Monday was the second day of 2015 Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice. There's a lot to talk about, so let's dive right in.
• No pads at practice today. Those won't go on until later this week, probably. Chip Kelly typically doesn't like to run overly physical training camp practices anyway.
• Quick injury update: Outside linebacker Travis Long left practice early and did not return. No word on the extent of the injury. DeMarco Murray practiced in team drills after sitting out yesterday, though after training he explained he wasn't injured. Just a coaching decision. More on that later.
INJURY UPDATE: Long suffered a season-ending injury. Really a shame.
• SAM BRADFORD: After looking rusty on Sunday, Bradford was much sharper during Monday's practice. While he did not take all of the first team reps this time, he easily took the most by far. Certainly doesn't look like much of a quarterback competition, which was expected.
Bradford's first pass that really stood out was a beauty of a deep ball to Ryan Mathews on a wheel route. Unfortunately for Bradford, Mathews dropped the perfectly placed pass as he was closely covered by Kiko Alonso. Bradford must have had flashbacks to all the drops he had to deal with St. Louis on that play. And speaking of drops, it was then rookie undrafted free agent Raheem Mostert who later ran the wheel and dropped another great Bradford pass. I didn't see any of Bradford's passes get knocked down or intercepted. He puts great zip on the ball, and that's really clear when he's throwing out routes.
Bradford's favorite target in training camp so far has been Jordan Matthews. Mark Sanchez can't be too happy about the new quarterback stealing his man crush like that. Bradford hit Matthews a number of times, but the best play was a seam pass to Matthews for a would-be touchdown. Bradford did a great job of reading the defense and letting the play develop on that one.
• MARK SANCHEZ: Decent day, but definitely not as good as Bradford. One of Sanchez's passes hit the flyswatters. He also dealt with a few drops. Veterans Brent Celek and Miles Austin didn't do him any favors. Sanchez targeted rookie Nelson Agholor (note: running with the second team) quite a bit. With Matthews working with the first group, Agholor seems to be Sanchez's new man crush. It's hard to blame him. The rookie receiver looks good. The way he attacks the ball in the air is great. Sanchez took a few first team reps, by the way, but nothing extensive.
• MATT BARKLEY: Not his best day. Had a deep pass intended for Quron Pratt broken up by rookie undrafted free agent defensive back Denzel Rice. Rice has quietly done some nice things during offseason practices. Another Barkley pass was intended Rasheed Bailey on short distance but safety Jerome Couplin knocked it down. Couplin dropped a pick yesterday so he's been active as well.
• TIM TEBOW: Tim Tebow is fulfilling the Trent Edwards prophecy one practice at a time. Pretty decent day for the former first round pick. Easily the best he's looked since I've watched him practice. Tebow had one series where he led a drive down the field in three plays. He didn't do anything too special but he made solid throws in tight coverage. He threw with good accuracy and he didn't take forever to get rid of the ball. He also broke off a great run on a read option keeper. The fact that the defense can't actually tackle him helps, of course, but his mobility makes him a legitimate threat to run. Only one of Tebow's passes was broken up: a deep attempt intended for Seyi Ajirotutu. A little underthrown but also a good play by rookie Randall Evans to knock the ball down.
• In the QB blurbs above I mentioned how Rice, Evans, and Couplin were among players breaking up passes. Really, it's been a decent showing for the secondary in camp. They've been active.
• Jordan Matthews looks great. He was an awesome practice player as a rookie, which led to a lot of hype, but he's taken it a step further this year. More consistent and makes less mistakes. He's going to be a very reliable and productive target for Bradford.
• Bennie Logan tossed a football sled aside easily with one hand early on during position drills. Dude is a beast.
• Here are some video items from early on in practice. The first one is a drill for defensive players. The second shows the Eagles running backs. The third item is not a video, but a picture of Darren Sproles right before he asked all the people taking pictures "How are all you guys doing today?" Nice guy!
Up next: Open practice tomorrow at Lincoln Financial Field. It's free to the public. Click here for details. Training starts around noon.