August 06, 2024
Day 9 of Philadelphia Eagles training camp is in the books, and it was the third of a four-day stretch of Eagles training camp practices. It was a hot, super humid practice lacking much in the way of exciting football. Let's get right to the notes.
• Did not practice:
Limited practice:
• A team spokesperson said that Gardner-Johnson's injury is not long-term. CGJG was at practice, taking mental reps on the back end along with Sydney Brown. Avonte Maddox got first-team reps with CJGJ out, as did James Bradberry.
• Speaking of Sydney Brown, who is on the PUP list while he continues to rehab a torn ACL suffered in January, he was doing sprints on a side field and he was flying. You would never know he was recovering from an ACL tear by how fast he was running. I did not get a chance to see him cut or abruptly stop while running, which will obviously be part of his recovery, but he sure as hell can pick them up and put them down when running straight, which is a good sign.
• Tyler Steen participated in 11-on-11's for the first time since injuring his ankle. He got first-and second-team reps, but only after Becton got some first-team reps before him. It's looking more and more like Becton has leapfrogged Steen in the race for the starting RG job.
• Nine practices, still no INTs this summer from Jalen Hurts. There wasn't much to evaluate today, but Hurts did connect with A.J. Brown on a bunch of quick slants. That's a bread and butter route for Brown, and they looked crisp, with Hurts hitting Brown in stride with opportunities to get yards after the catch.
Hurts did throw a hospital ball to DeVonta Smith over the middle. Smith made the catch and could have been wrecked by Nakobe Dean, who smartly did not take the opportunity to hit the star receiver.
Overall, on a day when Hurts didn't throw a ton of passes, he was on target as usual this summer. 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: 👍
• The Eagles don't run a lot of running back vs. linebacker pass protection 1-on-1's, but they ran a bunch of them today. My biggest takeaway is that Saquon Barkley owned those drills. He stopped Devin White in all three of their reps together, plus an additional rep against Zack Baun.
Will Shipley? Not as good. He lost reps to Ben VanSumeren, who dusted him on a spin move, and Nakobe Dean, who outmuscled him. We've noted in previous notes posts that Shipley has struggled in pass pro, notably in the open practice at The Linc, when Jeremiah Trotter sidestepped him and got pressure on the quarterback, and on another day when Dean ran him over. The Eagles appear to want Shipley to have some kind of role in the offense this season, but that might come slowly if his pass pro doesn't improve.
• Second-year DT Moro Ojomo had a tackle for loss today. We haven't mentioned Ojomo much in practice notes, but he has had a very solid camp so far.
The need for guys like Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams to play more snaps in 2024 with the loss of Fletcher Cox to retirement is well-covered ground, but the team will also need Ojomo and Marlon Tuipulotu to play more this year as well. Ojomo only played 68 snaps as a rookie last season. Expect a significant uptick.
• Devin White had a pass breakup in the end zone today on a pass intended for Joseph Ngata. White talked with the media on Monday, and was prideful of his coverage ability. He noted that early in his career with the Buccaneers in the NFC South, he had to cover Christian McCaffrey (then with the Panthers), and Alvin Kamara (Saints) twice each per season.
• I've been impressed with Isaiah Rodgers' camp so far this summer, but he is prone to biting on pump fakes. He bit on a short throw leaving DeVonta Smith wide open in his zone. That's not the first time Rodgers has given up a big play when he has gambled and lost. See what I did there? I'm very clever.
• I thought Kenny Pickett made some nice passes today, which weren't always brought in by his receivers. It's worth noting that Pickett and Tanner McKee don't have much to work with on the second- and third-team offenses at receiver. Neither quarterback has really had a "statement" day in the battle for the No. 2 quarterback job, but the lack of depth at wide receiver is at least partly why.
• Jake Elliott had his first missed field goal of camp. He was previously 12/12. He's now 17/18. He was good from 33, 36, 43, 38, and 28. He missed from 58, wide left and short. Cut him.
• The emergency long snapper is... (drum roll)... Grant Calcaterra. The emergency holder is Britain Covey, which we already knew from the time he subbed in for an injured Arryn Siposs in a game against the Giants in 2022.
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