The Philadelphia Eagles held their second OTA practice open to the media on Monday and I was there to soak it all in. It was a fairly long practice (nearly two hours or so). Keep in mind that these are all non-contact drills at this point. Players aren't allowed to wear shells yet. There's only so much to be gleaned from players running around in shorts, but here's what I observed:
• Let's start with the thought on everyone's mind: Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. I already described the situation but I'll say it here again: Maclin went down near the end of practice due to some inadvertent contact with defensive back during an 11-on-11 drill and didn't get up right away. He did then get up and walk to the huddle to close practice. On the way back to the locker room, Maclin assured the media that he's fine. It was a scary moment but it seems like the Eagles dodged a bullet for now.
As for the rest of the practice..
• Beautiful day outside. Here's a picture I took at the beginning.
View from Eagles OTA practice today: pic.twitter.com/waFb6uxOF3
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) June 2, 2014
• The Eagles running backs are doing a new drill where they run under and through a device to simulate getting low.
Eagles RB drill https://t.co/NMF7ijABlY
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) June 2, 2014
• The pace of the Eagles practice was really fast. As always.
• Inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks was back at practice after missing Thursday's session. Rookie wide receiver Jordan Matthews also returned to practice following some time at an NFL rookie premiere event in California. WR Jeff Maehl and OT Dennis Kelly did not practice today.
• Matthews, Darren Sproles, Jeremy Maclin, Riley Cooper and Damaris Johnson were all seen practicing fielding punts at one point.
• Jeremy Maclin was a favorite target for QB Nick Foles. Aside from the drop and the injury at the end of practice, I thought Maclin looked pretty good. No signs of injury. Good hands, good routes. WR Brad Smith, who took repetitions as the team's starting slot WR, was also a popular target for Foles. He looked good as well.
• Speaking of Foles, he made a couple nice throws. One of those came on a pass intended for Brent Celek over the middle. Perfect ball placement. LB Connor Barwin's outstretched arms came up just short. Foles, who usually excels in the red zone, had two consecutive RZ passes broken up. The first was to Maclin and Fletcher broke it up, but it may have been pass interference. Foles' pass to Riley Cooper was actually knocked down by Cooper because otherwise Cary Williams was in position to intercept it.
• Jimmy Kempski thought it would be funny to take a picture of me standing next to Sheil Kapadia from Birds 24/7 (PhillyMag.com). So here it is:
I'll take @brandongowton over @sheilkapadia as my power forward. (And Sheil isn't even what I would consider short). pic.twitter.com/KDRhGeph1p
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) June 2, 2014
• Jordan Matthews also spent some time as the slot receiver, which is where Chip Kelly suggested the Eagles would use him shortly Matthews was drafted. Matthews is very fun to watch. When he catches a pass, he typically runs 10 yards or more down the field after the play is over just because he likes to finish the play hard. Then he sprints back to the huddle for the next rep. His hustle and work ethic is something that Eagles fans should appreciate.
• At one point the Eagles QBs were doing a drill where they tried to throw passes into elevated garbage cans 30 yards down the field.
• Mark Sanchez seemed to struggle again today. The biggest issue I've seen with him is overthrowing his receivers when aiming towards the sideline. To Sanchez's credit, he made a really good pump fake to the left before turning around and throwing right for a short screen pass to TE James Casey for a nice gain.
• Ifeanyi Momah, everyone's favorite 6-8 WR, had two catches that stood out to me today. The first one was in traffic down the field with Brandon Boykin all over him. The second came on a play-action roll-out where Sanchez found Momah open along the sideline. Momah is still a long-shot to make the Eagles roster, but at the least he looks improved from last year. Perhaps he could earn a practice squad spot this year.
• Rookie nose tackle Beau Allen absolutely blew up a backup center (David Molk?) and got right in Barkley's face on one play. That would have been a quick sack if contact was allowed.
• Rookie undrafted free agent kicker Carey Spear apparently missed an easy kick during a drill. I didn't see the miss but that's not good to hear.
• Curtis Marsh, who you may be surprised to find out is still on the Eagles roster, broke up a Matt Barkley pass intended for Quron Pratt. Pratt is wearing #10, which used to be the number of some guy the Eagles released earlier this offseason.
• Najee Goode is really loud. That's about the most noteworthy observation to take away from the Eagles "teach" period, which is slow and void of any real action.
• Eagles LB DeMeco Ryans and RB LeSean McCoy spoke after practice. More on them later. Stay tuned to BGN for more coverage.
• That's about it for now. Keep in mind there are nearly 90 players working out on multiple fields so I won't be able to keep an eye on everyone at all times.
Up next: The Eagles have two more OTA workouts this week but they're not open to the media. The next session open to the media takes place a week from today: Monday, June 9th.
Remaining Eagles offseason workout schedule:
OTAs: June 3, June 5, June 9-12.
Mandatory Minicamp: June 17-19.