Sunday was the second day of Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice. There's a lot to talk about, so let's dive right in:
Practice Notes:
• Weather: Hot and humid. Less than ideal for the players.
• After the Eagles begin their practices with stretching, they move on to positional drills. Here are some videos for you:
And here's a picture of Nick Foles.
• I noticed Jordan Matthews wasn't wearing gloves when he was catching passes from quarterbacks in a QB/WR drill. He seemed to be wearing them when he was practicing returning punts, however. Hope you enjoyed this Matthews glove update.
• Jimmy Kempski has been keeping tracking of players that have taken a break in practice to use the bathroom. So far it's only been offensive lineman. Today, I noticed McCoy walk over the the porta potty. Is this is some high level journalism right here or what?
• Let's get to some 'actual' practice observations you'd be interested in hearing about. Wide receiver Arrelious Benn dropped two passes today. He dropped at least one on Saturday. Benn's fighting to make the roster and the drops certainly aren't helping.
• Speaking of struggling wide receivers, Damaris Johnson muffed a punt. He fumbled a kickoff return on Saturday so he hasn't really had a great start to camp.
• LeSean McCoy and Trent Cole fought each other. More details on that here.
• Cornerback Nolan Carroll impressed yet again. He absolutely blanketed tight end Zach Ertz in coverage on one play.
• Rutgers undrafted free agent rookie receiver Quron Pratt may have had the catch of the day. G.J. Kinne overthrew Pratt on a pass short and to the right but Pratt jumped up high in the air and snatched it.
• The Eagles lined up slot cornerback Brandon Boykin on the outside for a number of repetitions. Before you get excited keep in mind that the Eagles also did this last year in training camp. To no surprise, Boykin played really well.
• Brent Celek spent some time long-snapping during a punting drill. He's the team's emergency long-snapper and he's nowhere near as being good as Jon Dorenbos. Sorry, Brent.
• Let's talk Eagles quarterbacks. Nick Foles had a few moments where he struggled. He let go of a pass intended for Brad Smith that ended up being underthrown. Smith had Roc Carmichael beat in coverage but Foles' lob throw allowed Carmichael to break up the play. Later on Foles overthrew Jeremy Maclin deep. No major mistakes other than that.
Mark Sanchez had another good day of practice overall. He was almost intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins at one point but give credit to the new Eagles safety: he read the play perfectly. Jenkins dropped the interception. Sanchez's best throw was when found Jordan Matthews down field for an over the shoulder catch. Matthews got the ball and ran out the play hard as he always does. Forrest Gump style.
Matt Barkley had two plays that really stood out today. The first was a medium distance throw to Damaris Johnson along the sideline. Johnson was being covered but Barkley put good touch on the pass so that it passed right by two defenders. The second play was a deep ball to streaking Kadron Boone in the end zone for a touchdown. Good day for Barkley. According to Eliot Shorr-Parks, Barkley only had one pass that fell incomplete.
• After practice the Eagles get together as a team and do some post-practice stretches. I don't remember them doing this last year.
• Post-practice JUGS machine reps: Ifeanyi Momah, Damaris Johnson, Kadron Boone, B.J. Cunningham, Jeff Maehl, Riley Cooper, Quron Pratt.
• Nick Foles is really great with the fans after practice. Foles poses for a lot of photos and doesn't deny autograph requests.
• Injury update: Bennie Logan reportedly didn't practice. Roc Carmichael was seen leaving the field early. More on this shortly.
Up next: The Eagles are holding their first public practice at Lincoln Financial Field tomorrow on Monday. Practice starts at 12:15 PM EST, parking opens at 9 AM, HeadHouse Plaza opens at 10 AM, and the Interior Gates open at 11 AM. No tickets are required. More information here.
Remaining Eagles training camp schedule:
July 28th (Public Practice at @ LFF)
July 30th
July 31st
August 1st
August 3rd (Public Practice @ LFF)
August 4th
August 5th
August 6th
August 7th
August 10th (Public Practice @ Franklin Field)
August 11th
August 12th (@ New England Patriots)
August 13th (@ New England Patriots)
August 14th (@ New England Patriots)
August 17th*
August 18th*
August 19th*
August 20th*
August 23rd*
August 24th*
August 25th*
August 26th*
August 27th*
* = Media only allowed to watch the first 20 minutes of practice starting August 17th.