Eagles Camp Day 13: Blitzing D, Cooper Watch and Injury Adjustments

An aggressive defense in rainy weather slowed down the Eagles' offense somewhat.

Eagles S Reed Blankenship / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles were back at the NovaCare Center Saturday morning after a joint practice and a preseason win over New England.

It was a yellow session coming off the 14-13 comeback win over the Pats on Thursday night that went an hour and 43 minutes in light rain for most of the practice. 

Head coach Nick Sirianni added a tackling drill period after a few more missed tackles against the Patriots versus the preseason opener against Baltimore and a kickoff return tweak after the coverage units allowed a big return against the Pats.

The main event of any practice, however, is the team drills which featured a ton of blitzing from the defense, something that seemed more tuned toward testing the offense’s ability to pick up the blitz more than the defense's ability to get home.

The extra aggression was a problem and the offense had a more uneven practice with pockets of solid plays.

It was a rainy one in South Philadelphia. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/ObzJemTDOh

— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) August 17, 2024

The Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown intermediate routes continue to look unstoppable and the embattled Kenny Pickett connected on a nice seam route to Jacob Harris.

By and large, however, the blitz sped up the offense into some uncharacteristic play.

Also, rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean participated in team drills for the first time since returning from a hamstring injury suffered while ramping up for camp, working as the second-team slot behind fellow rookie Quinyon Mitchell.

-First, the bookkeeping which included a host of roster moves and a longer injury list after a physical game against the Patriots. The Eagles waived/injured defensive back Mekhi Garner and placed veteran cornerback Tyler Hall on injured reserve. Philadelphia also re-signed rookie undrafted free agent offensive lineman Gottlieb Ayedze, who was waived on July 25.

Ayedze is back in part because two O-Linemen – Tyler Steen (ankle) and Matt Hennessy (back) --were unable to practice coming off the Pats game.

Others unable to practice after participating in Thursday’s game were receivers Joseph Ngata (ankle) and Josh Ross (concussion), tight end E.J. Jenkins (knee), and defensive tackle Gabe Hall (hamstring).

Tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), receiver Johnny Wilson (concussion), and safety Caden Sterns (knee) were also on the DNP list. Okwuegbunam and Sterns had been out and Wilson was injured in Tuesday’s practice in Foxborough.

There was some good news on the injury front with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (shoulder), TE Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), receiver Parris Campbell (groin), DeJean (hamstring), and linebacker Oren Burks (knee) returning to practice in a limited fashion.

Of that group DeJean and Campbell worked into some team drills while Burks was doing something for the first time since injuring himself on the first day of practice.

-The default setting on defense remained Devin White and Zack Baun at linebacker with Isaiah Rodgers opposite Darius Slay at cornerback. 

There are at least some signs that Nakobe Dean’s stock is growing at LB and Kelee Ringo is back in the mix outside at cornerback. DeJean, meanwhile, could be getting first-team work at the slot sooner rather than later and if that happens, rookie first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell will likely take over outside opposite Slay.

At one point the Eagles unveiled Mitchell and Ringo on the outside with DeJean in the slot, perhaps foreshadowing 2025. 

-Mitchell has a nice PBU on DeVonta Smith when Jalen Hurts tried to fit the fastball in while flushing right. Safety Reed Blankenship also knocked one away from Dallas Goedert in the end zone on a play that probably should have been ruled a sack anyway.

-Some interesting reps in 1-on-1s between the offensive and defensive lines. Ayedze was thrown right back into the fire and given right tackle looks against Nolan Smith and the Maryland product held his own.

Bryce Huff is starting to turn the corner and had two nice reps against star left tackle Jordan Mailata. 

The heavyweight battle between right guard Mekhi Becton and Jalen Carter looked like a stalemate and backups Brett Toth and P.J. Mustipher engaged in a little shoving match after Toth stalemated the big nose tackle. 

-Rodgers lack of size on the outside at CB is starting to show up a little bit more, especially when the UMass product is trying to deal with Brown. 

The Eagles did unveil a Cat blitz with Rodgers racing in off the CB and the safety rotating over. 

-The passing game to the running backs looked shaky today except for a  nice Hurts throw over the middle to Kenny Gainwell in the red zone that was a TD. Two screens to Saquon Barkley imploded due to the defense’s aggression as did a swing pass to Barkley. Pickett, meanwhile, airmailed a check down to Will Shipley. 

-The biggest Hurts throw was a nicely layered pass to Brown in between Rodgers and James Bradberry. The QB1 had still not thrown an interception through 13 summer practices.

-Veteran backup tight end C.J. Uzomah had had a slow summer but did haul in a nice catch on a throw over his wrong shoulder from Pickett.

-Third-team QB Tanner McKee looked better handling the blitz than Pickett but didn’t have his most accurate day. One attempt at fooling Zech McPhearson on a pump fake came up empty with Griffen Herbert locked down.

-DeJean was also back in the punt return rotation behind Britain Covey and Ainias Smith but ahead of Shipley. The latter dropped two punts in somewhat challenging circumstances with the rain.

-In a backup-up period for the offense, Carter helped them out by jumping offsides.

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