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Today marked the ninth practice of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles training camp. Here’s what I observed! (Stay tuned for the daily recap of today’s BGN Radio podcast which will be posted here once it goes live.)
• The Eagles were back in the pads today.
• JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Difficult day for Hurts and the offense as a whole. They were in a bad mood. My BGN Radio co-host Jimmy Kempski, who has been covering Eagles training camps for over 10 years, said it was one of the worst offensive practices he’s ever seen.
There was an 11-11 stretch where Hurts didn’t even make a pass after five straight attempts. The ball has hit the ground too many times. A few passes were knocked down. Another was almost picked after being thrown in double blanket. It hurts do getting picked by Eric Wilson on the sidelines on a game that would have been really dead anyway since the pressure was on him, but everyone kept playing. I just forced things on this rep.
In my eyes, Hurts is guilty of hanging on to the ball for too long. It’s not necessarily like the wide receivers are open everywhere, but I don’t really see Hurts either. to throw its receptors open.
It was not all bad for Hurts. He had a good throw in the middle of Zach Ertz, making sure to place the ball high enough on the linebacker below. His best shot was to Travis Fulgham on a corner road; the ball was on the receiver as he was ready to look back after his break.
Overall, Hurts just doesn’t have the camp that I imagine the Eagles ideally would have liked to see from him. He did nothing to dissuade the team from looking for a possible upgrade.
Now, that doesn’t mean things can’t change. In the words of Allen Iverson, we are talking about practice. But practice is not necessarily unimportant. I wrote here daily last year that Carson Wentz didn’t look good; he struggled particularly with precision. Indeed, these problems continued into the regular season.
Maybe things will be different for Hurts. He will certainly get the chance to show his running skills in matches more than he can in practice. Even though he’s been improving since camp, there is still a big gap to be filled to become an indisputable franchise quarterback. Based on what we’ve seen so far, there are doubts it does exactly that.
• EAGLE INJURY NEWS: The most important injury update is that John Hightower (groin) is weekly. Not a good development for a roster bubble player.
Genard Avery (groin), Shaun Bradley (disease), Grayland Arnold (hamstring) and Obi Melifonwu (hamstring) are new additions to the list. They are all listed day by day.
Michael Walker (foot) was back in training, but as a limited participant.
• NOTES ON THE DEPTH CHART – INFRINGEMENT: Sua Opeta saw representatives of the guard left of the first team in place of Nate Herbig, who replaced Isaac Seumalo. Jack Driscoll was also part of the first team’s right guard in place of Matt Pryor. Herbig was the team’s second center. Interesting adjustments.
• As for the Eagles’ offensive difficulties, the defense has really collapsed. They generated a lot of pressure and made a lot of plays with the ball. At this rate, there is potential for Jonathan Gannon’s side of the ball to be a top 15 unit. Maybe even behind the top 10? Unless their success really depends on offensive struggles, which I don’t believe to be true.
• While the defense clearly won the day, the Eagles’ offense flared up after the final practice game when Nick Mullens hit Jason Huntley for an over-the-shoulder catch on a first down. Several players and even coaches (Stoutland included) came to pat Huntley on the head. Obviously, there were issues behind this reception.
• Josh Sweat, one of the the biggest winners of the camp, got off to a quick start today. He beat Andre Dillard cleanly on the edge to “fire” Hurts. A few games later he got to the middle of the line (looked like a stunt) for another ‘sack’. Sweat’s presence may also have been responsible for Jordan Mailata’s false start at some point. Sweat could be in line to have a really big season.
• Mailata had a good reputation against Sweat in 1v1, which earned him a punch from Jeff Stoutland. The Australian kept Sweat at bay with good positioning as the rusher tried to go off and turn the corner. Mailata also used her long arms to push Sweat into the ground.
• Stoutland also praised Mailata after an exercise at OL. Not the same for Dillard.
• Derek Barnett pushed Dillard back into Hurts at one point. Also a “bag” later in practice.
• Anthony Harris had a nice break from a diving pass on a short throw from Hurts to Dallas Goedert.
• Alex Singleton almost found a choice on his first day back at training camp after being activated from the COVID-19 roster. It was him and Wilson as the team’s first linebacker.
• Did it seem like Miles Sanders was fumbling around again today? It wasn’t exactly clear if the game was already over when he lost control. I heard Eagles running back coach Jemal Singleton yell something at him.
• WR vs DB 1: 1 Scores: Travis Fulgham parted with Steve Nelson on a curl but dropped the pass thrown straight into his hands. Nelson had respectable cover on a throw to Fulgham, who prepared for the dive but couldn’t play. Would like to see fewer drops from No.13. Quez Watkins made a catch despite his jersey clearly being pulled by Zach McPhearson. Joe Flacco threw a deep ball at Adrian Killins, who caught it in stride after grilling Avonte Maddox. Flacco followed that up with a clear overthrow aimed at Greg Ward.
• Kerryon Johnson had a nasty fall on the flat.
• TY McGill had his daily bag at the center.
• Tyree Jackson failed to catch a through pass from Flacco. The converted tight end was open and set up for it, but couldn’t grab it as Andrew Adams was also there to disrupt a potential capture.
• Nick Mullens threw a really bad choice at Lavert Hill, which you might not even realize is part of the squad. Put the ball too far inside on an outside route, which allowed the corner to easily get a six pick.
• Darius Slay and Nelson worked together on outings while most of the rest of the team focused on special teams. Looks like they already have a connection.
• Jack Stoll opened up several times in the middle for some nice catches. Most notable, the undrafted rookie free agent tight end has been in camp.
• Hakeem Butler also had his best day, although that doesn’t really mean much.
• I had to get a popsicle ice cream from Rita (sic) to cool off as it was so hot and sunny in training. We went with the Swedish Fish, which is their second best flavor behind the Sour Patch Kids Red. Mango and lemon are interchangeable for me as the second and third. The blueberry is the last.
• Hey, how about a little love for the first Phils ?! Be sure to check out our fantastic coverage of the Phillies at The Bon Phight.
NEXT: The first of two Eagles practice sessions open to the public at Lincoln Financial Field this summer begins tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. ET. Tickets are still available; they are $ 10 and all proceeds go to the Eagles Autism Foundation. Parking is free.
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