PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ first-year offensive coordinator, has caught plenty of flak from the fan base through the first month of the season.
Winning isn’t the problem. The Eagles are one of two undefeated teams left. For many, the problem is the offense has looked inconsistent and out of sync. Saquon Barkley isn’t running wild while A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith aren’t as involved as perhaps they should be.
Patullo, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts are responsible for managing personalities and top-tier skill players who, understandably, want the ball and want to make an impact. Patullo, though, doesn’t view that task as a bad thing.
“It’s a great problem, right?” Patullo said Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex. “Because some teams don’t have what we have.”
It’s a fair way to look at it. Few teams, if any other than the Eagles, have one of the best running backs and two of the best wide receivers in the league. And few play-callers, if any other than Patullo, have to find a way to make it all work.
Now, you could argue Patullo hasn’t made it work yet. The Eagles are 4-0 with wins over three playoff teams and a divisional rival. But the product on the field hasn’t been easy on the eye. In the minds of many, Patullo is wasting opportunities to feature his best players.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) is stopped by Philadelphia Eagles defense during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)AP
Barkley, after breaking records en route to a 2,000-yard season, is averaging 3.1 yards per carry through four games. Smith was targeted only twice in the Week 4 win over the Buccaneers. Brown posted a cryptic message after his seven-yard showing in Tampa Bay and an overall frustrating start to the season. Brown did not speak with reporters after the 31-25 win at Raymond James Stadium.
All of that is cause for concern for Eagles fans. Sirianni and Patullo, too, have acknowledged that there’s plenty to fix coming out of the first month of the season.
But Patullo doesn’t perceive his job — winning and making everyone happy — as a burden.
It helps that he’s been around for a while. Patullo was brought on as an assistant after Sirianni was hired in 2021. Being around the NovaCare Complex and being a part of the offense for so long has allowed him to build relationships with Brown, Smith and, more recently, Barkley.
It also helps that everyone has the same end goal — despite the frustrations shared in the locker room, what might not be said at all and what might be posted on social media.
“Really the guys have been great with me,” Patullo said. “They all want to win and that’s the number one thing. They all want to win. They’ll do anything for the team to win.
“So whether it’s somebody’s getting the ball, somebody’s not when you watch it at times, there’s guys being excited for other guys when they’re making plays and that’s all we can really ask for. It’s just like, hey, we all want to win. We’re on the same page. We know it may be different from play to play or from game to game, but we want to win.”
Patullo added that Hurts, the Super Bowl MVP in his fifth year as the starter, is a big help when it comes to managing the wants and needs from the Eagles’ top skill players.
“He does a good job,” Patullo said. “With him being in our fifth year together with Nick and the whole staff, he understands what his role is, and he’s comfortable with it. A lot of us have been around together. So I think he’s doing whatever he can to win games at this point.”
We’ll see if Patullo and Co. continue to win when they face the Broncos on Sunday — and if he can get fans off his back by finding a way to better involve Brown, Smith and Barkley.
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