The Philadelphia Eagles are through a dozen practices and one preseason game so far, and they'll scrimmage the Cleveland Browns on Thursday and Friday. Here's a quick list of the things I'll be watching.
1) Each day throughout training camp, we have published practice notes, and within those notes, we have assigned Jalen Hurts a rating each practice of stock up 📈, stock down 📉, or stock neutral 😐. Here's where we stand through the first dozen practices:
- Day 1: 😐
- Day 2: 📉
- Day 3: 😐
- Day 4: 📈
- Day 5: 📈
- Day 6: 📉
- Day 7: 📈
- Day 8: 📈
- Day 9: 😐
- Day 10: 📈
- Preseason game 1: 📈
- Day 11: 📉
- Day 12: 📈
So that's:
📈: 7
😐: 3
📉: 3
- MORE ON THE EAGLES
- Eagles quotables: Countdown to Cleveland
- What I learned covering my first Eagles training camp
- What they're saying: The Eagles have a top-10 offense in the NFL
We'll continue to evaluate Hurts' play throughout camp, duh, but so far I would say that he has had a pretty good camp.
2) It is no secret to the 31 other teams around the league that Andre Dillard and/or Jalen Reagor are available for trade. Dillard has had his best summer by far, while Reagor has also been more consistent. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the 31 other teams around the league aren't just going to take Howie Roseman's word for it that those guys are now good. But, scouts talk, and they're more apt to believe what they hear from people in Cleveland's and Miami's front offices than the Eagles'. Anyone buying that logic? Well, whatever. Perhaps a team or two will come calling if Dillard and Reagor continue their encouraging summers.
3) Myles Garrett is thought of by some as the best pass rusher in the NFL. Assuming Garrett isn't one of these vets that just kind of goes through the motions during camp, he'll be a big challenge this week for Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. Hopefully he doesn't rip Hurts' helmet off of his head and try to bludgeon him with it.
4) A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are probably tired of seeing Darius Slay and James Bradberry. This week they'll face a good cornerback duo in Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome.
5) The Browns have one of the better guard duos in the NFL in Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. DT Jordan Davis has shown off his extreme blend of size and athleticism throughout camp, and those two guys should be a good measuring stick for the rookie.
6) Haason Reddick has been quiet this camp, but a big reason why is because he has to go up against the best RT in the NFL in Lane Johnson every day. He'll face another quality RT this week in Jack Conklin.
7) Like the Eagles, the Browns have an outstanding rushing offense, led by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The Eagles may finally have some decent linebackers in T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, Nakobe Dean, Davion Taylor, and Shaun Bradley. They're in for a couple of physical practices. Oh, and I think Hunt makes a lot of sense as a trade target for the running back-depleted Eagles.
8) Yesterday we updated our locks, near-locks, bubble players, and longshots, and listed 18 players on the roster bubble. They were:
• Quarterback: Reid Sinnett
• Running back: Jason Huntley, Kennedy Brooks
• Wide receiver: Britain Covey, Greg Ward,
• Tight end: Grant Calcaterra, Noah Togiai
• Offensive line: Le'Raven Clark, Jack Anderson, Kayode Awosika
• Defensive line: None
• Linebackers: Kyron Johnson
• Cornerbacks: Josh Jobe, Tay Gowan, Kary Vincent
• Safeties: Reed Blankenship, K'Von Wallace, Andre Chachere, Ugo Amadi
• Specialists: None
Huge week for those guys.
9) The Browns have two punters. I'm just sayin'.
10) The Eagles were interested in trading for Deshaun Watson this offseason, but Watson had a no-trade clause and did not want to play in Philadelphia, so efforts to land him never got very far. Instead, he was traded to the Browns and subsequently given a fully guaranteed five-year deal worth $230 million.
In case you've been living under a rock, 24 women credibly accused Watson of sexual misconduct and assault, and it felt like most Eagles fans wanted no part of him wearing midnight green. Count me among the relieved. Covering his court cases and suspension updates and such would have sucked.
Still, I'm curious to see how Watson looks on the field. When he was still playing and his off-field lifestyle hadn't yet come to light, he was arguably a top 5 quarterback in the NFL.
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