Today marks the first day our newest Eagles free agent acquisitions can practice! That means Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Ronnie Brown, Evan Mathis, Ryan Harris, Jarrod Page, Anthony Hargrove, Vince Young, and others. The stands are packed for the first time, and lucky for them, it was probably the most fan-friendly practice to date. Let's get to it:
11 on 11's, thud:
- Vick to Avant down the seam. Hanson beat on the play. Some jackass in the stands yelling "You suck Hanson!" Quick note to anyone attending training camp. If the thought of yelling "You suck, (fill in player's name)" enters your mind ON THE VERY FIRST PLAY, just leave. You're a crappy fan, and you're not needed. Training camp is free, and we're weeks away from the actual season. And Hanson had a really good season last year - At least know what you're talking about. So just shut up. And I think the fans in the area of that did some self-policing, because I didn't hear that guy again. Anyway, it just kinda pissed me off, and as it turns out, Hanson had a great day.
(Sitting at the bar as I type this in between practice sessions, my buddy and amateur photographer buddy SR is looking over my shoulder and telling me to add "Don't yell to players by their last name to get them to turn around when you don't even know their first name." For example, most fans will yell "Jeremy!" or "Todd!" when trying to get Maclin's or Herremans' attention, but will yell "Howard!" when yelling for Austin Howard. That annoys him more than it annoys me, but he's not going to stop bugging me until I add this, so I may as well just it over with and put it in.)
- Quick out to Chad Hall, short left complete. Nate Allen on the tackle. Most common comment I hear when fans first see Chad Hall: Wow, I'm bigger than that guy.
- Celek double-catches a ball down the seam, and it's knocked away by Allen and Kurt Coleman. Coleman having a nice camp so far.
- Heavy blitz. Vick rushes throw. Incomplete to Riley Cooper.
- Hard count. Babin jumps. Quick out to Riley complete. Eagles have been doing hard counts regularly all camp to try to get the defense to not jump anymore. Right out of the gate, they get the new guy.
- Screen right. Looked like they had something, but bad pass on the screen by Mike Kafka.
- Kafka pass over the middle to Hall. Picked by Hanson. Really nice play by Jose there (as Andy calls him) - They both gt hands on the ball, the ball popped up and Hanson made the grab as Hall fell. No yells of "You're awesome, Hanson!" after the play.
- Hard count again. Multiple guys jump. Quick slant by Kafka complete (didn't catch receiver).
- Kafka deep ball incomplete to Sinorice Moss. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will Moss the entire way. DRC is a star so far.
- Kafka short right to Donald Lee complete.
2 WR's vs 3 DB's
- Vick corner to Hall complete.
- Short dump to Moss incomplete. Hanson right there.
- Vince Young incomplete right side. Broken up nicely by DRC.
- VY deep ball to Gerald Jones incomplete. Of the WR's that have no shot of making the team, the one that has stood out to me the most has been Gerld Jones. Practice squad possibility.
- VY with a pump and throw to the corner on the money to 80 (don't know who 80 is - New guy).
- Vick quick out to DeAndre Brown, complete. DeAndre Brown, by the way, is a monster.
- Vick bad deep ball to Hall. Too short. Hall still wide open anyway. Drop. Ew. Ugly all around. Jaiquawn Jarrett toasted on the play.
- Deep ball to Riley. Covered well by Lindley. Lindley played well today too.
- VY rolls right side. hits Moss short on the run.
3 WR vs 4 DB's
- VY hits Avant short vs. Nnamdi. Debating on whether I'm going to refer to Nnamdi in print as "Nnamdi" or "Asomugha." I guess "Nnamdi" is already winning.
- VY picked off by Nnamdi on a seam route. Crowd predictably goes nuts.
- Kafka hits Turner over the middle.
- Kafka short to D. Brown.
- Kafka nice ball down the seam to Avant. Avant is quietly having a really good camp too. You kind of forget about him, because he's just always there, and always good. Deserves a quick mention.
3 WR vs 5 DB
- Short screen to Riley incomplete. Riley not making plays like he did last camp.
- Deep ball by VY a little off. Nice adjustment by D. Brown who goes way up and makes a nice grab 40 yards downfield.
1 on 1's WR vs DB
- Jason Avant vs Asante Samuel. Incomplete. Asante yaps.
- Hall vs Lindley - Incomplete. Nice play by Lindley on a pass breakup.
- Kafka deep to Johnny Lee Higgins. Underthrown, and Curtis Marsh makes the pick. As Marsh runs it back, Asante runs out onto the field, grabs the ball from Marsh and spikes it. Crowd cheers.
- Jorrick Calvin with a nice pass breakup. Eagles DB's dominating. Think we'll be seeing a lot of that this year.
- Jamar Wall now with a pass breakup. Eagles O can't complete anything right now.
- Jamar Adams manhandles Moss at the line, but Moss eventually gets free and catches a short slant.
- Jerrod Johnson deep middle for D. Brown. Drop.
- Johnson short right to 80 complete.
- Vick pass to Avant not close. Again, good coverage by Lindley.
- Deep ball by Vick to JLH (Higgins form now on). DRC right there again.
- Vick short slant to D. Brown beats Colt Anderson.
- Moss incomplete over the middle, incomplete. Lindley there again.
- Kafka deep ball to Jones complete. Wall beaten on the play.
- Vick deep ball to 83. Broken up beautifully by DRC.
OK, I'm up to 1,000 words, so that's it for now. Will have the rest of the recap later.