Eagles Training Camp Observations: Quinyon Mitchell vs. DeVonta Smith originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Before heading to New England for a joint practice against the Patriots on Tuesday, the Eagles spent more than an hour and a half at the NovaCare Complex on Sunday morning.
They were in shorts and shells for this practice, but will obviously be in full protection on Tuesday against the Patriots. Super Bowl hero Corey Clement was present as a spectator.
Here are some observations from Sunday’s session:
1. As always, housework:
• Before practice, the Eagles signed safety Caden Sterns and waived linebacker Shaquille Quarterman. Sterns was recently waived by the Broncos and claimed by the Panthers, but failed a physical and was waived again. Sterns is not yet practicing with the Eagles, but was on a sideline wearing a gray No. 37 Eagles sweatshirt. Sterns had a compression sleeve on his left leg. Signing a player during camp that he can’t practice seems like a sign that Sterns is more than a field body. He played for Vic Fangio and Christian Parker in Denver.
• Did not train: Oren Burks (knee), Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), Parris Campbell (groin), CJ Gardner-Johnson (shoulder), Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen)
• Limited: Mehki Garner (hamstring), Patrick Johnson (leg injury), Brandon Smith (concussion)
• Cooper DeJean is still on the NFI roster and has yet to practice this summer, but he went through what appeared to be a pretty intense workout on a sideline on Sunday. It wasn’t just a straight line race. DeJean suffered a hamstring injury and was expected to miss about three weeks. He was posted to NFI on 23 July. Hamstrings can be unstable, but Tuesday marks three weeks from that date. Maybe we’ll see him on the field in the next training session at the NovaCare Complex.
2. Some notes from the depth chart:
• Mekhi Becton continues to get all first-team reps at right guard, while Tyler Steen gets second-team reps at the position. This is clearly Becton’s job to lose.
• Johnny Wilson and Britain Covey got most of the WR3 snaps.
• More second team photos for Tanner McKee, which has been going on for about a week. Kenny Pickett still gets most of them, but McKee gets some, especially on days when the three are limited.
• Devin White and Zack Baun started the day as the top linebackers, but after good preseason play, Nakobe Dean seemed to have gotten a bigger share of first-team reps. He put them alongside White and Baun in this workout. Maybe number 17 is still in the competition.
• Isaiah Rodgers was the RCB starter, but eventually Kelee Ringo got some reps there. Quinyon Mitchell was the first-team nickel. Without CJGJ, Avonte Maddox filled the starting spot alongside Reed Blankenship. But James Bradberry also got some first-team reps and Maddox remained on the field for cheap.
3. The highlight of the day might have been the battles between DeVonta Smith and Quinyon Mitchell in WR-DB 1-on-1. Earlier in camp, Mitchell was getting those reps against Brown, but recently he’s been facing off against Smith. This makes even more sense because Mitchell plays more inside.
On the first rep, Smith got an easy separation and caught a pass. But then Mitchell really recovered. On the next one, Mitchell was super sticky in coverage and forced an incompletion near the left sideline. And Mitchell on the third rep had tight coverage and forced another incompletion.
These 1-on-1s are definitely skewed toward the receivers, so seeing Mitchell throw two incompletions in three reps against a 1,000-yard receiver is pretty impressive.
4. Some other highlights from WR vs. DB 1 vs 1:
• Dallas Goedert made a deep pass over Reed Blankenship after a pass from Hurts. After Goedert’s win, Gardner-Johnson was shouting some trash talk on the other side of the field.
• On the next replay, Hurts hit John Ross deep over Josh Jobe. Ross is known for his speed, but we haven’t seen many deep balls from him during team practices.
• Johnny Wilson dove against Kelee Ringo.
• James Bradberry had a great reputation against CJ Uzomah. Sticky coverage and pass breakup on a short route.
• AJ Brown bullied Eli Ricks. He used his body to separate and receive a pass when Ricks was called for a penalty. Brown ran a similar route against Isaiah Rodgers, using his body to protect the defender from the ball.
5. The Eagles ended practice with a very entertaining 1-on-1 competitive period that resulted in a 2-2 tie between the offense and defense.
one. DT Thomas Booker faced OL Trevor Keegan. The rookie left guard took him down quickly. Attack 1, Defense 0
b. LB Ben VanSumeren vs. RB Lew Nichols in a pass protection drill. This one was close, but Nick Sirianni considered VanSumeren the winner. Nichols dropped to the floor to do push-ups. Attack 1, Defense 1
w. WR Ainias Smith vs. S Andre’ Sam in the penthouse. It looked like Sirianni was giving fifth-round fighter Smith a chance to gain some momentum. This is a 1-on-1 in the middle of the field against a safety – should be an easy win. The plan backfired. Smith barely managed to break away and then failed to catch after the ball still hit him in the hands. The defense went crazy. Attack 1, Defense 2
d. WR Johnny Wilson vs. This was a perfect ball for sixth-rounder Wilson, who got the first-round pick. This time, the attack broke out while some defenders wasted time asking for a call from OPI. It was a fun way to end the day. Attack 2, Defense 2
6. Hurts’ best moment on Sunday came on a play where there was some pressure on his face. Hurts managed to avoid the confusion – a defender was on the ground in defense – and stepped forward to fire a pass to DeVonta Smith in the middle of the field. The referee threw a flag on the play, but I didn’t know what it was; may have been an obstacle. But either way, it was some impressive pocket navigation from Hurts.
7. Johnny Wilson made a big catch on the sideline after Hurts rolled to the right. EJ Jenkins also made a nice lateral catch over Andre’ Sam on a pass from Tanner McKee.
Surprisingly, AJ Brown was unable to get two feet on the field on a Hurts lateral pass into the end zone. It looked close, but Brown was ruled out and the offense looked frustrated by it.
8. The Eagles didn’t throw the ball downfield much in this practice. But we saw a lot of horizontal play. Reading options, RPOs, narrow screens, and plenty of pre-snap movement. We even saw a little 21 people with some running backs on the field. After practice, Kellen Moore wasn’t committed to using this package, but acknowledged that it’s something we may see from time to time.
9. Nice pass on a try to Johnny Wilson from safety Tristin McCollum, who maintains his momentum after a really solid preseason performance. Also a good PBU from Zech McPhearson against tight end EJ Jenkins.
10. The Eagles spent a lot of time on special teams Sunday morning. At the start of practice, they had a four-station rotation working on tackles, open field situations and getting out of blocks. We also saw a rare punt block during practice today.
Stupid observation of the day: Before the day began, Britain Covey ran out with a small pre-packaged container, swallowed it and grimaced. “Pickle juice,” he said with a grimace. It’s a great way to start the day — but it’s better than beet juice, he said.
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