Bleeding Green Nation
Observations from the team’s second media-attended spring practice.
The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles held the second of two OTA practices open to media access on Tuesday afternoon and I was there at the NovaCare Complex to watch the action unfold. Let’s get to the observations!
Returned after missing last week’s media-attended practice: Landon Dickerson, Reed Blankenship, Ben VanSumeren.
Not seen at practice: DeVonta Smith, Nakobe Dean, Johnny Wilson, E.J. Jenkins.
At practice but not practicing: Jihaad Campbell, Cam Jurgens, Avery Williams, Elijah Cooks, Cameron Latu, Marcus Tate.
INJURY UPDATES: Prior to Tuesday’s practice, Vic Fangio was available for his first press conference since leading up to Super Bowl LIX. Among the many noteworthy things he had to say, Fangio revealed that Campbell might not be on the practice field until August and Dean “won’t be back for a while.”
JALEN HURTS UPDATE: The reigning Super Bowl MVP continues to look sharp; the ball has barely hit the ground during his two media-attended OTA practices. The vast majority of his passing attempts have been short throws where the ball is coming out quick. But Hurts did notably push the ball downfield to Dallas Goedert, who was able to make an over-the-shoulder catch in stride (with Zach Baun trailing close behind) for a big gain down the left sideline. That was the play of the day.
Tanner McKee has looked pretty good as QB2. It’s been nice to see him get extended reps after he barely got much practice action as QB3 over the past two years. McKee’s standout play was a strike over the middle to Danny Gray.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK: Cooper DeJean was once again the starting right cornerback in the Eagles’ base defense. He remains their starting slot cornerback. Prior to practice, Fangio talked about figuring out if they want DeJean to play outside CB or safety (!) when they’re in base (which he also mentioned they played just 160 base snaps in 21 total games last year). DeJean has yet to rep at safety in team drills during a media-attended practice, however. When the Eagles were in nickel, Kelee Ringo was first up at RCB in the Eagles’ first first-team 11-on-11 series. Adoree’ Jackson then came in at RCB during a first-team 7-on-7 period. We’ll likely continue to see Ringo and Jackson rotate throughout the summer as they battle for the RCB job in the Eagles’ nickel defense.
Based on his post-practice press conference, Jackson seems like a fun personality who doesn’t always take things too seriously. Adding a veteran who’s able to provide some levity to the locker room could be good now that Darius Slay is gone.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — SAFETY: Blankenship and Sydney Brown were the first-team safeties in the first 7-on-7 series and the first 11-on-11 series. Drew Mukuba later rotated in for Brown, however, in 11-on-11. Mukuba was also up with Blankenship as the first-team safeties in the second...
