12 hours ago, Bacarty2 said:

This board ****ed and cried for years about the injuries and medical team

NS did this last year and it was the healthiest team we had in a long time.

Does the same thing this year and everyones complaing.

Hoagie mouths

One interesting point is that last year the team had very few injuries compared to previous seasons, BUT on the other hand the team was also way younger than it has been in recent seasons. 

We will have to wait and see if the lack of injuries is because of the training schedule or player age (probably a combination of both). We will also have to see if they reached the balance of having players ready to play and understand the new schemes coaches will try to install. 

5 hours ago, Talonblood said:

Doesn't matter. SiriSoft ™ has the weakest boy scout camp in the NFL. 🤣

I can see it already. Been talked about forever on here. If they went all out and started tackling to the ground and god for bid  a AJ Brown or someone is done for the year then what. I agree with you, re-amp the tempo and make practices longer than a high school practice, but not day 1

Eagles players got a day off to get acclimated to their environment . . . probably after a night of team bonding/drinking in the city.

I wonder if the rookies had to pick up the tab.

No practice today (day off).  Observations from day 1:

Quote

Eagles training camp observations: Red zone work on Day 1

 

The Eagles kicked off training camp on Wednesday morning with a practice that lasted just 58 minutes.

We’re not at Lehigh anymore.

But the Eagles used this first day as a chance to get a lot of work done in the red zone. Their 11-on-11 sessions and their 7-on-7s took place in that area. They also worked on red zone on Day 1 last year.

The Eagles have a walkthrough, which is closed to the media, on Thursday but will be back at practice at 10 a.m. on Friday. We’ll be back then.

Here’s the first 10 practice observations of the summer:

1. Let’s start with a few housekeeping items:

• The Eagles placed three players on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list: TE Tyree Jackson, OL Brett Toth and TE Richard Rodgers. Those players count toward the roster limit but can be activated at any time.

• A few roster moves were made. The Eagles signed TE Jaeden Graham, C Cameron Tom and WR Lance Lenoir before practice and released OT Jarrid Williams. Graham will wear No. 46, Tom will wear No. 66 and Lenoir will wear No. 34.

• A few players did not practice on Wednesday: Jason Kelce (Covid progression), Keric Wheatfall (Covid progression) and Zach Pascal (illness). Meanwhile, Fletcher Cox (Covid progression) and Anthony Harris (Covid progression) were both listed as limited participants. Cox said he was pretty sick a couple weeks ago but is feeling better now. Neither participated in team drills.

• Brandon Graham said there are no restrictions for him as he returns from an Achilles tear that ended his 2021 season very early.

2. Isaac Seumalo got the first reps at right guard. While Sua Opeta rotated in, that’s probably more because Seumalo is coming back from a significant injury. Head coach Nick Sirianni certainly made it seem like Seumalo is their right guard for the 2022 season.

A few other offensive depth chart notes:

• Without Kelce, who is getting over Covid, rookie Cam Jurgens was the first-team center. The first offensive line was (from left to right) Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jurgens, Seumalo, Lane Johnson.

• The top receivers were A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins. Jalen Reagor is working with the second team and looked good against the Eagles’ defensive backups on Wednesday.

• Quarterbacks Reid Sinnett and Carson Strong split third-team reps.

3. Overall, Hurts had a relatively solid first day of training camp. There were some good moments, a couple notable mistakes, but overall I thought it was a very promising start.

Kenny Gainwell caught the first pass of camp in 11-on-11s and shortly after that Hurts hit his best friend Brown in the left flat for a score.

The Eagles worked red zone on Wednesday and the third-year QB had several touchdown throws. Sirianni before the practice talked about how much more accurate Hurts was during OTAs and how much quicker his decision making was. We’re just one short practice into the summer, but Hurts does look improved.

And Sirianni is his biggest fan.

4. One of the big questions about the Eagles going into 2022 is about their defensive scheme. On Day 1 of training camp, we saw them mix it up between 3-4 and 4-3 looks. They have the versatility to be an even more multiple defense this season and early indications point toward that reality.

A few defensive depth chart notes:

• T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White began the day as the Eagles’ nickel linebackers with Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat lined up as edge rushers. But the Eagles’ mixed and matched their defensive personnel more than their offensive personnel. Haason Reddick was out there quite a bit too and was both rushing the passer and dropping into coverage. Saw him drop into coverage several times.

• The Eagles were in 3-4 and 4-3 on Wednesday, which means we saw Graham and Sweat at times used as standup rushers. We also saw Jordan Davis at the nose and Javon Hargrave and Milton Williams used as 3-4 ends.

• The first-team safeties (remember: Harris wasn’t practicing) were Marcus Epps and K’Von Wallace. The second-team guys were Jaquiski Tartt and Andre Chachere. We’ll see how long it takes for Tartt to get up to speed. It wasn’t a strong start for Wallace.

• The first-team corners (no surprises) were Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox. Second-team corners were Zech McPhearson, Mac McCain III and Josiah Scott.

5. The best catch of the day came from Watkins on a back-shoulder throw from Hurts. Watkins out-muscled Maddox in the end zone for the touchdown grab in 7-on-7s.

6. DeVonta Smith had an uncharacteristic drop after he found himself wide open after a quick release inside. He also had a chance to make a spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone against McPhearson but couldn’t haul it in.

7. The group working as punt returners on Wednesday: Reagor, Greg Ward, Britain Covey, Watkins, Lenoir. Reagor was up first, for what that’s worth.

8. Rookie tight end Grant Calcaterra made his Eagles training camp debut with a leaping touchdown grab in the middle of the field on a perfectly placed ball from backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.

9. The best defensive play of the day came from Epps, who picked off a Hurts pass intended for Dallas Goedert in the end zone. The ball was underthrown and it came out late, which allowed Epps to get in front of it. Without that moment, it would have been a very clean day for QB1. Hurts nearly threw another INT that wasn’t his fault. Miles Sanders ran into his throwing arm which popped the ball up in the air. Brandon Graham nearly came down with the ball but Johnson knocked it out.

10. Nice play on defense from Edwards, who stripped Brown after a short completion from Hurts. The Eagles’ defense needs to force more turnovers and plays like that will help.

Stupid Observation of the Day: During the joint Nick Sirianni, Howie Roseman press conference, we heard a loud scream from one of the doors but couldn’t see who it was. But I knew. One players consistently screams to start each training camp practice morning: Linebacker Shaun Bradley.

When he finally saw who made the noise, Roseman looked at Bradley and said to the crowd, "Shaun Bradley, everybody.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-training-camp-2022-observations-red-zone-work-day-1?cid=sm_npd_rsn_phi_fb_mn&fbclid=IwAR2gbjrxmPtntCtrQRwOHCyTc6KgXU8riKeGZkzjmHSI0G3QUu2UfKe5t7I

 

So how did Cam do at center with the starters?

1 hour ago, Bacarty2 said:

Totally understand that too. But if it worked last year, why not try it again. 

 

FYP

What worked last year? Never beating an actual winning team? Beating losers all year. If you like that.... that's up to you. Last year was a failure. 

10 hours ago, kentwo said:

One interesting point is that last year the team had very few injuries compared to previous seasons, BUT on the other hand the team was also way younger than it has been in recent seasons. 

We will have to wait and see if the lack of injuries is because of the training schedule or player age (probably a combination of both). We will also have to see if they reached the balance of having players ready to play and understand the new schemes coaches will try to install. 

That’s a good point.  I think the older and injury prone players still missed their share of time last year.  I wonder how much of the injury protection was just youth and relying on younger guys.

2 hours ago, Talonblood said:

What worked last year? Never beating an actual winning team? Beating losers all year. If you like that.... that's up to you. Last year was a failure. 

Yeah I didn't like the hire when they made it, and I'm still not sold. He looked like an overmatched clown until the schedule got softer and he was able to run the ball against bad teams. The playoff game and what a dumpster fire it was is still fresh in my mind. 

18 minutes ago, Gannan said:

Yeah I didn't like the hire when they made it, and I'm still not sold. He looked like an overmatched clown until the schedule got softer and he was able to run the ball against bad teams. The playoff game and what a dumpster fire it was is still fresh in my mind. 

The offense was fine to start the season, and WR's were open, the QB not being able to find them forced the change to a run heavy approach.

Don’t make anything out of this Eagles fans but Gainwell got all 1st team reps today with a healthy Miles Sanders with the 2nd team 

1 hour ago, GroundAttack said:

Don’t make anything out of this Eagles fans but Gainwell got all 1st team reps today with a healthy Miles Sanders with the 2nd team 

Not surprised at all. 

Quote

Eagles training camp observations: Defense wins Day 2

 

The Eagles were back on the practice field on Friday morning for their second practice of training camp.

It was an overcast day and it felt nice and cool in the shade. No doubt that when the pads go on next week, it’ll be 100 degrees.

After the first practice of training camp lasted just 58 minutes, this one was slightly longer. The full practice was 1:15 but the last 5 minutes were for a developmental period of younger players fighting to stick in the NFL.

To the observations:

1. As always, we’ll start with a few housekeeping items. Three players remain on PUP: Tyree Jackson, Brett Toth and Richard Rodgers. So they’re not practicing.

The only other two players who weren’t practicing on Friday were receivers Zach Pascal (illness) and Keric Wheatfall (COVID progression). Pascal tweeted on Thursday about food poisoning, which can take a lot out of anyone. The good news is that Pascal was at least able to be on the field as a spectator on Friday:

Jason Kelce (COVID progression) and Fletcher Cox (COVID progression) were limited participants in practice and did not participate in team drills. After Wednesday’s practice, Cox said he was feeling better. After Friday’s practice, Kelce said the same.

2. The offense looked very crisp on Day 1 of training camp and got the better of the defense. Roles were reversed on Friday.

Jalen Hurts didn’t have a good day. He wasn’t alone. The entire offense, aside from a few bright moments, wasn’t great.

"It didn’t look good,” said Kelce, who was a spectator as he gets back from COVID. "I’d have to go back and look at it more on tape. I think that the defense probably feels that we got the better of them the first day. I think they came out here with a lot of energy and effort today. And that’s what you want to see. You want to see sides of the ball competing against each other.”

This happens. Nothing to get overly concerned about. Now, if the offense looks bad for a week straight, then it’s a problem. But there are going to be some ups and downs throughout camp.

As much as you can say the Eagles’ offense struggled on Friday — and it did — also give credit to Jonathan Gannon’s defense. They made plays.

3. One of the biggest bright spots on the day for the offense was when Hurts rolled right and hit A.J. Brown on a beautifully placed ball about 25 yards downfield during an 11-on-11 period. Looks like those two best friends are getting on the same page early.

4. The best defensive play of the day came during 11-on-11s, when Avonte Maddox made a leaping interception on a underthrown pass from Hurts attempted for Dallas Goedert. The throw wasn’t great but don’t take anything away from the play on defense.

"I know he’s only 5-9 but he jumped like he was 6-5,” Goedert said of his good friend Maddox. "He got up there. It was a great play by him. He kind of baited the quarterback, took a couple steps up. I think he was guessing that I was going to be running a corner and he just made a good play on the ball.”

Another nice play from a DB came from James Bradberry, who broke up a pass intended for Jalen Reagor.

5. A few offensive depth chart notes:

• Isaac Seumalo is clearly the Eagles’ right guard. The first two days, he has been taking the first reps at right guard and then Sua Opeta rotates in. If this was a competition, I’d imagine we’d see Jack Driscoll get those chances. Driscoll is working as the second team right tackle.

• Miles Sanders worked exclusively with the second team on Friday, while Boston Scott and Kenny Gainwell split reps with the starters. Don’t make too much of this just yet, but it’s something to monitor.

6. Defensive depth chart notes:

• The Eagles are still mixing and matching odd and even fronts. Without Cox, the Eagles 3-4 look had second-year DT Marlon Tuipulotu at nose, surrounded by Milton Williams and Javon Hargrave as the ends, while Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat were the top outside backers. Both of them have also been featured as standup rushers in a 4-3 alignment.

• The top two linebackers on Friday were T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. White made his first big play of training camp when he exploded into the backfield to pick up a "sack” against Hurts. Davion Taylor has been mixing in with the first team, while Nakobe Dean has been working with the second team.

• Anthony Harris returned to team drills on Friday and was the starting safety next to Marcus Epps. Harris didn’t take all the first-team reps, though, and was rotating with K’Von Wallace. Jaquiski Tartt and Andre Chachere were the second-team safeties. Chachere jumped a Gardner Minshew pass attempted for Noah Togiai for his first pick of the summer.

7. Keep an eye on cornerback Mac McCain III. The Eagles know their top cornerbacks are Darius Slay, Bradberry and Avonte Maddox but they have nine young corners fighting for just a few spots. Zech McPhearson is the next guy and he has been working with the second team. But I was a little surprised to see McCain join him as the other second-team outside cornerback. (Josiah Scott is the second-team nickel).

McCain has made some plays early in this camp. McCain had one PBU on Friday that resulted in an interception from Davion Taylor and he had another tough one against Quez Watkins later in the practice. McCain has a chance to win a job.

8. Speaking of Taylor, he’s off to a solid start. Taylor had three notable plays on Friday. One was the INT off Minshew following the McCain deflection. He had another play where he hit Boston Scott at the perfect time to pop the ball free for a PBU. And an understated one came when he chased down Hurts on a perfect angle after the quarterback broke free from the pocket. Taylor has been a forgotten guy in this defense, but he could earn a role and some playing time.

9. Reid Sinnett and Carson Strong are splitting the third-team reps at QB, which has been frustrating for me because I want to watch Strong. Finally got a chance to see him air out a pass during the developmental 7-on-7 period after the main practice was over. He didn’t hit Britain Covey down the left sideline but it was a bomb. No questioning his arm strength.

10. A few special guests were at training camp on Friday. Several coaches from the University of Maryland staff were on hand. That included Gunter Brewer, who served as the Eagles’ receivers coach for the 2018 season. He was between Mike Groh and Carson Walch.

Another guest on hand was longtime NFL defensive coach and former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. Fangio, 63, had been the Broncos head coach from 2019-21 and doesn’t have a job right now. The Dunmore, Pennsylvania, native has been a DC for the Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers and Bears.

Stupid Observation of the Day: If you’ve seen those goofy looking contraptions on helmets during training camp, they’re called Guardian Caps. The NFL has made them mandatory for all linemen, linebackers and tight ends during training camp.

Kelce had some fun with it on Friday, wearing bubble wrap over his Guardian Cap for the entire 1:15 practice. He joked that maybe it would give him another 2 or 3% protection.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-training-camp-2022-observations-day-2-defense-wins

 

Quote

Camp Stuff

Posted: July 30th, 2022 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

Tweet

The Eagles have had a few practices. Two of them were full practices, one was a light day and one was a conditioning day. As you might expect, the play has been up and down. The offense really struggled on Friday, after playing pretty well on Wednesday. That brings us to the age old Training Camp question…did the offense get worse or the defense better?

Here are the guys who were at practice and whose notes we’ll be dissecting.

Jimmy Bama

Zach Berman

PE.com

Dave Zangaro

Jeff McLane

BLG

*****

Dave Zangaro on the highlight of the day:

The best defensive play of the day came during 11-on-11s, when Avonte Maddox made a leaping interception on a underthrown pass from Hurts attempted for Dallas Goedert. The throw wasn’t great but don’t take anything away from the play on defense.

"I know he’s only 5-9 but he jumped like he was 6-5,” Goedert said of his good friend Maddox. "He got up there. It was a great play by him. He kind of baited the quarterback, took a couple steps up. I think he was guessing that I was going to be running a corner and he just made a good play on the ball.”

Another nice play from a DB came from James Bradberry, who broke up a pass intended for Jalen Reagor.

Maddox had his best year in 2021. He is back in the same spot (the slot) and could be even better this year. It would be great to see him become more of a playmaker. The slot has a lot of opportunities because he plays closer to the formation and that means he’s got more of a chance to be involved in the action.

Last year Maddox had 1 INT, 0.5 sacks and 2 FF. He’s got the potential to be a lot more productive than that.

*****

Miles Sanders was noteworthy for a couple of reasons.

Zach Berman:

Miles Sanders stuck with the second-team offense on Friday, which was a departure from his typical role as the top running back. My inclination is not to overstate this — I expect Sanders to be the lead running back this season, and I think he’s shown an impressive burst through the first two days — but I wouldn’t totally dismiss the shift. The Eagles are getting Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott time with the top offense early in camp. Whether that suggests more of a timeshare this season remains to be seen, but it’s atypical to see Sanders with the second unit. If you want a Sanders update: he looks healthy and explosive, which the Eagles need entering Sanders’ fourth season.

Jimmy Bama

Miles Sanders looks explosive. He had some juice of several of his runs, making sharp cuts and flashing acceleration. Sanders is a bit of a polarizing figure among Eagles fans, but there’s little question that he is the most talented back on the roster, and it’s not even close. Also, his thighs look thicker this year. Is that weird to say? #ThickerThighAnalysis.

Sanders not being with the first team isn’t necessarily a huge deal. Coaches like to mix things up in camp. Sometimes they are sending a message to a player. Other times they might be trying to reward the backups. This only becomes important if it goes on for a while.

I’m more focused on Jimmy’s note about Sanders looking explosive. He (Sanders, not Jimmy) had a career high in runs of 20 or more yards last year. Nick Sirianni loves chunk plays and you can bet he wants Sanders getting the ball on a regular basis. It would be great if Sanders had his best season in a contract year. That would hurt negotiations for the future, but I’m more focused on winning games this year.

*****

Now for the struggling offense, and Jalen Hurts.

Jimmy:

Jalen Hurts and the first-team offense in general had a rough day. There were a lot of incompletions, some broken plays that led to scrambles, and some missed throws.

The lowlight of the day was a Hurts pass into a mess of defenders that was picked off by Avonte Maddox, who made a leaping grab. If I’m being honest, from my vantage point it wasn’t really even clear who the pass was intended for. After practice, Jason Kelce, who did not participate in team drills, was asked what he thought of the offense’s performance as a bystander. "Didn’t look good,” he acknowledged. He then noted that he felt that the offense got the best of the defense yesterday, and so the defense came out with more intensity today.

As a reminder, Hurts started 2021 camp very slowly and picked up steam as the summer progressed. We’ve only seen a total of 133 practice minutes so far, so it’s way too soon to sound any alarm bells, but if you’re the Eagles you probably would have preferred to see Hurts come out hot.

Day 2 verdict: Stock down.

Zach:

It’s one practice in July, so it should be kept in perspective. But if we’re offering daily practice reports, the story of Friday’s practice cannot be told without noting how poorly the offense appeared. (Or how well how the defense played?) This wasn’t egregious — there was a session last summer when it was as if the offense couldn’t complete a pass — but I thought they’d be crisper early in the summer considering there’s continuity with this group. Jalen Hurts is the one who’s naturally in the spotlight because he’s the quarterback, and the Eagles need him to practice better than he did Friday. But the lackluster play extended to the pass-catchers on Friday, too. As Kelce said, the defense deserves credit. They were swarming in coverage. The Eagles are back on the field Saturday morning, so that could serve as a first-week rubber match.

Jeff McLane:

More on Hurts. The third-year quarterback’s every move is under a microscope. Both the good and bad can be overstated, especially here in Philadelphia. A.J. Brown got a taste of what Hurts had to endure earlier this summer, and felt compelled to come to his friend’s defense. I’m sure Hurts’ shaky start — he was OK on Day 1, not good on Day 2 — will throw some into panic mode, but it’s far too early to suggest that he has regressed, especially when there’s a season’s worth of evidence that he’s a competent enough starter.

That said, he had some forgettable moments on Friday. The worst came on an intermediate pass to tight end Dallas Goedert that was either underthrown, late, or shouldn’t have been tossed in the first place. Cornerback Avonte Maddox dropped into a zone and read the ball all the way into his leaping arms for an interception. On the next play, Hurts was errant on a short out route by receiver DeVonta Smith.

I’ll get to the other incompletions below, because some were on the money and a receiver either couldn’t hang on or there was a pass breakup. But the first team offense was out of rhythm most of the session and a lot of that falls on the quarterback’s timing or lack thereof.

Hurts had his plus moments, too. While Brown slipped before a first pass came his way, he caught back-to-back attempts a set later — a second-level haul after Hurts rolled to his right and a shortie he took into the defensive backfield – that highlighted his size and strength. Brown did drop a throw during 7 on 7s with cornerback Darius Slay draped on his back.

Brandon Lee Gowton:

Just not a good day for Hurts and the offense as a whole.

Hurts threw too high on a short pass intended for Watkins in 7-on-7.

11-on-11 did not go much better. Hurts was also inaccurate on an out route to Dallas Goedert; the tight end only managed to get one outstretched hand on the ball. Hurts threw another pass to a crossing Goedert that was off target wide and low.

There was a rep where Hurts ended up checking down to Kenneth Gainwell in the flat after seemingly having A.J. Brown streaking open deep down the field. Perhaps Brown was not as easily available to Hurts in his progression … but not seeing the entire field has previously been an issue for him.

Hurts’ worst throw came when he got picked off by Avonte Maddox. It was unclear what he was even going for on that play; he threw into a crowded area.

Hurts’ best throw came when he connected with Brown on a post down the right sideline for a 25-yard gain or so.

There isn’t much to add to all of this. A bad day for Hurts and the offense. Learn from it and move on.

Or maybe the Eagles are headed to 0-17.

*****

Zach on the LBs:

Haason Reddick rushed the quarterback a bit more on Friday, but he still dropped back into coverage enough to make you believe this is going to be part of the way the Eagles use him. This is the time of year when the Eagles work on everything, so it’s sensible to at least prepare him for that role. The Athletic’s Bo Wulf wrote on Wednesday why he believes this will be a season-long discussion point — "The Eagles gave Reddick $30 million guaranteed to boost a pass rush that finished 31st in the league last year, not to run with tight ends” — and I agree with Bo on that one. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon offered his explanation for when it would be advantageous for the Eagles to drop Reddick into coverage.

"He’s a really good cover guy, so sometimes that’s a matchup-driven thing,” Gannon said. "He knows that when he would be dropping, like all our overhang players, there is a reason why we do that — flexibility within the defense. Depending on what the offense does that’s the kind of spacing we want to play, and it helps his teammates win some one-on-one battles. So, that’s a process with all those guys that we are figuring out now.”

Look for more later this summer on how the Eagles plan to use Reddick. But stash this nugget away: Reddick said he is now 247 pounds, which is seven pounds heavier than how the Eagles list him and 10 pounds heavier than when he came into the NFL in 2017. Reddick likes this new weight and believes it can add power to his arsenal.

And

When discussing the defensive upgrades this offseason, Kyzir White can sometimes be shortchanged. But the former Charger was added to help stabilize weakside linebacker and I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen so far. White shot through the line on a blitz to "sack” Hurts on one play, and his quickness is apparent. It’s almost like White is what the Eagles hoped Davion Taylor would become. (Perhaps Taylor still becomes that player. He continues to make strides.)

Reddick was brought in to play LB and Edge rusher. He’s going to do both. That means rushing and covering. The Eagles know he’s a gifted rusher. Jonathan Gannon said on Friday that the team thinks Reddick is good in coverage. Reddick needs coverage reps, though. This isn’t about just skill. He needs to master the Eagles scheme and also to build chemistry with the other coverage players. Fitting in as a pass rusher is much easier.

I’m interested in White. He is a talented LB, but teams showed little interest in him in free agency. He could turn out to be a terrific signing or he could be the nex failed LB the Eagles seem to bring in every year.

*****

Ben Fennell on Jordan Mailata:

While Fran was over watching the fancy wide receivers, I got down with the offensive line on the opposite field, and one thing stood out right away – the evolution of Jordan Mailata. For years, the former seventh-round pick was the developmental player who was clawing for every rep he could get, picking the brain of every veteran he could. Now? Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland tells the young players that Mailata is the model to follow. It’s crazy how far he has come and now he sets the example for the rookies.

Ben with the zinger of the day…Fran and his fancy receivers! Not quite Dawk hitting Crumpler over the middle, but a good shot for late July.

It really is great to see how far Mailata has come. The project has now become the example of how to do things. We all knew he had great size and potential. Not all guys are able to develop the skill set needed to become a consistently good player. Mailata has put in a ton of work to build himself into a good LT.

*****

Dave with some depth chart notes:

Isaac Seumalo is clearly the Eagles’ right guard. The first two days, he has been taking the first reps at right guard and then Sua Opeta rotates in. If this was a competition, I’d imagine we’d see Jack Driscoll get those chances. Driscoll is working as the second team right tackle.

The Eagles are still mixing and matching odd and even fronts. Without Cox, the Eagles 3-4 look had second-year DT Marlon Tuipulotu at nose, surrounded by Milton Williams and Javon Hargrave as the ends, while Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat were the top outside backers. Both of them have also been featured as standup rushers in a 4-3 alignment.

The top two linebackers on Friday were T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. White made his first big play of training camp when he exploded into the backfield to pick up a "sack” against Hurts. Davion Taylor has been mixing in with the first team, while Nakobe Dean has been working with the second team.

I’m happy to hear Driscoll is working at RT. He got several starts at RG last year so I don’t think he needs reps there as much as he does at RT. He did start at RT for several games in 2020 so the spot isn’t completely new to him.

Ideally, Seumalo and Johnson will stay healthy. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened in a while. Driscoll might be the top backup for both spots.

*****

BLG on Mac McCain:

Spoiler alert: For today’s BGN Radio, I’m giving today’s practice MVP point to Mac McCain III. He’s my guy like Jason Huntley is my guy on offense. McCain had a pair of nice breakups. The first one happened when he closed in on a target for Jalen Reagor over the middle of the field. The tipped ball was picked off by Davion Taylor. Later in practice, McCain broke up a shorter throw. The Eagles have a number of young corners competing for backup spot(s) behind the top four of Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, and Zech McPhearson. Kary Vincent Jr. and McCain are the strongest contenders for CB5 thus far. The latter showed some special teams chops last year so that could be working in his favor.

The Eagles have an endless supply of backup CBs. They need one of two of those players to step up. Zech McPhearson impressed at times last summer. It sounds like McCain is off to a good start this summer.

http://igglesblitz.com/2022/07/camp-stuff/

 

Chip Kelly gave the players smoothies.

Doug Pedersen gave them ice cream.

What is Siri's thing? Pina Coladas and bro hugs?

18 minutes ago, CouchKing said:

Chip Kelly gave the players smoothies.

Doug Pedersen gave them ice cream.

What is Siri's thing? Pina Coladas and bro hugs?

Tshirts bro

Miles Sanders is like Hurts- all talk, but no performance. Well, Miles Sanders has been running with the second team so far. Keep talking, Miles, keep talking. 🤣💩

Im a lot more optimistic about this defense. Maybe it will be good enough to keep us close in games so our anemic inconsistent offense will be enough to win games.

12 minutes ago, opa-opa said:

Im a lot more optimistic about this defense. Maybe it will be good enough to keep us close in games so our anemic inconsistent offense will be enough to win games.

Don't forget the D is going up against our O. We're doomed!

2 hours ago, opa-opa said:

Im a lot more optimistic about this defense. Maybe it will be good enough to keep us close in games so our anemic inconsistent offense will be enough to win games.

Last year, our average starting field position was our own 28.1 yard line (22nd in the NFL). Our average drive length was 35 yards (7th in the NFL). Our average points per drive was 2.34 (12th in the NFL). 

Defensively last season: Opponents average starting field position was the 29.3 yard line (19th). Average drive length allowed was 30.7 yards (12th). Average points allowed per drive was 2.14 (22nd). 

Even if we didn't improve offensively, an improvement by the defense and/or special teams could have a significant impact. Our defense was tied for 26th in takeaways, and ranked 31st in sacks. 

Our average kick return was 18.5 yards and our opponents averaged 26.1 yards. Our average punt return was 7.2 yards and we allowed our opponents to average 9.4 yards. 

13 hours ago, Talonblood said:

Miles Sanders is like Hurts- all talk, but no performance. Well, Miles Sanders has been running with the second team so far. Keep talking, Miles, keep talking. 🤣💩

 

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Eagles training camp observations: Brown shows off his strength

 

The Eagles held their third practice of training camp on Saturday before their first off day on Sunday.

Practices have gotten longer as the week has gone on. Day 1 was 58 minutes, Day 2 was 1:15 and Day 3 was 1:30. Today was Military Day at the NovaCare Complex. Great to see players signing for military folks after practice.

To the observations:

1. As always, we’ll start with a few housekeeping notes:

• Brett Toth, Tyree Jackson and Richard Rodgers remain on the PUP list. I watched Jackson work on a side field today with a brace on his knee from that ACL surgery. He’s coming along.

• Three players did not practice on Saturday: Zach Pascal (illness), Keric Wheatfall (COVID progression), Milton Williams (elbow). Williams’ injury is the first of training camp. No word on how severe it is just yet; Nick Sirianni spoke before practice and before we knew about Williams’ absence. Pascal has missed the first three days after dealing with food poisoning, but the last two days he’s been a spectator.

• Rookie tight end Grant Calcaterra left practice early with a lower-body injury. He walked off the field with a trainer to the tent and then eventually into the building. This injury came late in Saturday’s session.

• Receiver John Hightower got banged up during 7-on-7s. But after taking a while to get up, he returned to practice. He might have just gotten the wind knocked out of him.

• Today was the first day Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce have gotten 11-on-11 reps in camp. They are both working their way back from COVID-19.

2. After a really rough Day 2, the Eagles offense got off to a good start on Day 3 and that included Jalen Hurts. During his first 11-on-11 session of Saturday, Hurts was getting the ball to his receivers who were making grabs on contested balls. But then Hurts had his worst play and decision of camp. It’s even more notable because it’s something he’s really struggled with.

Hurts rolled to his left and threw the ball across his body on a pass that was picked off by Andre Chachere. It was a bad decision and a poor throw. Aside from that, Hurts had his ups and downs on Saturday but was mostly sharp. Some underthrown balls but he also had some really good completions to his receivers and tight end Dallas Goedert. He was better on Saturday than he was on Friday; much sharper.

But this is also interceptions in back-to-back practices from Chachere, who picked off Gardner Minshew on Friday. The veteran safety has been known more as a special teams ace but he’s presumably in a competition with K’Von Wallace for a roster spot. Not only has Chachere picked off passes in back-to-back days but he also got some first-team reps on Saturday.

Overall, the defense won Saturday but it was closer than it was in Day 2. It’s not uncommon to see offenses a little behind early in camp.

Solid performances from Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, Davion Taylor and Chachere on Saturday.

3. A positive for the offense: We really got to see A.J. Brown’s functional strength at work on Day 3. The 6-1, 226-pound Brown has the frame to box out defensive backs and haul in tough passes. He did that on Saturday a few times. His first catch of the day came in the first team portion of practice against Darius Slay. Slay had tight coverage but Brown was able to out-muscle him and come down with the ball. Brown is giving Slay all he can handle.

4. Good day for the Georgia boys. Jordan Davis got his first first-team reps of the summer and was making some plays. And even though Nakobe Dean is still working with the second team, he started to flash. The third-round linebacker blew up a screen in the flat and also got off a block from Sua Opeta in the second level. That’s something to watch. Dean is obviously undersized so his ability to shed blocks from offensive linemen will be important.

5. Before practice, Sirianni downplayed the fact that Miles Sanders didn’t get any first-team reps on Day 2 of practice, saying Sanders is still "our guy.” And on the first play in team on Day 3, Sanders took a handoff and exploded through the hole for a big gain. He has looked like a powerful runner this summer.

6. Like Hurts, Minshew has had an up-and-down camp thus far too. But Minshew really seems to excel on those intermediate routes. He’s accurate and throws heaters in there. One of them on Saturday saw Minshew burning one over the linebacker in coverage to a streaking Deon Cain in the middle of the field.

Minshew didn’t join the Eagles until just before the start of the 2021 regular season, so this is our first look at him in camp.

7. A couple special teams notes:

• Jake Elliott made all six of his field goal attempts: From 27 yards, 36, 39, 26, 40 and 45.

The kick returners in order of their appearances: Jason Huntley, Devon Allen, Hightower, Britain Covey. Worth noting that neither Jalen Reagor, Kenny Gainwell nor Quez Watkins lined up with that group. Those were the top three kick returners from 2021.

8. A couple good throws from Hurts:

• During 7-on-7s, Hurts threw a beautiful deep ball to Watkins but it was just out of his reach. It hit Watkins’ fingertips but he couldn’t haul it in. Watkins had a step on Slay, who was gassed after the play.

• The best play from Hurts on Saturday came after a blitz up the gut from Kyzir White. Hurts was flushed out of the pocket, rolled right and hit Goedert with a laser beam on the right sideline.

9. The Eagles finally had some 1-on-1s between receivers and corners on Saturday. Here are a few notes:

• James Bradberry, who is having a solid camp, had a big PBU on Brown down the field. Held his own against a bigger target.

• Reagor beat Zech McPhearson on a go route for a long completion. Reagor is quietly playing well this summer as expectations wane.

• Watkins gave Avonte Maddox a really tough time in these drills. It’s impressive that after just one season in the slot, Watkins looks this smooth in there. His type of speed is often utilized outside but it’s unique to have a player like him in there. It creates matchup problems.

• I was really looking forward to watching Allen in these drills, thinking he’d fly past DBs. Didn’t happen. In fact on his 1-on-1 with Tay Gowan, Gowan stayed right with him as the ball dropped incomplete.

• Hurts and Brown were off on their timing on a back shoulder throw. They’re still working those things out.

• Nice PBU for Josiah Scott on an under thrown ball to Greg Ward.

10. Now a tight end, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside made an eye-popping grab near the end of practice. The ball was tipped in the air but JJAW was able to adjust mid-air and pull it in.

Stupid Observation of the Day: After matching up with Watkins on a deep ball in 7-on-7s, Slay was completely gassed. He waved to the coaches to get a sub in there for him and he squatted next to the sideline near some fans. Despite being short of breath, when those fans called him Darius, Slay quickly corrected them and said, “… Slay” through heavy breathing. He’s committed to that bit.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-training-camp-2022-observations-day-3-aj-brown-shows-his-strength

 

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QUICK TAKES: SEVEN OBSERVATIONS FROM DAY 3 OF EAGLES’ TRAINING CAMP

By Victor Williams

July 30, 2022

 

The Eagles returned to practice on Saturday for Day 3 of training camp before an off day on Sunday.

Participation report:

DID NOT PRACTICE

• WR Zach Pascal – illness
• WR Keric Wheatfall – COVID progression
• DT Milton Williams – elbow

The defense impressed for the second consecutive practice; here are my seven takeaways.

AJ Brown gets the better of Darius Slay

Brown’s power was on display throughout practice. In the first matchup between Brown and Slay, Hurts hit his receiver along the right sideline and Brown put Slay in the dirt with a stiff-arm. On a later rep, Brown made an impressive diving catch with Slay in tight coverage.

An exciting matchup to watch.

Andre Chachere making some noise at safety

Chachere, who got some first-team reps on Saturday, picked off his second pass of camp, putting together another solid day of practice. He’s giving K’Von Wallace a run for his money at backup safety, and his versatility to play cornerback may give him the edge.

Miles Sanders back with the first-team

After exclusively working with the second-team on Friday, Sanders was back with the starters in today’s practice. He’s looked explosive throughout camp, picking up a big gain on the first rep of 11-on-11 drills.

Prior to practice, Sirianni reaffirmed that Sanders was their lead back.

"Miles is our guy. There is no secret, we like to rotate our backs. But Miles is our guy. He is the guy.”

Jalen Reagor going down swinging

Nick Sirianni stated before practice that Reagor is "battling for a spot” in a deep WR room. Reagor opened camp with a strong performance on Wednesday and beat Zech McPhearson in one-on-one coverage for a deep catch today.

He may crack the final-53.

Linebackers making plays

The Eagles finally have some linebackers who can play. TJ Edwards saved a potential first down with a diving pass breakup on DeVonta Smith and had another PBU on a sprint-out throw to AJ Brown. Running with the second-team, Nakobe Dean sniffed out a screen in the flat for a tackle for loss.

Davion Taylor, coming off an INT in yesterday’s practice, got some work with the first-team today.

Another up-and-down day for Jalen Hurts

Looking to bounce back from yesterday’s lackluster practice, Hurts got out to a quick start with four straight completions. On his 5th attempt, Hurts rolled to his left and threw a bad pass across his body right into the arms of Andre Chachere.

Hurts nearly threw another INT to James Bradberry on a poorly thrown ball intended for DeVonta Smith. He followed up with good throws to Smith on a sharp comeback route and found Dallas Goedert up the seem while avoiding a blitz from LB Kyzir White. Hurts had another pretty ball in 7-on-7s hitting Quez Watkins’ fingertips, but his WR couldn’t make the catch.

His best play of practice came on a rep where Hurts hung in the pocket, avoided the rush and fired a nice ball to Greg Ward, a throw I’m not sure he could’ve made last season.

The defense is certainly further along than the offense thus far into camp, and James Bradberry has a lot to do with that. The veteran corner has been a physical presence and recorded a pass breakup on a deep pass intended for AJ Brown. He and Slay will be a formidable duo on Sundays.

Special Teams Notes

Jake Elliott went 6/6 on FGs today, hitting from 26, 33, 36, 39, 40, and 45. Jason Huntley was the primary kick returner today with Devon Allen, John Hightower, and Britain Covey behind him.

The Eagles have an off day tomorrow and return to practice Monday at 10 A.M.

https://thelibertyline.com/2022/07/30/day-3-of-eagles-training-camp/

 

Hoping Carson Strong gets better with his touch and accuracy. Hearing he missed several deep balls. Throwing out of bounds or overthrowing by 5-6 yards. It's still early so. Keep working.

Huntley was easily the most impressive kick returner they had last year, even though it was only one game, the meaningless one against the Turds. But alas, I’m pretty sure they won’t be dedicating a roaster spot to a player solely because of his kick return ability. He’s going to have to make it as a running back. And I’m not sure that’s happening.

It’s also disgusting to see how statistically bad the kickoff coverage was last year. Because it was bad just watching with the naked eye. I remain skeptical about our ST coach. In a way, I don’t really blame him for the poor return game, because that’s a function of the talent you have back there. But there’s no good excuse for being bad running down the field and tackling the guy with the ball.