Eagles News: Philadelphia is breaking out special practice jerseys for a good cause

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Eagles to sign and auction special practice jerseys for the Eagles Autism Foundation - PE.com
As part of the team’s ongoing commitment to autism research and care, the Philadelphia Eagles will wear specially-designed practice jerseys on Friday, August 21, paying tribute to the Eagles Autism Foundation. Each jersey will be signed by the player and then auctioned off through the 2020 Eagles Radiothon presented by Firstrust Bank and The Green Family Foundation. Friday’s practice jerseys have been intentionally designed to showcase the team’s dedicated efforts and to elevate the platform of the Eagles Autism Foundation, which has raised more than $9 million for cutting-edge autism research and programs since 2018. Inspired by Philadelphia Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie, these exclusive, one-of-a-kind jerseys feature Energy Green numbers and nameplates, along with the Eagles Autism Foundation signature logo being prominently displayed on the front side and shoulder.

Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: All along the John Hightower - BGN
Pretty good day of practice for John Hightower. The 2020 fifth-round pick ran a crisp comeback route in 1-on-1s to shake Rasul Douglas and caught a perfectly timed throw from Wentz. Hightower beat Darius Slay (!) on his next rep, which you can see in the video below. Hightower made a diving contested catch over the middle on a Nate Sudfeld throw. Jalen Hurts found Hightower deep for a touchdown catch with Slay trailing in coverage. In fairness to the secondary, Hurts had a lot of time to throw. Still, we’ve seen encouraging signs from all of the Eagles’ rookie receiver draft picks this week. (Side note: Yes, it’s still very much too early to panic about Slay. I’ve seen some unrest about him getting beat. I can totally understand people being worried about a high profile corner not working out in Philly but we’re just not there yet at all.)

Training Camp Recap - Day 4 - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton react to the Eagles fourth day of practice with thoughts on John Hightower’s big day, JJAW’s accountability, the OL, Slay and more! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Eagles practice notes, Day 4: John Hightower is making plays - PhillyVoice
In 11-on-11’s, Hightower made a diving catch on a pass in traffic over the middle that looked like he didn’t have much of a chance of getting to while it was in the air. It is at this time that I would like to caution against getting too worked up about a rookie wide receiver in the first four days of camp. We’ve seen that camp hype not translate to real games in the past. Ideally, Hightower will have to prove that he can be consistent over the next few weeks, and he may not be tested by a big, physical, intimidating press corner until he’s actually in a real regular season game. But right now, he’s making plays, which is a great thing for an Eagles team that has gotten very little out of drafted wide receivers in recent years.

Ranking which of last year’s playoff teams are most likely to miss out in 2020 - The Athletic
7th most likely to miss out: Philadelphia Eagles. Path to disappointment: The offseason approach of taking a bunch of swings at wide receiver with the hopes that one might connect backfires on them. DeSean Jackson (33) shows signs of decline and battles through injuries. Rookie Jalen Reagor flashes but struggles to make a consistent impact, and team speed is once again an issue. Second-year left tackle Andre Dillard struggles, and Jason Peters’ transition to guard does not work out well. Defensively, Darius Slay gives up a couple of big plays early and becomes the target of fans’ criticism. Following a Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns, leaks surface from anonymous players about how Jalen Hurts would give the team a better chance to win than Carson Wentz. The franchise goes into the offseason suddenly faced with pressing questions.

Love, Hate, and fantasy football in the time of coronavirus - ESPN
Miles Sanders, Eagles: I want to be very clear here. I think Miles Sanders is a good football player and will have a very good season, OK? I’m gonna repeat it. I THINK MILES SANDERS IS A GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER AND WILL HAVE A VERY GOOD SEASON. But he’s on this list because he’s currently going as RB8 and I’m like ... what? A top-eight running back? That ... that is aggressive. The argument for Sanders is basically that he crushed last season when he was the lead running back and this season he’s the lead RB, so he will crush again. OK. Let’s take those two arguments. Last season, when Jordan Howard got hurt, Sanders got six games as the lead RB. Let’s throw out Week 17, because he didn’t play much in that one. In the other five games, Weeks 12-16, he averaged 21 touches per game, 117 yards from scrimmage and 21.2 fantasy points. He was the fourth-best RB in fantasy in that span and he was awesome. Here’s the issue with that: He was all they had. I mean, during the same basic time frame (Weeks 14-17), Boston Scott was the seventh-best RB in fantasy on the same team. The Eagles were so banged up, they had to eventually start Greg Ward, former wide receiver of the San Antonio Commanders of the AAF, soon after his activation from the practice squad. They truly had no one else.

92 minutes in the life of Eagles’ Jalen Hurts: Tracking rookie’s every move during training camp practice - NJ.com
The results aren’t desirable. On his first play, Hurts makes an awkward jumping throw to Killins in the flat after he is immediately flushed out of the pocket to his right. In a live scrimmage, Killins would have been taken down for a one- or two-yard gain. On the next play, Hurts is almost immediately “sacked” by veteran defensive end Vinny Curry. The next play is even worse: INTERCEPTION! Hurts holds the ball a bit too long before targeting tight end Caleb Wilson over the middle. Undrafted rookie safety Elijah Riley reads the quarterback’s eyes and jumps Wilson’s route for the pick. Riley turns upfield after catching the turnover and picks up a pretty nice gain on the return.

So far, Darius Slay is everything the Eagles expected and more - NBCSP
New defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel said he’s been impressed with how coachable Slay has been. He picked up on that right way. Manuel had conversations with Slay the night he was traded and the next morning and found Slay’s insatiable appetite for football knowledge refreshing. Slay has been to three Pro Bowls, but he thinks he can still get better. For a coach, there’s nothing greater. Then there’s the influence Slay is already having on a group of young cornerbacks with him in a totally revamped secondary. “That’s what’s not talked about with him. A lot of guys don’t talk about that,” Manuel said. “Showing the young guys, working with the wide receivers after practice, working on his craft. Playing with the guys like Champ (Bailey) and (Charles) Woodson and the guys that I played with and now watching a guy who’s very elite at this position, he’s on his way. So it’s exciting, man.”

Thor’s Three-Round Mock Draft - Rotoworld
24. Philadelphia Eagles – Oregon S Jevon Holland. The Eagles will be in the market for a safety even if free-agent acquisition Rodney McLeod pans out swimmingly. McLeod is more your natural center-fielder, while Holland is closer to a next-generation prototype. Holland is an extremely sticky cover guy in the slot, and he’s active against the run, showing plus range and a much-improved conversation rate on his tackles as a sophomore in 2019. In only two active seasons, he already has nine interceptions and 10 breakups.

Washington Football Team Head Coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with cancer - Hogs Haven
Adam Schefter is reporting that Washington Football Team Head Coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with lymph node cancer. It is in the early stages and treatable. Rivera informed the team tonight, and Washington has a Plan B in place.

Dak Prescott calls Aldon Smith a “monster” and Mike McCarthy heaps praise on Cowboys defensive end - Blogging The Boys
For a guy who hasn’t seen a football field since 2015, Smith is doing all of the right things to get back to the player he once was with the 49ers and Raiders earlier in his career. While we’re only a few weeks into training camp practices, Smith should be at the top of everyone’s “training camp winners” lists after dominating the early stages of training camp. McCarthy went on to say that Smith’s power and length are extraordinary. Those are exactly the kind of attributes you want in a defensive end. Dak Prescott is among his biggest fans: “He’s a man. He’s a monster. Damn sure doesn’t look like he hadn’t played in five years. Doesn’t play like it. Energy would never tell you that. Very fortunate to have him. Very fortunate to have him on my team and not rushing me. He’s going to make all of us better. He’s a great player.”

We need to make ‘Fall Guys’ a real-life sport - SB Nation
I’m obsessed with Fall Guys. I’m also absolutely terrible at Fall Guys. For the uninitiated, Fall Guys is a multiplayer battle royale game, not dissimilar to the basic concepts of Fortnite and its ilk, but with one key difference: Instead of trying to kill each other you’re running obstacle courses, and participating in mini games to determine who is the final Fall Guy. It’s dumb. It’s beautiful. It’s infuriating — and I can’t stop smiling.

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