After two months of inconsistency, Kevin Patullo starting to find his groove

The Eagles' offensive coordinator has got his offense rolling ahead of the team's bye week.

By Reuben Frank • Published October 29, 2025

Jalen Hurts has said all along it was going to take time for Kevin Patullo to get rolling as a play caller. For him to gain a true comfort level with Hurts and the other players. To find his rhythm in a new role.

Patullo is Hurts’ sixth play caller in six seasons. Doug Pederson in 2020, Nick Sirianni at the start of 2021 and then Shane Steichen the rest of 2021 and 2022. Brian Johnson in 2023, Kellen Moore in 2024 and now Patullo.

So he knows a little bit about the subject.

"There’s a culmination of time, experiences together, and the communication that you all merge together so you can get it to where you want to be,” Hurts said after the win over the Giants Sunday.

"You look at the different years that we’ve been (here). You go from ‘21 to ‘22, you have the same chefs in the kitchen, and then every other year after that, it’s different. And there’s always a period of trying to figure things out a bit. And so that’s something that I’ve accepted throughout my career at this point. 

"It’s just having a relentless mentality, a relentless approach, and during the times where you are getting there to where you want to be because it’s always there. Just have to be persistent in it.”

Patullo has come under some pretty intense criticism these first couple months, some of it warranted, some not.

But he’s stayed true to what he believes, he's continued to stay focused on the grind and although one game isn’t enough to draw any final conclusions, 38 points, 427 yards, 276 rushing yards, four touchdown passes and a big revenge win over the Giants was awfully encouraging.

And the criticism he’s heard all year? It’s turned to praise. For this week at least. Patullo has handled it all beautifully.

"Kevin has dealt with a lot of my criticism throughout the years, and he has thick skin,” Sirianni said. "You have to have thick skin because you have to control the things you can control. You can't focus on anything else.

"We know there's going to be criticism, and we know what we signed up for, and I think Kevin's got a great mindset on that. He always has.”

We’ve all seen coaches here – head coaches, coordinators, assistants – who let criticism or expectations get to them to the point where it affects their performance. That’s the worst thing that can happen.

Patullo is so focused on the next practice, the next meeting, the next game that he really insulates himself from all of it.

 "I think it comes with the territory,” he said Tuesday. "I totally understand that. But really, it's all about just winning games, and we know we have a really good talented team and we're going to stick together. We live to our core values and that's what we want to do. 

"It's been fun. The players have been all into it. The energy has been super high no matter what's been going on. We have not wavered from that standpoint. We're always looking for ways to get better and improve on everything we do. 

"Obviously, we know we want to continue to improve on anything and everything we can to get to the point at the end of the season, but I feel like we're improving on certain things and in a good spot. Like I said, it comes with the territory, but I totally accept that and (am) ready to keep moving on.”

Patullo coached under Herm Edwards, Chan Gailey, Ken Whistenhunt, Todd Bowles, Frank Reich and Sirianni and alongside assistant coaches such as Gunther Cunningham, Arthur Smith and Matt Eberflus so he’s gotten a lot of experience seeing how some pretty accomplished coaches handle being in the spotlight.

Patullo has been coaching since 2003 and in the NFL since 2007, but he’s never been in this prominent a role before.

"I think he's done a good job of continuing to get better, just like our players,” Sirianni said. "Every team is a new team, so there's a growth period whether it's a first-time play caller or not, there's a growth period within each year for the players, for the coaches, everything.” 

There’s no question that Patullo’s play calling over the past two weeks has looked better than earlier in the season. More varied, less predictable. Multiple. Surprising. Even fun. 

The offense averaged 21.3 points and 275 yards the first six games and 29.5 and 394 yards the last two weeks as the Eagles have rebounded from their first two losses of the season to reach 6-2 going into the bye.

But forget the stats. The eye test says this offense is really starting to live up to expectations. 

Hurts believes all it really took for Patullo to look good as a play caller was for the players to make him look good by executing.

"I think he's gained confidence and gained assurance in what he sees and what he believes as time has gone on,” he said. "And so I look at, ‘How are we helping him? Are we playing penalty free? Are we mastering the things that take no talent? Are we getting in and out of the huddle?’

"The little things that can help all of us and help the play caller find a rhythm in what he does. And so we're very critical of that. I'm very critical of that. That's always something that I'm talking about, but we just want to continue to build. And he's been rolling.”

If the criticism bothered Patullo, he never let on. He’s been the same every week, and that’s one of the things Sirianni likes about him.

"I think that in football, it's always us,” he said. "I know (the players) love Kevin, but it's always all of us. I think Kevin's really mentally tough. I think you have to be in this game regardless of anything. You have to be mentally tough in this game. It's a long season. There's ups and downs, there's weekly stories, all those different things. 

"I think what Kevin's done a really good job of is being able to block out anything that can be a distraction to him and working like crazy to put himself in the best position to call the best game that he can each week regardless of what's going on. I've got a lot of respect for Kevin in that aspect.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-offensive-coordinator-kevin-patullo-jalen-hurts-growth/692802/

I’m still unconvinced by Patullo so I’m not going to get carried away. The Vikings game as good as it was for Jalen was mostly down to Jalen. He made huge plays in big spots and a lot of those were down to broken plays and him extending with his legs to then use his arm. So I’m not sure how much credit we can give Patullo there.

Now the NY rematch was much better. They got the run game going and they were really efficient in the pass game so that was really encouraging. Let’s hope that is Patullo getting comfortable as that will stand us in great stead for the coming games. But let’s not overlook that was an awful Giants defense that were banged up. We did what good teams do and we beat up on them… But we need to do that against the better defenses in the league now.