Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Cody Kessler review, JJ Arcega-Whiteside flashes, and more

Today marked the twelfth 2019 Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice. It was the team’s first practice since playing a preseason game on Thursday night. Read on to see what I observed!

PRACTICE NOTES

• CARSON WENTZ UPDATE: Not Wentz’s best day. But it was hardly all bad.

Let’s start with the negative. Wentz got off to a rough start in 11-on-11 by throwing a pass meant for DeSean Jackson that was knocked down by Malcolm Jenkins. Then he threw a pick-six on a quick screen attempt with Nathan Gerry recognizing the play call and jumping in front of the receiver. (Gerry’s brain is part of why the coaching staff likes him.) Wentz threw another pick. Wentz made a throw to Zach Ertz that was a little too far out in front. Wentz also overthrew a deep crosser meant for DeSean. Wentz got picked off by Jenkins during a 3-on-3 drill.

Now for the good. Wentz was pretty sharp in the intermediate game. The fourth-year quarterback hit Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean multiple times over the middle for 15ish yard gains. Wentz threaded another ball JUST out of harm’s way to Ertz, perfect throw. During 11-on-11 in the red zone, Wentz completed a ball to Jackson on a quick out for a touchdown. One of Wentz’s best throws was a ball to JJ Arcege-Whiteside along the sideline that allowed the rookie receiver to go up and make a play. Wentz put it high enough so that the leaping defender couldn’t get it and JJ lived up to his end of the bargain by catching it.

• EAGLES INJURY UPDATES: Too many updates to cover here so I put them all in a separate post. [Go read that].

• The Eagles’ first team units saw a majority of the reps today after not playing in the first preseason game. It’s clear the Eagles are fine with not playing their starters in the preseason because they feel like the training camp reps are good enough.

• Cody Kessler obviously saw an increase in reps with Nate Sudfeld out. Kessler had his ups and downs. Case in point: there was a drive where he 1) threw a good ball to Arcega-Whiteside on a comeback, 2) overthrew a target way too high and out of bounds towards the sideline, 3) came back with another good throw to JJ, 4) and then missed with another bad overthrow. Kessler also got picked off by Johnathan Cyprien in 3-on-3.

• Today might’ve been Arcega-Whiteside’s best practice of the summer. He made a number of good catches, as I’ve already written about to this point.

• Derek Barnett returned to 11-on-11 today, which is a good development for the Eagles. Barnett did a good job of using his bend to beat Jordan Mailata in 1-on-1.

• Mailata was getting reps at first team right tackle with Lane Johnson missing practice.

• Joshua Perkins was taking some first team tight ends in 12 personnel since Dallas Goedert and Richard Rodgers weren’t practicing. After practice, Doug Pederson referred to Perkins as “Perk” when asked about the tight end position. It’s typically a good sign for a player’s stock when the coaching staff has a nickname for them like that (#NicknameAnalytics). It’s not impossible the Eagles could keep four tight ends on the 53. None of their current rostered tight ends are practice squad eligible.

• Shareef Miller had a nice pass deflection on a Kessler screen throw. The rookie pass rusher has been coming on a little bit.

• Clayton Thorson didn’t see very many reps today. And even when he did get in there, the Eagles weren’t throwing much.

• Daily practice note: Stefen Wisniewski is still struggling with bad snaps.

• Jake Elliott missed a kick from far out. Came up short. Couldn’t tell the distance from the poor angle I had.

• New Eagles defensive end Eli Harold is wearing the No. 59 jersey. Better number for a linebacker than a defensive end. #JerseyNumberAnalytics.

• Brandon Graham was running around the practice field and juking his daughter after practice. Pretty cute. Also, this happened:

• BGN reader shoutout section: I had the pleasure of meeting Rob G. (The Man Al Swearengen) at practice today. Go check out his FanPost!

UP NEXT

The Eagles will be back at practice on Sunday morning starting at 9:15 AM ET. Stay tuned to BGN for more coverage, as always.