Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Carson Wentz looks sharp in the red zone

Today marked the fifteenth 2019 Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice. Read on to see what I observed!

PRACTICE NOTES

• CARSON WENTZ UPDATE: A pretty sharp day from No. 11.

Wentz’s most impressive throw was a perfectly placed fade touchdown ball to DeSean Jackson. Avonte Maddox had tight coverage but the pass went just above his outstretched finger tips and into Jackson’s hands for the score. Beauty. That throw drew cheers from the Eagles fans in attendance.

Another great red zone throw came on a play where Wentz threw to Zach Ertz in the back middle of the end zone. Ertz was covered by Wentz put the ball high enough to only where the tight end could get it. Ertz just managed to get two taps in before going out of boudns. Cory Undlin vehemently argued it wasn’t a touchdown but it looked good to me from where I was standing.

Yet another Wentz red zone throw that stood out was on a slant to Nelson Agholor. Rasul Douglas was trailing and Wentz put the ball high and out in front so Agholor could make a leaping catch.

The Wentz to Alshon Jeffery connection was clicking once again with the quarterback hitting the wide receiver for a first down on an out route. Wentz then rolled right and found a crossing Jeffery for another intermediate gain.

Wentz’s bad plays included a throw to Jackson along the sideline that was a touch too high. He also forced a throw to Ertz that got knocked down by Malcolm Jenkins. Wentz did seem to miss an open Jeffery in the end zone on one incompletion and acknowledged as much with a high five after the play. Wentz had two straight reps without a real target in the area so there were a couple miscommunications as well.

• EAGLES INJURY UPDATE: Rodney McLeod returned to practice — as he promised he would — following a veteran rest day on Monday. Brandon Brooks might be returning to team drills soon:

Nate Sudfeld is no longer wearing a sling, as seen in the photo below.

Richard Rodgers is still out with a foot injury but he did some rehab work on a side field. Jalen Mills was also doing some running on a side field. Hassan Ridgeway is still recovering from his concussion. Daeshon Hall returned to practice after missing a few days.

• ANOTHER FIGHT! Not quite on the level of Monday’s scrum but Andre Dillard was involved again. Details from friend of BGN Bo Wulf:

Miller previously got in a fight during 1-on-1s with Casey Tucker, who is no longer on the team. The North Philadelphia native is clearly not afraid to get physical. He might want to tone that down before pissing off the vets, though.

• Jason Kelce is a treasure. He kept enthusiastically shouting “YEAAAHH!!! TOUCHDOWN!!!!” after each time Wentz would throw a touchdown pass during offensive group install, where there’s no defense on the field.

• Maddox had a real impressive pass breakup on a Wentz throw to Ertz in the red zone. It’s just so clear that Maddox is good.

• Not the best day for Sidney Jones, who started camp strong but has since been more quiet. Jones allowed touchdown passes to both Ertz and Joshua Perkins. Jones got outmuscled on the Ertz play and he seemingly lost track of Perkins on that reception.

• Agholor had a ball go through his hands on a leaping catch attempt that was contested by Jones.

• Cody Kessler made a quality touchdown throw to Perkins during red zone drills. He then overthrew JJ Arcega-Whiteside on a fade route, though the receiver did his best to make it close as possible.

• Orlando Scandrick made a real nice diving pick on a Kessler throw in the flat. Kessler has a habit of checking down a lot so I’m sure Scandrick took notice of that.

• Malcolm Jenkins notched a “sack” on Wentz after blitzing the quarterback from behind a stunt up front. See? Jim Schwartz blitzes sometimes!

• Malik Jackson had another tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. He’s had several of those throughout the offseason. So don’t be surprised when you see him do that in the regular season.

• Mack Hollins had a bad drop on a short throw. It’d be real nice to see some positive signs from him in the second preseason game, assuming he plays.

• Boston Scott dropped a punt during a special teams 11-on-11 rep. Not helping his stock.

• Donnel Pumphrey was working out with the wide receivers during position drills. A position change isn’t going to save him from getting cut but, hey, why not?

• Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil and president Chris Heck attended today’s practice. I didn’t realize O’Neil was so buddy-buddy with Howie Roseman. The two had a big hug and then O’Neil had his arm around Roseman for a bit as they walked down the sideline.

• Follow me on Instagram (@brandongowton) for Eagles pictures! ... and some other stuff you probably don’t care about.

UP NEXT

Today was technically the team’s last training camp practice entirely open to the media. But since the NFL allows reporters to be present for joint training camp practices, we’ll get to see the Eagles practice against the Ravens on Monday and Tuesday next week.

But before we get to that, the Eagles have a preaseason game to play against the Jaguars on Thursday night (7:00 PM kickoff). The Eagles will have a closed walk-through tomorrow on Wednesday before flying down to Jacksonville.