Eagles OTA observations: Ballhawks in secondary originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
On Thursday, the Eagles took the field again for OTAs.
The session also featured stretching, position drills, 7-on-7 and even 11-on-11 drills that allowed the secondary to shine. The Eagles are scheduled to hold one more over-the-top practice on Friday, their sixth and final voluntary workout of the spring.
But next week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the team will hold a mandatory minicamp. This will be the first time the team has held a mandatory minicamp under head coach Nick Sirianni, and all three days will be open to reporters. So, we're excited to get that going.
For now, let’s take a look at today’s 10 observations.
1. These OTAs are entirely optional, but the Eagles have a large attendance, with veterans like Jake Elliott, Kelly Lingo and CJ Uzomah returning from a previous absence when reporters were allowed to watch.
Missing today are Devonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Josh Sweat, Darius Slay, CJ Gardner-Johnson and James Bradberry.
Bradberry's absence has been the most notable because his future with the team is in doubt. If Bradberry is waived or traded after June 1, the dead money would be spread over two years instead of one.
2. Here are some injury notes from today.
•Sydney Brown (ACL) has not yet participated in practice but has been watching practice closely, standing in the super deep safety view during practice and doing mental reps.
• Nakobe Dean (foot) returned to 7-on-7 play after sitting out team practice last week, which is a good sign.
• Aeneas Smith is working his way back from a stress fracture and Zeck MacPherson is working his way back from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Neither player played the full game.
• Cornerback Eli Ricks was injured early in the game when last seen practicing more than a week ago, but he played the full game today. Receiver Jacob Harris was a spectator today due to an undisclosed injury, which is a shame after he was a force on Wednesday.
3. Notes on the offensive depth chart:
• Even with Johnson gone, the top OL remains the same: Left to right: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Mekhi Becton. It's also worth noting that Matt Hennessey remains the backup right guard.
• Second team OL: Fred Johnson, Darian Kinard, Brett Toth, Hennessey, Anim Dankwa.
• In Smith's absence, the Eagles' top receivers were A.J. Brown, Parris Campbell and Joseph Ngata. Ngata was a UDFA last year and has been with the team longer than the other players competing for a roster spot.
Four. Notes on the defensive depth chart:
• The top cornerbacks today (excluding Slay and Bradberry) were Isaiah Rodgers in the slot, Ringo and Tyler Hall. In the absence of Gardner-Johnson, the top safeties were Reid Blankenship and Avonte Maddox. It would be interesting to see Maddox featured on the first team at safety, but the position is thin.
• The top linebackers on the day were still Devin White and Zach Baun, but Dean also worked there and participated in first- and second-team drills. He filled in for Baun at first, then took over for White later in the practice. The Eagles are mixing and matching players a little at a time.
• The second-team defense had Quinion Mitchell and Eli Ricks as outside cornerbacks and Cooper DeJean at the nickel spot. Oren Burks and Ben VanSmelen made up the majority of the LBs on the second team. The second-team safeties were Mekhi Garner and Tristan McCollum. Until recently, Josh Jobe was the Eagles' top backup outside cornerback, but he has been practicing with the third team recently. This is by no means a criticism of him, but it does show how much talent the Eagles have added to the position.
• In 11-on-11, the Eagles' top defensive line was Brandon Graham, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams and Bryce Huff.
Five. The best defensive plays of the game came from the secondary, which had some great interceptions on the day by defensive backs who got the ball.
• On a backup play (third down and six from their own five-yard line), Jalen Hurts was intercepted by Isaiah Rodgers, who then passed the ball the other way for an interception six. A nice break from Rodgers, who hasn't looked like he's back to form since returning from a one-year suspension.
• Garner, playing as a second-team safety, leapt into the air to intercept an underthrown ball by Kenny Pickett on a deep pass to John Ross. Garner played well, but Pickett's passing was shaky and he was passed poorly afterward.
• Practice ended with an interception by cornerback Shawn Stevens, who made the 90-man roster after a tryout at rookie camp. Good story.
• Another great defensive play came from Ringo, who was covering Campbell well deep down the left sideline. Ringo stepped in to block a pass from Hurts. It was a great play, but Ringo was upset that he didn't make the interception, and he heard about it from some of his teammates.
• The other interception was a flicked ball by Baun. The pass was flicked off to Baun, who flicked it off himself and kept it.
6. During the 11-on-11 portion, Huff made some nice speed moves on Mailata. It's hard to tell much about linemen in these drills, but Huff's speed and quickness are evident.
7. There were some tough catches by tight ends fighting lower on the roster.
• EJ Jenkins leapt over Andre Sam to catch a pass from Kenny Pickett, drawing the biggest cheers of the day from the offensive sideline. In the two practices open to reporters, Jenkins made two big plays. Either he's in good form this spring or he really loves what we're watching.
• A few plays earlier, Albert Okwuegbunam made a nice catch over Oren Burks' head down the left sideline. The front office clearly likes Albert Okwuegbunam, and it will be interesting to see if he can grab a spot on the 53-man roster.
8. AJ Brown didn't make any notable catches on Thursday, but Hurts threw him the ball a lot. That's what we saw last training camp, and Brown has had another great season since then. We also saw him be more aggressive on the inside again on Thursday. Keep that in mind as we go into training camp.
9. A word of note on the rookie cornerback:
• Quinion Mitchell didn't do much but he did actually play one inside game. It's unclear if we'll see that again or if it was a one-off.
• Cooper Dejan again worked inside and outside in this practice, making consecutive plays from nickel to boundary. He earned a PBU on a pass to Britten Covey later in the session, and made a nice break for the ball. Dejan also practiced once with the first team, marking the first time we'll see the rookie on the starting unit.
Ten. This was my first time seeing John Ross and seeing him in action. It was a shame for him that Pickett's deep ball wasn't thrown because I was looking forward to seeing him chase the ball. His best catch was a ball that was thrown behind him. It was a great job by Ross reaching back and catching the ball.
Silly observation of the day: The Eagles have a new piece of equipment at their practice facility: a giant monitor that will broadcast a live stream of practice.
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