There's a lot to cover, so let's dive right into today's training camp notes:
• I noted yesterday that NFL referees were at yesterday's practice. They were also in attendance for today's session. More on that later in the "quotes" section of this post.
• Very shortly prior to the start of practice, the Eagles announced that Riley Cooper was excused from all team activities until further notice. For more info, check out this BGN article. After practice, we found out that there was a team meeting regarding this situation. More on that in the quotes.
• Casey Matthews hasn't had a bad camp. He's broken up a few passes now, including one today.
• One of the things to watch in practice has been how Chip Kelly is lining up his tight ends in the offense. Today, there was a rep where both Brent Celek and Zach Ertz were lined up as in-line TEs.
• Matthew Tucker impressed me for the first time today. He had a few quality carries for decent yardage. Mike did a player profile on him here today. He has a real shot to make the Eagles practice squad since I think they will only keep 3 running backs on the roster.
• QB UPDATE: Vick threw a great deep ball (40 yards) to Desean Jackson. Perfect ball placement as the throw hit Jackson right on the hands. Eddie Whitley gave his best effort in coverage but DeSean toasted him just like he does with everyone. DJack's great camp performance continues. Vick made a bad decision when throwing a short pass to Russell Shepard. Marsh was playing him tight and easily knocked the ball down once Vick threw it Shepard's way. That may have been Vick's only bad throw of the day. Foles hit Ifeanyi Momah deep for a 50 yard TD catch. Foles threw a few bad passes today but no turnovers. Matt Barkley looked better than he has in recent days.
• Brent Celek had some more drops today, but also made a few tough catches.
• Greg Salas still catches everything.
• Brandon Boykin makes plays. He routinely breaks up passes each and every practice. Yesterday he had an interception and a forced fumble (in a non-contact practice!). Today he laid out Greg Salas after a catch and run.
• Isaac Remington tipped a Barkley pass. There's a name that I didn't think would make my practice notes.
• Julian Vandervelde took some reps as the first team C. Don't read into this. It was just a break for Jason Kelce.
• There was a man dressed up in CFL Calgary Stampeders gear at practice. I imagine he was scouting talent that the Eagles may cut. Or maybe he's just checking up on old friend Chris McCoy.
Quotes:
Chip Kelly
• Chip said it was important to have Riley with the team at yesterday's practice. He didn't want Cooper sitting alone at home.
• Chip said the decision to excuse Cooper from team activities was a group decision. He said the decision was announced today because it took 24-36 hours (from the time of discovering the incident) to put a plan in place.
• Chip stressed that excusing Cooper was "not a football decision."
• "There has never been any consideration about cutting Riley Cooper."
Michael Vick
• Vick says he absolutely sees a realistic scenario where Riley can be accepted back to the team.
• "I love playing with Riley."
Cary Williams - (Video)
• On how Chip has handled this situation: "He's been talking about forgiveness."
• "To me, this issue supersedes the season. There's an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed."
• "I think we can get by this issue, but I feel like Riley has to be present when we talk about it."
• Cary said DeMeco Ryans, Jon Dorenbos, and Jason Avant stood up at the team meeting and spoke.
Jason Avant
• Jason said he won't downplay Riley's comment, but acknowledges his body of work with Cooper as a teammate.
NFL referee Scott Green - (Picture)
• Green downplayed the notion that there will be conflict between Chip's fast paced offense and the NFL referees spotting the ball.
Injury Update:
• DeSean Jackson left practice early yesterday with a toe injury. He was back at practice today.
• WR David Ball left practice early with a left quad contusion.
• Bradley Fletcher (groin) and Antonio Dixon (hamstring) didn't practice, but were doing some work on the stationary bikes.
• Others who did not practice: TE Derek Carrier (shoulder), WR Arrelious Benn (knee), OT Jason Peters (hamstring), OT Dennis Kelly (back), OT Ed Wang (knee), and CB Brandon Hughes (hamstring).
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Up next: Off day tomorrow. The Eagles return to practice on Sunday (8/4).
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