Philadelphia Eagles Practices Notes From Minicamp: Strong day for Nate STUDfeld

The Philadelphia Eagles held their second day of 2018 mandatory minicamp practice on Wednesday. The session was open to media and I was there. Remember that these are still non-contact drills at this point. Players aren’t allowed to wear pads yet. There’s only so much to be gleaned from players running around in shorts, so take these observations for what they’re worth.

• Carson Wentz update: Not a super noteworthy practice for No. 11. He continues to look healthy, which is the most important thing anyway. Wentz got picked off by Rasul Douglas at one point but the NFL officials attending practice threw a flag for defensive holding.

• Injury updates: Sidney Jones is still out due to a “lower body injury” that isn’t related to his Achilles tear from last year. Haloti Ngata, Brandon Graham, Tim Jernigan, Alshon Jeffery, Chris Maragos, LaRoy Reynolds, Ryan Neal, and Josh Adams still aren’t practicing. Isaac Seumalo got some 11-on-11 work for the first time this spring. Joe Walker has been upgraded to doing some rehab work off to the side during practice. Greg Ward hasn’t missed any practice time despite having a scare last Thursday. Jordan Hicks and Darren Sproles are still limited to position drills. Trainers were looking at Joe Ostman’s knee at one point but he returned to practiced.

• Nate STUDfeld turned in a strong day of practice. Sudfeld dropped a dime to Dallas Goedert along the sideline for a 25-yard completion in 11-on-11. Sudfeld to Goedert has been a hot connection this spring. Later on, Sudfeld unleashed a deep bomb to a diving Bryce Treggs about 50 yards down the field. That throw earned him a fist bump from Eagles quarterback coach Press Taylor. Sudfeld’s mobility and accuracy have generally stood out as positives. He’s firmly entrenched as the No. 3 quarterback. And for those who think I’m irrationally hyping Stud up, it’s not just me who has seen good things out of him!

• Today wasn’t the best day for Nick Foles. The Super Bowl MVP threw two picks. The first one was directly to Nate Gerry. Don’t know what he saw there. The second one happened when Foles targeted Nelson Agholor but the pass sailed a little too high and ended up in the arms of D.J. Killings. Foles did have a good series at one point in 11-on-11 where he was delivering accurate passes and keeping the chains moving. Foles’ best completion was when he fit a ball into a tightly covered Agholor.

• Eagles coaches have previously praised Foles for knowing when to keep things loose in practice. He was snapping the ball to Wentz during quarterback drills and even caught a pass from Wentz at one point. Foles can also spike footballs into the ground between his legs and have it come up back to his hand.

• D.J. Killings and Tre Sullivan were getting looks as the first team nickel today. Jim Schwartz wasn’t joking when he said the team was going to try a lot of different looks there. Here’s a list of players who have received starting slot corner reps this spring: Sidney Jones, De’Vante Bausby, Ronald Darby, Killings, Sullivan.

• Philly Goedert has been making Jeremy Reaves’ life miserable. The undrafted free agent safety hasn’t had much of a chance covering his fellow rookie.

• Speaking of uncoverable tight ends (phrasing), Zach Ertz has been a beast. It’s easy to take this for granted since we already know he’s good, but he’s been virtually unguardable in spring workouts. He’s too big for the smaller guys who have the speed to cover him and he’s too fast for the bigger guys who have the size to cover him. It feels like Ertz has made a catch every time the ball has been thrown his way. Extremely reliable target.

• TRICKERATION: Mike Wallace received the ball on a reverse and threw deep towards the opposite side of the field. Kamu Grugier-Hill did a nice job of not being fooled and almost picked off the pass.

• Jalen Mills broke up two deep passes intended for Wallace. The first one was on a Foles throw that went out of bounds anyway. The second one was on a throw from Wentz. Mills broke out his patented finger wag after each rep.

• Corey Clement has looked great this spring. I said this yesterday but I still can’t believe how much progress he’s made from last year at this time. Clement had a good run to the right side at one point that caused the offensive line to celebrate. Clement also took first team kick returner reps.

• De’Vante Bausby broke up a Wentz pass targeted for Goedert over the middle of the field in 7-on-7. It’ll be real interesting to see how Bausby looks in training camp and preseason games.

• Donnel Pumphrey got a rep with the first team. The play ended up being a screen pass to him. Then the Eagles put Wendell Smallwood in for a run up the middle. Then Jay Ajayi came in. The running back rotation is still very much a thing.

• Agholor had at least three drops today. Cut him. Just kidding. Agholor’s been good for the most part but the drops haven’t totally disappeared.

• Shelton Gibson dropped a ball during routes on air (no defense). He also failed to make a contested catch down the field while being guarded by rookie Chandon Sullivan.

• Rashard Davis made a real nice catch while running a post. Wentz threw it to a spot where it looked like it was just out of reach but the receiver was able to make the play. His fellow wide receivers liked that one.

• Bryce Treggs is picking up where he left off after having a good offseason last year. He’s once again on the bubble for that fifth or sixth receiver spot.

• Some offensive line miscues: Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Stefen Wisniewski each got called for at least one false start. Big V bounced back after the play where he was flagged by standing up Derek Barnett, who tried to use a spin move on him.

• Barnett dropped into coverage on one rep. He allowed a catch to Agholor but it took a good throw from Foles to complete the play. Barnett played him as tight as you could realistically hope for.

• Punter update! Cameron Johnston looked like he was booting some nice punts. I guess.

• Random tight end notes: Joshua Perkins made a nice catch over the middle with his hands extended. Billy Brown looked good running after a catch. Adam Zaruba caught what I think was his first reception during team drills this spring? Feels that way, at least.

• Undrafted rookie free agent Ian Park replaced Seumalo as the guy snapping the ball in 7-on-7 drills.

• Musical notes: Ajayi was singing most of the words to “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” during warmups. Wentz was visibly pleased when “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” came on. Mack Hollins was rocking out to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” with his air guitar.

• Former NFL offensive lineman Barrett Brooks, co-host of BGN Radio’s Next LVL podcast, had a rough moment in practice. I’ll let John Barchard describe this one:

• Check out today’s minicamp highlights:

• Watch unedited video of Eagles practice below via the Bleeding Green Nation Facebook page (click here if you can’t see it).

Remaining offseason workout schedule

Mandatory Minicamp: June 14

BGN Coverage: The following practices are open to the media: June 14. Just one more day! I’ll be there. Follow me for live updates: @BrandonGowton.