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First, Andy Reid addressed the media to sum up the camp.
This was a productive session of OTA’s. I appreciated the guys’ attendance and the effort that they gave through the three-day mini-camp and then through the OTA’s. It’s a good lead in for training camp. The players know just like you know now that they have 46 days and 12 hours to get themselves ready to go for training camp and then for the opener against the Packers, that’s the opening game, and then through the preseason games and through training camp. We have to make sure that we’re ready to go. The things I saw in this camp were great effort and energy. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I don’t think this crew that will be an issue as far as the work part goes.”
Bob Grotz from the Delco times named his "all OTA" team which includes S Nate Allen, WR-RB Chad Hall, QB's Kevin Kolb & Mike Kafka, WR Hank Baskett, OLB Ernie Sims, CB Trevard Lindley, & CB Dimitri Patterson.
Speaking of Nate Allen, Andy Reid has announced that he will enter training camp as the starting free safety. Very excited to see him in Lehigh.
Reid also revealed that starting center Jamaal Jackson is not expected to be ready for training camp after offseason knee surgery. Reid also doesn't think he's likely to be ready for the season either.
“Yeah, I think that will be a stretch for him. I think. Have I ruled it out? No. That will be quite a feat, I think.”
Not a exactly a surprise, but it does leave the center position as a big question mark. That said, the Eagles haven't had a starting center that was actually drafted in over a decade so it wouldn't be surprising to see someone already here emerge.
Big Red will be heading to the Middle East with fellow coaches John Fox, Brad Childress, & Marv Lewis on a USO trip to visit the troops.
Much more after the jump
Early in the practice, Jeremy Maclin appeared a bit miffed after Kevin Kolb overthrew him down the right sideline. The two talked and proceeded to dominate the secondary as they have all through the OTAs, with Kolb hitting a streaking Maclin perfectly in stride down the sidelines a number of times. The two also hooked up on a couple TD passes in red zone drills.
Chad Hall appears to be a standout, catching big passes from every QB he lines up with.
Macho Harris picked off Mike Vick, but otherwise Vick looked very crisp. All 3 QBs reportedly looked good.
Nate Allen was making plays, so was Hank Baskett who has had a nice camp.
Brent Celek posted a picture of his locker, which has an action figure hanging from the top and a Jeremy Maclin jersey inside.
The local reporters seem most interested in the Eagles new rule for all practices, which says reporters may only tweet behind the line of scrimmage...
Geoff Mosher put up his OTA postemortem and had this to say about Kevin Kolb.
Kevin Kolb looked sharp and precise all camp. He seems to have adjusted seamlessly into his leadership role and is fast developing a good chemistry with tight end Brent Celek. Kolb will be up north frequently during the next six weeks to work with anyone who wants to get in some extra practice – a different tack than his predecessor, McNabb, took. McNabb invited teammates to work with him at his Arizona home.
Finally, Andy Reid talked about whether there was a difference transitioning to Kolb versus McNabb.
“Well it is a little different, yeah. We spotted Donovan in games and we really focused in on the blitz game with Donovan. At that time when Donovan came out, the college blitz system and the looks that he had seen weren’t quite as sophisticated as what you saw at the NFL level. Now that has transitioned over to the college level where people are blitzing like crazy. Guys that are coming out in the last five years had decent exposure to the blitz game. With [QB] Kevin [Kolb] I don’t feel that’s the case, that’s one thing. I think he was caught up a little bit ahead of what Donovan was just as far as seeing more blitzes. And then two, he hasn’t been forced in there. With Donovan, that was a rush-rush thing to get him in there. Kevin has been able to sit back and learn and then gradually be put in games where he’s had a little experience before. He’s been exposed to the offense before getting into games; a little different situation. It’s a different thing, yeah, to answer your question.”
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