Eagles Camp Day 15: A.J. Day

The Eagles' best player performed like their best player at Tuesday's practice.

Eagles WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles were greeted by a pleasant surprise at practice on Tuesday morning.

What has been an exceedingly humid summer broke for a bit and Philadelphia was able to get in a yellow practice under sunny skies with temperatures around 70 and a pleasant breeze mixing in.

The other constant to training camp this summer remained: A.J. Brown dominating.

The Eagles’ All-Pro wide receiver highlighted the session by beating rookie first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell on a go route from Jalen Hurts for about 45 yards. 

Mitchell had decent coverage but all Brown needed was a step and the superstar celebrated the aftermath by punting the football. That was the only thing Brown didn’t do well on Tuesday, shanking the attempt at revelry.

Brown also made a spectacular one-handed circus catch with his off arm on a back-shoulder throw from Hurts in 1-on-1s with Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay on coverage.

All Slay could do was smile and congratulate Brown on the rep.

The intermediate throws to Brown in team work also continue to be easy money for the Philadelphia offense.

-The injury list lightened up a bit with offensive linemen Matt Hennessy (back) and Tyler Steen (ankle), receivers John Ross (concussion) and Johnny Wilson (concussion), tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), and safety Caden Sterns (knee) all missing practice.

Defensive tackles Moro Ojomo (hip), and Gabe Hall (hamstring), tight end EJ Jenkins (knee), and WR Joseph Ngata (ankle) returned to practice after missing Sunday’s session.

Meanwhile, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (shoulder), cornerback Cooper DeJean (hamstring), tight Grant Calcaterra (shoulder) and linebacker Oren Burks (knee) had limited designations removed as well.

-.Running back Saquon Barkley was getting his lower back stretched out by trainers and missed the final team sessions of practice with Kenny Gainwell filling in. However, Barkley did not leave the field to go inside and signed autographs for fans after practice, a good sign that it was nothing serious.

-Tight end Dallas Goedert was in during individual work but missed team drills with Calcaterra handing the TE1 work and veteran C.J. Uzomah seeing an uptick in reps.

-Rookie offensive guard Trevor Keegan limped off with what looked like a left leg injury late in the practice

-Jalen Hurts is now 15-for-15 with no interceptions in training camp. The closest he came today was during a combo route rep in 1-on-1 drills where he tried to loft the football to Brown but came up way short. Veteran slot corner Parry Nickerson should have picked it and forced himself to do pushups after the play.

-Nolan Smith was able to carry Uzomah down the field as a flat defender in coverage and did a nice job, saying “no panic” after the pass fell incomplete. Uzomah begged to differ and thought Smith was sweating it out a bit.

-Gardner-Johnson was bringing the energy today for the defense with big pops on Calcaterra and DeVonta Smith.

-Like Brown, Smith also had a nice day and was working a lot from the slot. His biggest highlight came on a twisting catch in the end zone where he went to his back with Kelee Ringo in coverage. The official on the scene never signaled if Smith landed in bounds because he immediately flagged Ringo for defensive pass interference. 

-Rookie fifth-round pick Ainias Smith easily has his best day in camp, making a few plays from the slot. The drops seemed to have stopped for Smith as well as he makes his late run for a roster spot.

-DeJean did not have a great day in coverage, especially when matched up with Britain Covey, who generated consistent separation against the rookie.

-The linebacker rotation was all over the pace today but the same default setting with Devin White and Zack Baun. Some of the other duos were White and Nakobe Dean, Dean and Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Dean with Baun and Baun with Trotter, and some Ben VanSumeren with Oren Burks.  Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio also unveiled a pass-rushing look with Baun off-ball and Patrick Johnson as an extra overhang player.

-On offense, Kellen Moore showed an unbalanced look with Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata on the same side.

-Let’s just say one of the officials at practice is not a big fan of the NFL’s kickoff rule. 

-While Lane Johnson returned after a vet day and Mekhi Becton was back at right guard after an injury scare Sunday, Fred Johnson got a few first-team reps in place of Lane Johnson and Nick Gates subbed in for Becton. Brett Toth, who filled in at RG after Becton left on Sunday, was back as the second-team center. 

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