Eagles News: Reed Blankenship secures starting safety job

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Eagles training camp battle tracker - PhillyVoice
8/8: The play of the day came via Blankenship, who made a diving interception of Jalen Hurts near the sideline on a pass intended for Quez Watkins. He was able to get his arms under the ball to keep it from hitting the ground while fully extended. I was going to wait until at least one preseason game was in the books to make a more definitive call on Blankenship’s status as a certain Week 1 starter (barring injury), but I’ve seen enough to make a call. There is still one starting safety spot to be settled. One down, one to go.

Ten thoughts from Eagles camp: Myles Jack gets starter reps, Reed Blankenship standing out - The Athletic
5. The play of the day came when safety Reed Blankenship sprinted toward the sideline while in coverage on a deep pass to Quez Watkins to make a diving interception on a pass from Hurts. Blankenship kept his feet inbounds for the takeaway. He showed range, instincts and ball skills on the play — and it was evidence why my view on the safety competition has changed. Entering camp, I thought Terrell Edmunds and Sydney Brown would be the top two safeties and Blankenship would play in three-safety looks. I was wrong. Blankenship is the top safety on the team this summer, and he’s been the constant in the group. It’s similar to Marcus Epps last season — other players cycle into different spots on the depth chart, but not Blankenship. It’s perhaps a cognitive bias of mine to associate him as an undrafted player. If you didn’t know his history and simply watched practices, you’d leave convinced he’s the Eagles’ top player at the position.

Eagles Training Camp Practice Observations: New linebackers already in the mix - BGN
Jalen Hurts threw a pick to Reed Blankenship when the safety made a diving effort to catch an undethrown deep ball to Watkins along the right sideline.

NFC East Mixtape Vol.123: Welcome to the preseason - BGN Radio
RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton discuss the biggest NFC East storylines ahead of Week 1 of the preseason.

NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs, Eagles remain on top in preseason; Aaron Rodgers-led Jets check in at No. 8 - NFL.com
2) Eagles. The Eagles offense that ranked third in scoring last season — and arguably looked even better in the playoffs — returns predominantly intact. However, one position leads the way with change: running back. Gone is Miles Sanders, in comes D’Andre Swift. This is probably not a true one-for-one swap as far as roles go. Rashaad Penny (another offseason addition) and Kenneth Gainwell are expected to earn a notable chunk of the snaps, as Gainwell started to take them away from Sanders late last season. But Swift’s strong showing early in camp has been a welcome development. Sanders caught 50 passes in 2019, but Eagles running backs haven’t been a big part of the passing game over the past three seasons. If Swift’s early-camp work is an indication — and if he can remain healthy — that could change this year.

Eagles’ running back competition: Will newcomers Swift or Penny be RB1? - ESPN
Part of what makes the Eagles’ running back situation difficult to decode is the presence of 24-year-old Gainwell. A former fifth-round pick out of Memphis, Gainwell enjoyed an expanded role during the playoffs last season, racking up 291 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. He’s proven effective as a runner and receiver while making strides as a pass protector. Sirianni likes to use him in the team’s four-minute offense — a role he could hold onto. Scott, meanwhile, has proven to be highly efficient with his limited touches, and Sirianni always brings up Sermon, the former third-round pick out of Oklahoma, whenever doling out praise to the backs. There are only so many touches to go around. Assuming health, Swift, Penny and Gainwell appear in line to get the bulk of them, with Penny as the more traditional runner and Swift and Gainwell serving as the do-it-all backs. “We’ll see how it plays out,” Sirianni said. “It can look any way we need it to look. ... Good thing is I don’t have to make a decision on how it needs to look quite yet.”

How the Zack Martin contract holdout saga is likely to unfold for the Cowboys - Blogging The Boys
While the thought of not having Martin in camp is unsettling, this is and never has been anything that warrants great concern. A resolution is going to happen, it’s just a matter of what the financial details end up being and when new ink is spilled. In the meantime, the Cowboys will continue to use this as an opportunity to give other guys a chance and evaluate players like Josh Ball, Matt Farniok, and UDFA rookie T.J. Bass. Eventually, Martin will return to the field with a slightly fatter wallet and a longer commitment to the team, and all of this will seem like a whole lot of nothing.

New York Giants-Detroit Lions joint practice, Day 1: Rough day for Giants’ offense - Big Blue View
The New York Giants and Detroit Lions have completed their first day of joint practices, and most reports indicate that the Giants did not have a great day offensively. Art Stapleton said quarterback Daniel Jones missed a couple of throws on an uneven day. Dan Duggan said it “was the worst the first-team offense has looked all camp.” “I just missed a couple of them that normally I feel pretty good about,” Jones said after practice. Jones said there was a deep throw to Darren Waller he missed that he has “hit several times” in earlier practices.

Eric Bieniemy is already ruffling some feathers. Good. - Hogs Haven
This is a huge season for both Rivera and Bieniemy, and their futures are highly intertwined. They’d better get on the same page, or the wheels could come off this enterprise fairly quickly, as players pit one against the other in pursuit of a path of least resistance.

Colin Cowherd bizarrely states Dwayne Haskins can’t win Super Bowl year after death - SB Nation
Fox Sports talking head Colin Cowherd went viral for all the wrong reasons on Tuesday afternoon when he stated that Dwayne Haskins wasn’t a good enough quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Haskins died in 2022 when he was hit by a truck while crossing a highway. He was only 24 years old at the time of his death. Cowherd was doing a segment where he made a tier list of quarterbacks drafted since 2013. Cowherd said there are “six stars, four high-end starters, and 20 guys who can’t win a Super Bowl.” The graphic of QBs who can’t win a Super Bowl according to Cowherd included present day QBs like Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, and Kenny Pickett. For some reason, Cowherd skipped over all of those names and singled out Haskins.

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