Eagles training camp practice notes: Nelson Agholor earns cheers while having a strong day

Today marked the seventh day of 2017 Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice. The Birds practiced in front of fans at Lincoln Financial Field today. Let’s get right to my notes.

PRACTICE NOTES

• Injury updates: Doug Pederson confirmed Randall Goforth tore his ACL. More info about him and others here. Donnel Pumphrey seemed to tweak his hamstring late in practice. He didn’t return after that, so that’s something to keep an eye on. OL Josh Andrews went back to the locker room with what seemed to be a hand injury.

• Carson Wentz looked really good yesterday. He looked really good again today. He wasn’t just throwing a lot of short passes; he racked up some serious #AirYards on several deep bombs down the field.

An example of one of those plays is when Wentz threw a 40-yard touchdown to Marcus Johnson in the end-zone. C.J. Smith had tight coverage and tried to contest the throw but Johnson made the play. Wentz also connected with Torrey Smith for a deep touchdown.

Wentz made some throws into tight coverage. He found Zach Ertz, who slid to the ground after making the catch, in a small window over the middle of the field.

Wentz did a nice job of avoiding the pass rush and climbing the pocket with his eyes kept down field. Unfortunately, Brent Celek couldn’t secure a ball that was thrown a little high but catchable. Wentz was frustrated with himself after that rep.

• Today’s crowd was very pro-Nelson Agholor. They cheered him when he caught passes with no defense on the field during group install. They cheered him when he returned a kickoff to the house despite the fact he couldn’t actually be stopped or tackled.

The encouragement seemed to help Agholor. He finished practice with a number of good catches. Agholor faked Patrick Robinson out with his shiftiness while running a short route. Then he burned Ron Brooks for a deep touchdown catch. Agholor made a short catch with his hands extended while Jalen Mills gave him a nice big thud. Normally that would’ve been a ball he’d drop but he held on. Agholor had another deep touchdown reception when the defense totally failed to cover him. The Eagles’ lackluster cornerback play isn’t hurting Agholor, for sure, but he did some legitimately good things in terms of route-running, showing off speed, and, you know, actually catching the ball.

• Speaking of a lack of drops, I don’t think Shelton Gibson dropped a single pass today! It’s not like he got a ton of targets, but hey, it’s still improvement.

• Johnson continues to look good. He also continues to get mixed in with the first team offense, which seems to be a positive sign for his chances of making the final roster.

• Mills got flagged for holding Alshon Jeffery during one-on-one. He also recorded a pass breakup on a ball thrown to Agholor.

• Jeffery is just so clearly better than all the other receivers. He makes everything look easy.

• Mack Hollins consistently found a way to create separation during one-on-one drills. Impressive for a 6-4 dude.

• The Eagles aren’t cutting Torrey Smith. He continues to look good in practice. Today he showed off deep speed by burning multiple cornerbacks.

• Robinson and Rasul Douglas are competing for one starting cornerback job. Both of them got burned a lot today. Douglas got beat realllllly badly by David Watford at one point. There’s just no way he’s ready to play a full season of starter’s snaps this year.

• Robinson was more down than up today but he did have good coverage on a deep throw to Jeffery.

• Paul Turner was too slow to get to a deep ball thrown by Matt McGloin.

• Jordan Matthews made a really nice one-handed catch against Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins thought JMatt pushed off but the official indicated there was no penalty on the play. Jenkins was not happy. Later in practice, Matthews dropped a pass with no one around him. Bad.

• LeGarrette Blount is running well. He showed good speed on a run to the outside. Then he hurdled a dude to extend the play. Blount isn’t known for being an active pass-catcher but I haven’t seen him drop anything since he signed with Philly. Maybe the Eagles will give him some regular season targets to test if the defense is being honest.

• Terrence Brooks came up with an interception on an ill-advised McGloin throw into double coverage. Brooks also popped a receiver after they made a short catch during one-on-ones. It seems like the Eagles are going to have a nice third safety behind their two starters.

• Rodney McLeod popped Blount, Pumphrey, and Ertz at various times during practice. Nice to see him bringing some physicality to practice.

• Greg Ward impressed with a leaping catch on a comeback route. He looks surprisingly polished at times for someone who is transition from quarterback to receiver.

• Some offensive line versus defensive line one-on-one notes: Derek Barnett beat Matt Tobin while bending around the edge. Tobin also got beat by Chris Long. Halapoulivaati Vaitai did a good job of holding his own against Brandon Graham on one rep.

• I thought the offensive line did a nice job of opening holes for the running game today.

• Newly signed tight end Adam Zaruba had a pass hit him in his helmet. His lack of experience clearly shows at times. He did have a nice catch where he beat defenders down the seam, though. Good throw from Dane Evans on that play.

• Corey Clement had a nice run for a big gain on the last play of practice.

• Jomal Wiltz and Mitchell White are long shots to make the team, but they had some nice moments today. Wiltz jumped a curl route for a pick-six. White got beat deep but Gibson but he recovered in time to knock the ball down. Both of these low key players have had some nice moments this offseason.

• Aaron Grymes recorded a pass breakup.

• Trey Burton made a nice diving catch.

• Anthony Denham made a nice catch. He also dropped a pass today.

• Byron Marshall and Pumphrey each dropped the ball while fielding a kickoff during special teams drills.

• Funny observation from Jimmy Kempski:

• The Eagles announced 23,000 fans were in attendance today. That number is up from last year’s totals of 18,276 and 17,389.

• Alshon received loud cheers while being introduced to fans at the Linc for the first time.

• Brian Dawkins still got the loudest ovation out of anyone, obviously.

• Today was Military Day at Eagles training camp. The players wore camo jerseys that they gave to military members after practice.

• A.J. Feeley threw a pick-six during a flag football game with military members after practice. Ike Reese, meanwhile, threw a nice touchdown pass.

• Doug Pederson roasted Howard Eskin prior to (and during) his press conference today.

Speaking of Pederson’s press conference, you can view the entire video via the Bleeding Green Nation Facebook page. (Click here or watch below.)

• Check out video from Eagles practice via the Bleeding Green Nation Facebook page (click here or watch below).

Up next: For the first time since camp started last Monday, the Eagles will have off tomorrow. Practice begins again on Tuesday at 8:15 AM ET. Stay tuned to BGN for more coverage.