PHILADELPHIA — The first practice after the preseason opener was not in full pads, yet the Philadelphia Eagles provided plenty of action at the NovaCare Complex Sunday. One-on-one battles ruled the day as the Eagles wide receivers and defensive backs sharpened iron before heading up to Foxborough for their joint practice with the New England Patriots this week.
The 89-minute session didn’t look like it was going to be too intense in the first 45 minutes, but things really picked up for the back half of the session. Here are the observations of the final training camp practice at the NovaCare Complex until Saturday:
Injuries
Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (shoulder) missed his third straight practice and linebacker Oren Burks missed his 10th straight session (knee). Wide receiver Parris Campbell (groin) missed his fourth straight practice.
Two new members emerged on the injury report from the preseason game. Tight ends Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen) and Grant Calcaterra (shoulder) missed Sunday’s practice.
Safety Mekhi Garner (hamstring) and linebacker Brandon Smith (concussion) were upgraded to limited. Pass rusher Patrick Johnson (lower leg contusion) was also limited.
Depth chart notes
- Mekhi Becton is the clear front-runner for the right guard spot as he earned all the snaps with the starters. Only playing one series on Friday also indicated as such.
- The majority of the WR3 snaps went to Britain Covey and Johnny Wilson, as Ainias Smith and John Ross were behind both on the depth chart. Wilson appears on track for a roster spot and Covey has his essentially sealed as a wideout and a punt returner.
- The starting linebackers were Zack Baun and Devin White, as it’s been for the majority of practices. Nakobe Dean and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are getting second-team reps, but Dean saw some action with the first team.
- With Gardner-Johnson out, Avonte Maddox started at safety with Reed Blankenship. James Bradberry was also mixing in with Maddox and getting first-team reps.
- Isaiah Rodgers started at cornerback opposite Darius Slay, but Kelee Ringo also earned first-team reps. Quinyon Mitchell was in the slot.
The 1-on-1 battles highlighted this crisp Sunday morning, with the top showdown between wide receiver Devonta Smith and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. The two did not face off against each other until last week, but it’s clear the duo are getting used to challenging each other in practice.
Mitchell and Smith went against each other three times. All were intense 1-on-1 battles:
- Round 1: Smith got easy separation and caught a pass as Mitchell looked like a rookie
- Round 2: Mitchell had blanket coverage on Smith, forcing an incompletion on an out near the left sideline. Mitchell said something to Smith after the play.
- Round 3: Mitchell had tight coverage and forced a high throw to Smith. Prior to the play Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson yelled to Smith he met his match.
Mitchell took two of three in the best-of-three matchup. Quite impressive since 1-on-1s are in favor of the wide receivers.
More 1-on-1 battles
Here were some other highlights of the 1-on-1 period between the receivers and defensive backs:
End of practice 1-on-1s
The Eagles had a competitive period of 1-on-1s where the whole team surrounded themselves in a circle and watched the session. There were four battles, two of which were won by the offense and two by the defense.
- Guard Trevor Keegan shut down defensive tackle Thomas Booker on a pass rush.
- Linebacker Ben VanSumeren beat running back Lew Nichols on a pass rush. Nichols was close to holding off VanSumeren, but VanSumeren was declared the winner.
- Safety Andre Sam beat wide receiver Ainias Smith, as the rookie wideout couldn’t get any separation on the safety in a 1-on-1 drill. Gardner-Johnson ran over and chest-bumped Sam after Smith failed to leap and make the catch.
- Wilson ended practice catching a perfect Jalen Hurts pass into the back corner of the end zone over Mitchell, sending the wide receivers into a frenzy. Brown and Smith celebrated with Wilson on the ground as practice ended. Darius Slay joked Wilson committed offensive pass interference.
Player observations
- Strong day for Jalyx Hunt as he continues to make flashy plays. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said he thought Hunt did a little better than he thought he would in the preseason opener, continuing that momentum in Sunday’s practice. Hunt batted down a Hurts pass with him and Jalen Carter getting pressure in the middle of the field in 11-on-11s. Hunt also was in on a blocked punt during the special teams portion of practice (Zack Baun was also in there too, and might have gotten the block). Later in the practice, Hunt got pressure with Milton Williams that would have likely been a sack in the game. This may have been Hunt’s best practice of camp.
- A.J. Brown was pretty chippy in this practice, one where he was making a few impressive catches. Brown beat Isaiah Rodgers on a slant and goes “Hell no!’ after the play, only for Rodgers to get him on the very next play on a ball down the left sideline. A smiling Brown had his arms out and may have been looking for a flag. The Eagles later went to red zone portion of team practice and Brown caught a touchdown pass over two defenders. Brown celebrated by kicking or punting the ball onto the other practice field. He was fired up after that catch.
- Becton puked on the first day of practice and didn’t have any incidents until today, throwing up late in the session before coming back in. Becton chalked it up to eating bacon and eggs too close to practice, while drinking a heavy amount of water. Becton didn’t miss any plays after the episode, as he was the first-team right guard again.
- Jeremiah Trotter Jr. continued his strong training camp. Trotter blitzed Kenny Pickett and forced an incompletion in 11-on-11s, then followed that up at the end of practice with good pass coverage on Saquon Barkley. While Trotter was there to make the “tackle,” Barkley made the catch on the curl route in the slot. This was a good test for Trotter.
