August 11, 2024
With some game action finally in their pocket, the Eagles returned to the NovaCare Complex on Sunday morning and continued training camp's ramp up toward the season.
The pads were back on and the first-, second-, and third-teams ran full 11-on-11s, but the true highlights of the session might've very well been in the 1-on-1 drills, which, for a change, we're awarding the (almost) daily game balls off of.
Here's who stood out offensively and defensively in Eagles camp on Sunday...
Mitchell made his mark right away in Friday night's preseason game against the Ravens with excellent coverage on an early pass attempt where he did everything right except make the pick.
Everything but the INT by Quinyon Mitchell on this one. pic.twitter.com/LkwaBL3JY6
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) August 9, 2024
But the thing is, he's been covering like that for the better part of camp, and against the Eagles' very best.
Whether it was by design from either party or just simply the order of the rep line, Mitchell has been going toe-to-toe against the Eagles' toughest coverage assignments in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and in what's been both impressive and promising, the 23-year old has been holding his own.
During the first break from 11-on-11s reps on Sunday morning, the defensive backs and receivers broke for 1-on-1 battles, and Mitchell ended up getting two looks against Smith.
On the first one, Smith ran a sharp cut-back route, but Mitchell stayed on his back like glue and was able to jump forward enough on the shift to get his hand in the way of Jalen Hurts' pass for the breakup.
On the second, Smith tried to break to the outside toward the left sideline, but again, Mitchell stayed on him with little separation for Smith to work with. Hurts tried to lead Smith on the throw to the outside, but Mitchell forced enough contact for Smith to be unable to fight through it and make the catch.
Mitchell kept one of the best receivers in the NFL 0-2 in one-on-one drills against him. Again, Mitchell is 23 years old.
"He's a good player and is gonna be a good player," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said of his rookie corner ahead of Sunday morning's practice.
Now, his role in the defense early on is still to be determined, and ideally, Darius Slay remains as one of the starting corners to slowly but surely ease Mitchell into more.
That said, Mitchell could very well play his way into at least taking on a bit more at the starting line, and then have him and the team go from there.
That's not to say Mitchell has been unbeatable though.
The Eagles ended practice on a couple of more 1-on-1 battles between the younger guys to close out, with one of them being between Mitchell and sixth-round receiver Johnny Wilson.
On the snap, Wilson went streaking off toward the left pylon of the end zone, though with Mitchell keeping a hand on his back the whole way down. Fourth-string QB Will Grier let the pass the fly, and it ended up falling into the perfect spot over Wilson's shoulder as he fell into the end zone to secure it for the touchdown.
The entire team was watching as the rep played out, and on the catch, the offensive players went sprinting down the sideline fired up over the play.
Mitchell got caught. Nothing more he could've done there. Just a perfect pass and catch.
And for Wilson, maybe it's a point toward what seems to be a very open competition for the third wide receiver job following Friday night's preseason game.
Wilson's had his moments during camp, and Sunday brought another one, but he hasn't truly separated himself in the running. Britain Covey is an option, too, but John Ross, Ainias Smith, and Parris Campbell? Well, I'm not sure anyone would consider them favorites for the job right now.
Wilson hasn't taken off with it either, but give him the exclamation point ending on practice Sunday in his favor.
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