August 22, 2024
Philadelphia Eagles training camp is now over, with Day 16 in the books. It was a fun close to camp. Let's get right to the notes.
• Did not practice:
• Saquon Barkley got looked at by the training staff on Tuesday, and he was limited on Wednesday, but the team categorized his absence as essentially "load management."
• Jalen Hurts threw his first INT of camp on the final day. Darius Slay got him.
Slay said that he baited Hurts into the throw, which was intended for Parris Campbell. This isn't a great look at it, but whatever.
Dropping THAT interception on the feed for ya 😏@bigplay24slay | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ocRWaqaNRO
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 21, 2024
Anyway, Slay said that Hurts didn't want to talk to him after the INT. Hurts told the media that he told Slay, "About time."
"About time" 😂 https://t.co/qqvW2Rpefc pic.twitter.com/0OlKh3JX9R
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 21, 2024
That wasn't Hurts' only bad throw of the day. He had an open A.J. Brown in the end zone, but he left it short, and Slay was able to break up the pass.
Otherwise, I thought he had a very good day, much like he has all camp. He had two great throws into the end zone for touchdowns to DeVonta Smith and Kenny Gainwell (more on those shortly), and as usual balls rarely hit the ground. Even with the INT, I thought it was a "thumbs up" day.
Our Jalen Hurts thumbs up / thumbs down tracker:
🏈 Day 1: 👍
🏈 Day 2: 👍
🏈 Day 3: 👍
🏈 Day 4: 👎
🏈 Day 5: 👍
🏈 Day 6: 👍
🏈 Day 7: 👍
🏈 Day 8: 👍
🏈 Day 9: 👍
🏈 Day 10: 👍
🏈 Day 11: 👍
🏈 Day 12: 👍
🏈 Day 13: 👍
🏈 Day 14: 👍
🏈 Day 15 👍
🏈 Day 16: 👍
I thought this was easily the best training camp of Hurts' career.
• DeVonta Smith had what I thought was the highlight of camp on Tuesday, when he made a twisting, turning, body control catch deep down the field. He had another highlight catch on Wednesday, when he out-leaped Kelee Ringo for another spectacular TD grab. Smith was a human highlight reel all camp.
• Kenny Gainwell's TD catch was a diving reception near the sideline that beat Zack Baun. He got a butt cheek in bounds, and the official ruled it a catch. Slay and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson objected, saying that he was out of bounds, and when the official stuck to his call, CJGJ playfully grabbed official's flag and threw it.
Gainwell also made something out of a busted play when a scrambling Hurts shoveled him the ball. Gainwell caught it, juked Devin White out of his shoes, and then picked up some good yards after the catch.
Some fans have grown distasteful of Gainwell through no fault of his own because the offensive staff has overrated him, often giving him the ball in odd, out-of-place situations. For example, Gainwell somehow got 23 red zone carries in 2023. He had just 53 yards on those carries, for 2.3 YPC. However, his career rushing numbers are actually quite respectable.
| Kenny Gainwell | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2021 | 68 | 291 | 4.3 | 5 |
| 2022 | 53 | 240 | 4.5 | 4 |
| 2023 | 84 | 364 | 4.3 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 205 | 895 | 4.4 | 11 |
Gainwell quietly had a sneaky good camp.
• This was Brandon Graham's final training camp practice, and he went out on a positive note, collecting two sacks. He beat Jordan Mailata on one of them. I'm going to miss listening to BG talking trash to his teammates every summer.
• We've been mentioning quite a bit recently how physical Nakobe Dean has been this camp. The players have noticed, too. Dean was lurking for a big hit on a pass to Britain Covey, who dropped the ball, perhaps because he knew what might be coming.
• One of the players who I believe turned his fortunes around to close camp was Ainias Smith. He made a nice catch in traffic, and then turned it up the field for some YAC. He had a brutal start to camp, but showed some encouraging signs to close it, and I believe his roster spot will be safe.
• Another receiver who will at least warrant some debate for a roster spot is Joseph Ngata, who caught all five of his targets against the Patriots for 88 yards in the second preseason game, and who had a bunch of catches in the practices thereafter. Ultimately, I don't think Ngata make the 53 because he just doesn't run very well, doesn't get much separation, and you can't just be a back shoulder sideline target in the NFL, but he has had a good finish to camp.
• Kenny Pickett had a rough day. He threw an INT right to Eli Ricks, and and was nearly picked by Tristin McCollum on a throw over the middle that was way behind Britain Covey.
Ricks had a few other nice plays as well. He had a pass breakup against Jacob Harris in the end zone, and good coverage against Ngata that caused an incompletion.
• Jalen Carter had an impressive TFL deep into the backfield, as he does every day. He's been a beast all summer. At one point I thought he had gotten injured, as he was in obvious discomfort and holding his stomach. And then he puked, lol. He was fine thereafter. Our final 2024 Eagles training camp puke standings:
Mekhi Becton: 2
Jalen Carter: 1
Everybody else: 0
Congratulations to Becton. 🤮🏆
• There was a very fun close to camp, as some players squared off 1-on-1 against each other. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell forced incomplete passes to Britain Covey and A.J. Brown, respectively.
Then Nolan Smith had a 1-on-1 pass rush rep against Darrian Kinnard, and Smith obliterated him. Smith crashed into Kinnard with everything he had then executed a push-pull move and threw Kinnard to the ground, to the roaring approval of the defense.
And then in one of my favorite moments of camp, LB Ben VanSumeren lined up at receiver against rookie UDFA S Andre Sam. VanSumeren ran an absolutely filthy corner route, complete with head fakes at the route stem, and absolutely dusted Sam, causing both offensive and defensive players to go nuts. But... Kenny Pickett overthrew him. 🤦♂️
• Generally speaking, I thought this was a very positive Eagles training camp. The vibes and energy were both good, the most important players played well, the rookie class was encouraging, and one of the biggest concerns, linebacker, might not be so bad.
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