun seeing that. For me, it’s new because I’ve always had [former Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland] do it and not my OC. So hearing it from the OC’s mind and hearing how his brain thinks? That’s fucking awesome. Because I get to see and hear why he’s calling these plays and what he’s thinking.”

Mannion’s coaching roots

Mannion’s emphasis on the details in the run game trace back to the start of his coaching career.

After spending nine years working mostly on passing concepts as a journeyman backup quarterback, Mannion’s first role on the Green Bay Packers staff as an offensive assistant in 2024 required him to focus solely on the run game instead.

“One of my first real responsibilities when I was coaching for the Packers was drawing runs, which anyone who’s done it knows can be a tough job,” Mannion said Thursday. “There’s a lot of detail. There’s a lot of different adjustments that the defense makes, how the offense blocks different combinations, how they attack different fronts, snap points, motions. There’s a lot that goes into it. [Offensive assistant/assistant tight ends coach] Eric Dickerson does a great job for us. … That was my first real responsibility.”

Eagles offensive line coach Chris Kuper said Mannion has developed a passion for the intricacies of the run game, something Mannion affirmed on Thursday.

“We talk about that, the marriage of the run and pass and how the best offense is a productive run game leads a productive pass game or vice versa,” he said. “It’s all part of that marriage and all part of being an offense that’s on the attack. I think it goes back to, I knew a little about the run game, and then I really dove in when I first got into coaching. I learned a ton, and it certainly kind of shaped me as a coach.”

Getting off the island

During training camp, Steen offered what might be the most succinct explanation for how Mannion wants to put defensive linemen in conflict this season.

Make them go sideways on outside zone, and then come downhill at them on duo.

There’s been a curiosity about how this Eagles offensive line will translate to an outside zone scheme all offseason. There are plenty of examples of talented fronts running similar systems across the NFL, but the high-level talent across the board that the Eagles have when the group is healthy give them a chance to stand out.

“To see some of these guys turn their hips and get these guys moving toward the sideline and being athletes, it’s pretty exciting,” Mundt said. “Just learning the techniques and stuff, they’re doing a great job. Early on, I’d be spitting out my combinations with the tackles and stuff and making sure they’re squared away, but now, they’re spitting it out before I am. So they’ve really grasped these concepts. I think we’re gelling at the right time.”

Mailata said there was a sense of enlightenment across the starting five linemen once they wrapped their heads around the advantages the new system would give them, realizing how simplified things have been for some of their contemporaries around the NFL.

“I was like, ‘Oh wow, that’s what San Fran has been doing?’ No wonder that motherfucker [Trent Williams] has been able to play for 17 years,” Mailata said. “I was like, ‘Dude. Why haven’t we been doing this? We’ve been out here on fucking Shutter Island, mate.”

‘A unique opportunity’ with the QB run game

The uncertainty with the most variance centers around Hurts.

The 28-year-old had 105 rushing attempts last season, which was the fewest he’s logged in a season since becoming a full-time starter in 2021. And with the Eagles shifting toward more under-center looks on early downs, the chances for Hurts to be involved in the run game may be more limited than ever going into this season.

Hurts acknowledged the absence of many examples league-wide of a quarterback-inclusive run element being attached to similar schemes, but called it a “unique opportunity” for the Eagles to differentiate themselves if Mannion elects to go that route.

“When you watch this offense from afar, that’s not an element that you see, so I think it’s definitely a unique opportunity there,” Hurts said. “But that’s up to coach Sean and how he wants to steward that, and we’ve got to build that chemistry. I’m always willing and open to doing anything and everything to win, but it’s not like you say, ‘I’m gonna drop back and run it to you on this play,’ right? You have to play the game, so, we’ll find that feel and see where it goes.”