Eagles Rookie Camp: Day 1 Recap

The Philadelphia Eagles' mandatory Rookie Camp began earlier today, and consisted of warm-up drills, a full practice, and in-depth evaluation of the players in attendance. Despite the title of this offseason OTA (Organized Team Activity), a few select veterans were allowed to come to the event and participate. Those who have already been in the league for a year that did indeed come and practice alongside the rookies were: QBs Kevin Kolb and A.J. Feeley, FB Kyle Eckel, WRs Danny Amendola and Shaheer McBride, OGs Mike Gibson and Mike McGlynn, OTs King Dunlap and Winston Justice, DE Bryan Smith, LBs Tank Daniels and Joe Mays, CB Jack Ikegwuonu, and S Quintin Demps. The remainder of the group consisted of all the newcomers to the team and the NFL, which includes 1st-round Draft choice Jeremy Maclin and 2nd-rounder LeSean McCoy. Listed after the jump are all of the news reports and updates from the first day of the Eagles' Rookie Camp.

• RB LeSean McCoy was one of the "most-worked" players on the practice field, for he was required to run several plays repeatedly until he got them perfectly. "They're used to having things run perfectly here. That's the standard," said FB Kyle Eckel, one of the select veterans in the camp. "I didn't have a chance to have this opportunity last year. I joined the team midway through the season and kind of learned as the season went along. This is great. I'll take the reps any time. It's good to get the work in." McCoy himself also commented on the topic of having to continuously work to secure a spot on the team: "I know I'm not there yet. I kind of know the speed of things. I know the coaches a little bit better. I think I'm picking things up in this offense, but I'm not afraid to ask questions and to be corrected. I have had my mess-ups, my mistakes. I'm human. I think I'm learning better than the average rookie. Coming from the offense we ran [in college] at Pittsburgh, I'm familiar with the concepts. It's just worded different, that's all. It's going to take some time and I'm going to put in that time."
• 6th-round Draft selection Brandon Gibson displayed a great amount of talent while practicing at his WR position. He may not be everyone's pick to crack the final roster, but he did "show up" today, performing at an unexpectedly high rate. Gibson is looking forward to more pre-Training Camp practice so that he can perfect his skills by the time the full team works together.
• Rookie TE Cornelius Ingram lined up and practiced run blocking various times in order to improve from the way he executed the skill in college, which was at times criticized. His display of blocking was reportedly good in Camp today, and he is anxious to begin participation in practice with the rest of the team that was not in attendance.
• Backup veteran QB Kevin Kolb sported an extremely positive attitude, and was very encouraging in both his play and discussions with the coaching staff. Kolb is looking towards the upcoming season and hopes to prove he is worthy of a job after becoming prone to recent criticism for his play as Donovan McNabb's backup.
• The Eagles' first pick in the latest Draft, WR Jeremy Maclin, received a lot of practice time, and sure impressed. He took reps as receiver and punt returner in special teams plays, and said afterward: "I'm better than I was in the post-draft camp. I know more. I know more of the way things are run around here. I'm getting it down. It's a lot to learn. You have to be exact in everything you do and the speed of the game is different. Every time I step on the field, I feel like I'm getting better and better." Maclin figures to battle for the Eagles' number 3 or 4 spot on the WR depth chart, behind last year's rookie sensation DeSean Jackson and veteran Kevin Curtis.
• Offensive Line coach Juan Castillo was proud of what the young offensive lineman showed, and 2nd year OT King Dunlap was among the stars of the group. Dunlap, along with the others in attendance, appeared eager to claim a spot on the roster and work under the experienced, veteran minds of starters Stacy Andrews and Jason Peters this season. Of course, they'll have to perform well in camps like these if they want to do so, but it seems they're doing that well so far.

As the players rest up for tomorrow's conclusion of Rookie Camp, more updates and any other news will be posted as soon as possible, and the latest reports on the Camp will be available to you tomorrow when the players once again take the field.