Eagles News: Jason Kelce Agrees With Jalen Hurts on Why It Is “Not Fair” to Put the Full Blame on Kevin Patullo

The Eagles entered the 2025 season with the highest-paid offense in the NFL and expectations to match. Instead, Philadelphia finished the year searching for answers after a unit loaded with stars produced only middle-of-the-pack results. Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo paid the price, losing his play-calling duties as Nick Sirianni emphasized the need for the offense to evolve.

Yet two of the most respected voices in the organization, Jalen Hurts and Jason Kelce, made it clear that placing the collapse solely on Patullo misses the bigger picture.

“You can’t just throw it on one guy. I don’t think it’s fair to ever just put it on one guy, especially when the passing game and the offense as a whole didn’t live up to what it should have.”

Hurts echoed that sentiment immediately after the wild-card loss to the 49ers, saying the moment was not about singling out any individual. Kelce agreed, stressing that responsibility extends well beyond the coordinator’s headset.

“He is the offensive coordinator, that is a responsibility,” Kelce said on ‘New Heights.’ “But it’s not only to call plays, it’s also to have the players play well. And that’s the mark of all the coaches.”

The numbers were impossible to ignore. Patullo’s offense finished 19th in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play. After a brief spark in Weeks 7 and 8, the unit returned to the same shotgun-heavy approach that struggled to create explosive plays.

Sirianni explained Thursday that the decision to move on from Patullo was rooted in growth, not blame.

“I think it’s important to continue to evolve as an offense and that we go out and do what’s best for this football team,” Sirianni said. “Everything I do and every decision I have to make, I have to do that with the intent of it being the best thing for the football team.”

Patullo was a first-time coordinator and first-time NFL play-caller, and Kelce acknowledged that the situation around him was far from ideal.

“Guys were hurt. Lane Johnson was out for half of the year, dang near,” Kelce said. “That makes it difficult. I would like to see more creativity. It’s hard to develop all that stuff in the middle of a season, and it just never got to what it needed to get to.”

Kelce did not spare the locker room in his assessment.

“The bottom line is this offense didn’t live up to what it should have,” he said. “Patullo bears responsibility, and so do the players. I don’t think the players played as good as they could have. And I love all those guys, and that’s just the way it is sometimes.”

He pointed specifically to the run game, which regressed sharply from the previous season.

“Saquon didn’t have the same year because, in part, the offensive line wasn’t as good,” Kelce said. “They were banged up. The run game is the main difference from this season to last season.”

Sirianni now begins another coordinator search, with reports linking experienced play-callers Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel to the opening. The head coach emphasized he wants a leader with vision, conviction, and the ability to connect with players.

“You’re looking to continue to evolve as an offense,” Sirianni said. “Find the guy that best fits us, that gives us the best chance to get back to the top of the mountain.”

Hurts will enter his sixth season with a seventh play-caller, another reminder of the instability around the franchise quarterback. Still, Kelce believes the solution goes deeper than one hire.

“There’ll be new faces in, there’ll be faces that are familiar that are out,” Kelce said. “How do they rebound from this? Where do they go from here? That’s on everybody.”