Eagles Training Camp Overreactions Day 15: Unstoppable In Slot, Cooper Not Super

The training camp finish line is in sight with two days to go before the exhibition finale, but here are five overreactions from Day 15

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith converse prior to Day 15 of Eagles training camp. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – The finish line is in sight for Eagles training camp after the team marked Day 15 on Tuesday with an hour, 47-minute session. That leaves two more camp days until Saturday’s preseason final against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Lincoln Financial Field.

Here are five overreactions from Tuesday:

KELLEN MOORE’S BEST MOVE

You can credit the offensive coordinator for raising the play of quarterback Jalen Hurts, for implanting more quick slants, but his best move may be putting DeVonta Smith in the slot more consistently. The receiver is difficult to guard when he’s on the outside with his precise route-running. Put him the slot, where there is some space to get off the line, and forget about it, he’s off to the races, leaving defenders in his wake the way he did with Eli Ricks once on Tuesday.

I won’t go as far as to say that Smith could have more yards than Brown this year, but I think the separation between the two in terms of yards receiving won’t be that far off.

COOPER NOT SUPER

Some believe Cooper DeJean will be the opening-day starter in the slot. I say, not so fast. The second-round rookie still has two weeks to acclimate himself to the NFL, but he missed the first three weeks of camp with a hamstring injury and is fighting to get himself game-ready.

On Tuesday, he may have shown some effects of his inactivity, because it was a struggle for him. Britain Covey got open on several reps against him. Even Ainais Smith got open on DeJean.

These are kinks that DeJean could have worked out earlier in camp but has to do so now in a compressed period of time before the Eagles play the Packers in Brazil on Sept. 6. We’ll see if DeJean can do it in time to line up with the starters then.

SMITH FIGURING OUT

This would be the rookie fifth-round pick Smith, as in Ainias Smith. He had his best practice of summer on Tuesday, and my contention is the two-point conversion pass he caught that stood up as the winning points in Philly’s 14-13 win over the Patriots last Thursday jumpstarted his confidence.

We will see how high that goes after he ran a nice route on Quinyon Mitchell, appearing to run deep to get Mitchell thinking long pass before pulling up and coming back for a reception. Smith caught every pass thrown his way, and there were several. Hs route-running looks improved, and maybe the game is slowing down for him a bit, and that’s good to see.

Eagles Joseph Ngata / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

BUBBLE UNWRAPPED

Joseph Ngata returned to practice after an injury in New England last week, perhaps spurred on toward healing after watching how well Jacob Harris has practiced in the three sessions Ngata missed.

The 6-5 Harris had another strong day. He skied for one catch over Eli Ricks in one-on-one then had to be held by Shon Stephens on another route to prevent Harris from going deep.

Receiver will be an important position to watch when final roster decisions are made in about a week.

“I think it's been an awesome battle for this receiver room,” said Moore. “Obviously, A.J. (Brown) and DeVonta have done an excellent job. I think we have got a really fun group of different skillsets, and they have all been able to highlight those skillsets and it's a really fun process for the guys.

“Again, like we said, we like that group. It's a really fun group. They bring different pieces to this offense, and I think what we are excited about is being able to utilize these guys in all their different ways.”

THE “OLD GUYS” ON DEFENSE

It might be easy to overlook the camp mega-veterans Brandon Graham, 36, and Darius Slay, 33, are having, but they have both been solid all summer long and were again on Tuesday. Graham continues to generate consistent pressure and Slay has won his share of battle against A.J. Brown.

Whether or not they can hold up for 17 games and anything else that awaits is to be determined. The Eagles would be wise to give Slay some series’ off during games, especially with the depth they have at the position, while Graham’s snaps have been on the decline for the past couple of years as the Eagles look to keep him fresh. It’s what they need to do with Slay, too.

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