Eagles Training Camp Overreactions Day 8: Kelee Ringo Weakness, Backup TE Locked

Here are five overreactions to Day 8 of Eagles training camp, with a cornerback, a tight end, and more in the spotlight.

Kelee Ringo prepares for Eagles open practice at Lincoln Financial Field on Aug. 1, 2024. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Day 8 of Eagles camp is in the books after a 95-minute practice in sunny, sultry conditions on Monday. Lets’ put my five overreactions in there, too.

BACKUP TIGHT END LOCKED IN

When Jack Stoll left for the New York Giants in free agency, that opened up a spot to be Dallas Goedert’s backup. Grant Calcaterra had the inside track after being No. 3 in his first two seasons. He has done nothing to show he can’t be Stoll’s replacement. He has caught every ball thrown his way and added a couple more on Monday.

“He picked up where he left off in the offseason,” said tight end coach Jason Michael. “He continues to take advantage of his opportunities. It’s early. We’re still trying to figure out how all of this thing is going to play out, but Grant has done a really job building on what he had going into the offseason, then working on the things that he needed to improve on. He’s done a great job on how he’s attacked it on a personal level, and from the team (standpoint).”

The bigger question is who will be No. 3? E.J. Jenkins is my leader in the clubhouse, though they could probably get him to the practice squad. That leaves veteran C.J. Uzomah, Albert Okwuegbunam, and recently-signed Kevin Foelsch running a distant second.

Grant Calcaterra / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

RINGO WORRIES

There’s no question that Kelee Ringo is often in good position more often than not. The worry is he doesn’t seem to make good breaks on the ball and gets beaten too often. It happened in the red zone, when Johnny Wilson went over him to snare a nice touchdown throw from Jalen Hurts.

On Sunday, and from my sideline vantage point, it looked like Ringo had a pick-6 staring him in the face on a throw to Britain Covey in the flat that took too long to arrive. Instead of breaking on the ball, it looked like Ringo waited until Covey made the grab then popped him.

RUNNING BACK BATTLES

It wasn’t a good day for rookie Will Shipley. His failure to catch a well thrown ball over the middle near the 10-yard line led to an opportunistic pick-6 interception from Shon Stephens. He also was run over by Nakobe Dean in pass protection to give up an easy sack.

He has a spot on the roster, though, as the third running back.

Last year, the Eagles kept four on the 53, but barely played Rashaad Penny. It was a good day for the three hoping they keep four and vying to be No. 4. My math says three, but don’t tell the trio hunting for a job.

To wit:

Kendall Milton had back-to-back hard-nosed touchdowns runs from inside the 5.

Lew Nichols showed more juice than previous practices, making a couple of catches and running hard.

The 95-minute practice ended when Ty Davis-Price worked his way open inside the pylon and made a nice catch, getting both feet down on a throw from Tanner McKee from about the 5.

NGATA CHANCE

That is a play on receiver Joseph Ngata’s last name, which means he doesn’t have a chance to make the roster. That said, last year's undrafted free agent from Clemson has shown vast improvement from last year, when he did enough to stick around on the Eagles’ practice squad.

One of his issues was creating separation, but he seems to be doing that this year and makes catches when the ball comes his way. We will see how he does when the lights come on in Baltimore on Friday night against the Ravens, but he has had a decent camp and another stay on the practice squad could be the result.

ABOUT SMITH

Because the Eagle have four Smiths, I am specifically talking about Ainias. The fifth-round pick continues to struggle catching the ball and has not been made available to talk to reporters since camp began. He and offensive lineman Dylan McMahon are the only two draft picks who haven’t, along with Cooper DeJean but that is because DeJean is injured.

Smith will likely make the team, anyway, because it is probably easier to get vested vets like Campbell and even Ross, to the practice squad than a young guy with speed and the ability to return kicks.

Or maybe the Eagles’ approach to taking receivers in back-to-back rounds (Smith and Wilson) will be similar to 2016 when they took cornerbacks Blake Countess and Jalen Mills in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. They knew they only needed one to hit and it was Mills, so they cut Countess.

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