Eagles 2024 training camp practice notes, Day 1: Football is back!

It was the first day of school back at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday, as the Philadelphia Eagles had their first practice of training camp. There are no pads this early in camp, and it was a short practice. Let's get right to the notes.

• Here was the official injury report on the first day of practice:

Did not practice

1. Landon Dickerson: Lacerated toe
2. Brett Toth: Hamstring

"Lacerated toe" sounds like a fancy way of saying he got a cut on his toe. No inside info here, but that also sounds a whole lot like a Slip-n-Slide injury.

The Eagles also placed Sydney Brown on the PUP list, and the following three players on the NFI list:

1. DB Cooper DeJean
2. OT Gottlieb Ayedze
3. WR Shaq Davis

We covered Brown here, and DeJean here.

Overall, that's a palatable start to camp in the injury front.

• The first practice of the summer is also the first look at the initial depth chart at some positions. The offensive line depth looked like so:

Steen got the first crack at first-team RG, and Becton filled in for Dickerson. 

Max Scharping's appearance at RT was interesting. Over his five-year NFL career, Scharping has played in 79 games, with 33 starts. He has experience at both guard spots, and he played a handful of snaps in 2023 at center. A look at his career regular season snap counts:

As you can see, he has played three career snaps at OT, but that's where the Eagles had him on Day 1. Jeff Stoutland wants his backups to have versatility, so maybe it's a good sign for Scharping's chances of making the team that he got some early reps at OT?

• I'm fairly sure that Parris Campbell got all the WR3 reps with the first-team offense. If the Eagles mixed in someone else, I missed it. Grant Calcaterra was the second-team TE.

• The first-team defense to start the day:

EDGE: Josh Sweat and Bryce Huff. Note: Sweat was LDE, Huff was RDE.
iDL: Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams.
OBLB: Devin White and Zack Baun.
CB: Darius Slay, Isaiah Rodgers and Avonte Maddox (slot).
S: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship.

Second-team defense: 

EDGE: Brandon Graham and Nolan Smith.
iDL: Moro Ojomo, Marlon Tuipulotu, and Milton Willians.
OBLB: Nakobe Dean and Ben VanSumeren.
CB: Kelee Ringo, Eli Ricks, and Quinyon Mitchell (slot).
S: James Bradberry and Tristin McCollum.

Kelee Ringo alternated first-team reps with Isaiah Rodgers at CB. Nakobe Dean alternated first-team reps with Zack Baun at LB.

James Bradberry was an on-field participant after he did not practice really at all during spring practices. He was at safety, as shown above.

• MORE EAGLES
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• Jalen Hurts watch: How did Eagles' QB perform in first training camp practice?
  
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• After a shaky spring, Jalen Hurts had a good start to training camp. He had two really nice throws down the field to DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. Smith dropped his.

The throw to Goedert was particularly impressive. Hurts was moving to his left, almost sort of fading away, and lofted and perfect touch throw to Goedert on a corner route.

Oh, and HEY (!) he finally said something nice about Nick Sirianni during his post-practice press conference! (Go to the 16:25 mark in the video below if you're interested.)

Maybe throughout camp we'll award Hurts a 👍, 👎, or 😐. Today was a 👍.

• Saquon Barkley was heavily involved in the passing game, and he probably had more receptions than anyone on the team. He lined up all over the formation. The Eagles ran some speed option drills with Hurts and Barkley to open practice: 

They ran some of that during 11-on-11s as well.

It's often been pointed out that Barkley will be running behind a great offensive line for the first time in his career. But beyond that, he'll also have a quarterback in Hurts who can draw attention away from him on speed options / RPOs / etc., and with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver opposing defenses won't be able to stick eight defenders in the box to stop him.

As a cherry on top, if Kellen Moore can help make Barkley a dangerous weapon in the passing game, something the Eagles have not gotten from their running backs in recent years, then Barkley will be well worth the money that Howie Roseman spent on him this offseason, and then some.

• Speaking of Moore, the offense showed a lot pre-snap motion. 😱

• Zack Baun had a nice breakup on a pass intended for Calcaterra. For an off ball linebacker / edge defender hybrid, Baun looked comfortable in coverage during spring practices, and that has carried over into the summer so far.

• We (as in, the media) have never gotten to see Chauncey Gardner-Johnson practice during training camp. If you'll recall, the Birds traded for him just before the start of the 2022 season, after camp had already wrapped. He's fun to watch, dancing before every rep, and yapping at teammates after them. The Eagles felt like they lost some swagger on the defensive side of the ball last season, and CJGJ certainly brings that.

• The punt returners were (in order of practice reps), Britain Covey, Ainias Smith, Isaiah Rodgers, and John Ross.

Smith struggled fielding punts during spring practices, and he had another muff today. Cooper DeJean would have been in the mix too if he weren't injured.

With DeJean on the shelf and Smith consistently struggling to field the ball, Covey's roster spot is looking more and more secure (not that I thought it should have ever been in question).

• The first puke session of camp belongs to Mekhi Becton, and it was impressive. I counted 10 heaves. It was like someone was turning a faucet on and off. My man was hydrated. To his credit, Becton only missed a play or two and was right back out on the field.

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