Day 8 of Philadelphia Eagles training camp is in the books, and it was the second of a four-day stretch of Eagles training camp practices. Fun, hot day. Let's get right to the notes.
• Did not practice:
- WR Parris Campbell: Groin
- LB Oren Burks: Knee
- LB Brandon Smith: Concussion
- S Mekhi Garner: Hamstring
Limited practice:
- RG Tyler Steen: Ankle
- OL Mekhi Becton: Illness
- CB Josh Jobe: Concussion
- CB Eli Ricks: Illness
Becton (not Steen) got first-team reps during individual drills, but it's worth noting that Steen did not participate at all in team drills (11-on-11's), while Becton did. So it might be premature to say that Becton has overtaken Steen as the leader for the starting RG job.
• Two players left the field today. They were C Cam Jurgens, and S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Center and safety are two positions where the Eagles could be in big trouble if they lose their starters. At center, one of the underdiscussed concerns going from Jason Kelce to Jurgens is durability. Kelce started in 157 consecutive Eagles games, a team record. Jurgens missed six games last season.
Jurgens should be fine, per Brooks Kubena, but if he goes down, who is the backup? If the first eight practices of training camp are any indication, it might be Brett Toth 😬. Other possibilities:
- Landon Dickerson: Dickerson played center in college, but I highly doubt the Eagles would mess with their monster duo of Dickerson and Jordan Mailata on the left side of the line.
- Dylan McMahon: Sixth-round rookie, has looked decent to start camp.
- Matt Hennessy: Hennessy has mostly been a non-factor in camp, and seems buried on the depth chart.
- Nick Gates: Recently signed, seven leg surgeries.
- Max Scharping: Played 12 snaps at center for the Bengals last season.
At safety, the starters are Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship. Thereafter, Sydney Brown is on the PUP list, Avonte Maddox has gotten some safety reps, and James Bradberry has moved from corner to safety. I don't know what Justin Simmons' asking price is, but mayyyyybe it's time to kick the tires there.
• The Eagles ran a bunch of plays while backed up against the shadow of their own end zone. Jordan Davis was the star of that session. He burst through the line on a run play and "tackled" Saquon Barkley for a safety. Barkley had nowhere to go and was swallowed up by Davis.
Later, Davis once again broke free through the line, beating Landon Dickerson, and "sacked" Jalen Hurts for yet another safety. Hurts ran out of the end zone and down the field, but in my opinion Davis got there and would have had the sack if you were allowed to touch the quarterback during practice.
• Much of the focus at cornerback in camp has been on who will start at CB2 opposite Darius Slay. It should be noted that Slay is still very clearly the best cornerback on the team. He had two great reps during 7-on-7's.
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- Hurts threw deep down the right sideline to A.J. Brown, and dropped the ball in the bucket over Brown's shoulder, but Slay knocked the ball out of Brown's hands. Cool rep all around. Great ball from Hurts, great tracking skills by Brown, and great hands by Slay.
- Hurts tested Slay down the right sideline once again, this time to DeVonta Smith, who made an impressive catch, but could not keep his feet in bounds. Slay stayed in phase with Smith throughout the entire route and had good positioning on him. That ball wasn't getting completed in bounds.
• Eight practices, still no INTs from Jalen Hurts. On the field, Hurts was fine. No real notable passing highlights, no obviously bad plays. He did have one run where he got into the open field and was just gliding in cruise control. Zack Baun was hustling his ass off in pursuit but couldn't close the gap. Anyway, Hurts looks fast.
Off the field, Hurts, Nick Sirianni, and Big Dom rode out of practice on a golf cart.
I'll give Hurts a 👍 on the day for the good vibes alone.
Our Jalen Hurts thumbs up / thumbs down tracker:
🏈 Day 1: 👍
🏈 Day 2: 👍
🏈 Day 3: 👍
🏈 Day 4: 👎
🏈 Day 5: 👍
🏈 Day 6: 👍
🏈 Day 7: 👍
🏈 Day 8: 👍
• Rookie WR Johnny Wilson got some more first-team reps today, and he made a great contested concentration catch in the end zone over Kelee Ringo. Hurts threw into a crowd and trusted that Wilson would come away with the ball, which he did.
• Rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell made a physical play in the run game when he met Kenny Gainwell in the hole. Mitchell was thought of as a physical corner at Toledo, and he'll need to bring that attitude to the field if he's going to play in the slot early in his career.
• Zack Baun made a really nice play on a screen to Barkley. Baun read it beautifully and wrapped up Barkley for a big loss as soon as Barkley made the catch. Baun also had a negative play when he was fooled on a play action bootleg that led to a TD pass in the flat.
• Nolan Smith gave up contain when he was fooled on a misdirection run to Barkley. That was an issue for Smith his rookie season.
• Rookie RB Will Shipley had a down day. In pass protection he got run over by a blitzing Nakobe Dean, who tossed Shipley into Kenny Pickett. Both Shipley and Pickett went to the ground. Great rep for Dean. Shipley also had a Tanner McKee pass bounce off of his hands and into the arms of CB Shon Stephens, who returned the INT for a score.
• As noted previously in our practice notes, Dean makes plays when he plays downhill, but he has been very shaky in coverage. The Eagles' top four linebackers can all blitz:
- Devin White: 23 career sacks.
- Zack Baun: Edge rusher / ILB hybrid.
- Nakobe Dean: six sacks his final season at Georgia.
- Jeremiah Trotter: 12 sacks his last two seasons at Clemson.
Back in the Jim Schwartz era, Schwartz would rarely ever blitz his linebackers, despite employing Mychal Kendricks, who could blitz but struggled in a bunch of other areas. It will be interesting to see if Vic Fangio takes advantage of his linebackers' blitzing skill sets.
• We got to see some kickoff return reps. Most teams are going to be putting two returners back to return kicks. The hierarchy seemed to be:
- Isaiah Rodgers and Kenny Gainwell
- Will Shipley and John Ross
- Britain Covey and Ainias Smith
I don't love the inclusion of Gainwell among the kick returners. Gainwell is a guy who can scratch and claw for a first down on occasion, but he has not been a big play threat throughout his career. He has four career gains of 20+ yards. His career long run is 32 yards. The most dangerous combo would be Rodgers and Shipley, in my opinion.
• The Eagles signed LB Shaquille Quarterman, and waived OL Jason Poe. Quarterman was a tryout player during Eagles spring practices. Camp body.
• CB Isaiah Rodgers spoke in front of the whole team about his suspension from the NFL for gambling. It's smart that the Eagles asked him to do that to raise awareness of the consequences to the entire team, and kudos to Rodgers for sharing his story.
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