Philadelphia Eagles News

For Tuesday’s individual drills, I set my gaze on the defensive backs, as they worked on a drill that put their ball skills on display. Each DB was tasked with getting into their back pedal, flipping their hips, and then sprinting to the post to track a deep ball thrown into the middle of the field. They had to find the ball, attack, and finish on it for the interception. This is a drill that each of these players did going through the pre-draft process at the Scouting Combine and/or at their Pro Days, and it’s a great way to both evaluate and hone their ability to take the ball away down the field. Afterwards, the safety groups went through the paces of matching various route combinations in the secondary, which is important not just for young players but also for new veterans in the room like James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox as they adjust to seeing the game from the deep part of the field.
As 1-on-1 drills begin, I watch the running backs and linebackers match up in blitzing/pass protection drills. The player who caught my eye the most was definitely Saquon Barkley. He looked outstanding in pass protection this morning, and I was extremely impressed with No. 26’s ability to stick his face into blitzing linebackers to get a win.
The first team period starts and two familiar faces end up meeting each other on the first rep, as Devin White meets Barkley in the hole for a stop on an inside run. Credit Jalen Carter for creating havoc up front and forcing a cutback by Barkley on the play. Two plays later, the offense hit an explosive play with Jalen Hurts rolling to his left and finding an open DeVonta Smith for a long catch-and-run for a big play. The offensive staff drew a pretty play up on that one, and it worked very well. The defensive front was able to disrupt things on the next handful of snaps, which included a couple of Hurts scrambles and a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage by Carter. Later, Reed Blankenship laid out with full extension to nearly pick off an errant throw downfield. Kelee Ringo also got a pass breakup down on the goal line.
In the next team drill, the run game was a focus early on for the offense. Will Shipley got up to the second level on a quick-hitting run inside before Barkley belted off a big gain through a gaping hole on the left side of the line. Hurts executed a clean quarterback draw, but on the ensuing carry, young defensive tackle Moro Ojomo knifed into the backfield for a tackle for loss. With the twos out on the field in the next sequence, Patrick Johnson got home clean on an all-out blitz off the right side to get home. The front was able to get to Kenny Pickett numerous times in the next several plays.
After a special teams period where the punt and punt return units got some work as well as a quick break for some situational plays, the entire squad got together for more 11-on-11 action. White and Barkley got to know each other again, with the linebacker flying into the backfield to wrangle Barkley for a loss. Carter made his presence felt again, winning inside FAST and getting a likely sack of Hurts before forcing him into a scramble. White got home again on the next play, this time on a late-developing blitz from the second level. Hurts got into a rhythm after that, hitting A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on consecutive slant routes.
With the second-string units out there, Josh Jobe made several plays. The young corner, who missed time recently with a concussion, got two pass breakups in this sequence and pushed a runner out of bounds early on as well. Jobe has made his mark on special teams, as expected, so far this summer – and today, he did a good job on defense as well. Practice ended when undrafted free agent Shon Stephens forced a pass breakup that was intercepted on the goal line. Stephens, who earned a contract after a rookie tryout following the draft, has now helped force turnovers on consecutive days.
Position Spotlight: Specialists

Not much has changed and everything has changed for the Eagles on special teams, if that makes sense. The “not much” part refers to the “operation,” the threesome of placekicker Jake Elliott, punter/holder Braden Mann, and long snapper Rick Lovato. Elliott has been a standout since 2017 here, Lovato is as good as anyone in the NFL, and Mann upped the performance at punter when he joined the Eagles last season.

It is a comforting and confident feeling with all three in place, perfecting their crafts and continuing their chemistry. It also gives the Eagles a chance to win in the portion of special teams this season where “everything” has changed – most notably the new rules for kickoffs. The NFL wants to see more returns and the experimental part of Training Camp and the preseason in terms of how to cover kickoffs and the best approach in the return game is well underway.

Much of the core members of special teams are determined after the 53-man roster is established and the Eagles are cycling through virtually everyone on the roster in Training Camp to get a look at who might be a good fit for coordinator Michael Clay’s special teams. Players like cornerback Josh Jobe helped form the heart of kick coverage last season, but the truth is that special teams jobs are won in preseason games.

What will we see from the Eagles on kickoffs in the preseason games? That’s what everyone is going to be watching in the three preseason games.

Injury Update

LB Oren Burks (knee), WR Parris Campbell (groin), S C.J Gardner-Johnson (shoulder), CB Mekhi Garner (hamstring), and LB Brandon Smith (concussion) missed Tuesday’s practice.
C Cam Jurgens (illness), G Tyler Steen (ankle), and WR Austin Watkins (illness) were limited in practice.
Kellen Moore: Jalen Hurts has ‘been phenomenal’ in Training Camp

Before Tuesday’s practice, Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore offered an analysis of the quarterback room heading into the preseason opener starting with Jalen Hurts.

“He’s been phenomenal. He’s done an awesome job, just continuing to build and evolve with this thing as we go,” Moore said. “I think the communication has been critical. It’s been awesome, his with the players, from player to player, but also just our collaboration as we continue to build this thing, getting good feedback on things – things we like, things we want to adjust, and continue to keep building that. It’s been a really fun task.”

Kenny Pickett has taken the majority of the second-team reps in practices, but Tanner McKee has mixed in from time to time. Moore said that it’s to provide an opportunity to see McKee work with different personnel.

“Tanner’s doing an awesome job. Kenny’s doing an awesome job. Really two complete, independent things. It’s not necessarily associated with each other,” Moore said of McKee garnering some second-team reps. “I think both those guys are having really good camps. Sometimes when you’re a younger guy, we like to put you in some different situations where you’re with different guys on the field, whether it be with a second group, or first group, all those different things. You try and mix and match these things, just to give yourself different perspective for these guys. Kenny’s handling it awesome. Tanner’s handled it awesome. It’s been really good for these guys.”

One aspect of the quarterback play that has stood out in the summer to Moore is the lack of turnovers up and down the depth chart.

“Excellent decision (making), excellent preparation by Jalen,” Moore said. “He’s doing a great job with the football. He’s still aggressive. He’s still trying to get the ball downfield. He’s trying to make plays and he’s doing a nice job. Really, the whole ground as a unit, I think we’ve only had a couple so far in camp. These guys are making really good decisions while still playing aggressive. They’re not passive. They’re not just taking checkdowns. They’re getting the ball downfield.”

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— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 6, 2024
From student to teacher

QB Kenny Pickett on working with Kellen Moore and the knowledge the new offensive coordinator brings as a former NFL quarterback: “He sees it through our lens cause he’s played, and he’s been through it, so the fact that he understands what we’re seeing and how we feel on certain plays, having that mindset and that perspective is really beneficial for a quarterback. You’re kind of talking the same way and he understands the looks that you’re looking at on tape or in practice, so the communication’s fairly easy when it’s like that.”

Team-first mentality

QB Tanner McKee on his goals heading into Training Camp: “For me, it’s just improving every day. I went over goals with some of the coaches before Training Camp and really the biggest goal for me was prove to my teammates, the coaches, and everybody that I’m someone they can rely on whenever they need me to, so I’m just trying to prove that every day in how I work and how I play and just my connection with the guys on the team. We have a lot of great guys that love to compete, so I’m just trying to get better every day.”

Learning on the fly

K Jake Elliott on not knowing what to expect with the new kickoff rule: “It’s so new and we don’t really know how it’s going to look yet, so the preseason is going to be big to get an idea of that and then we’ll see what it looks like in the regular season.”

A mutual respect

CB Kelee Ringo on the competition with Isaiah Rodgers and their relationship: “Isaiah is a great guy, just picking his brain as he was drafted in 2020, so just trying to add a little bit of things into my game as I was last year with (Darius) Slay and James (Bradberry). We come out to work every single day, and we compete to the best of our abilities and the cards are gonna fall where they fall.”

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