Eagles Training Camp Day 1 Observations: Sloppy Play, Rookies Shine, RBs & More
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles kicked off their 2023 training camp Wednesday with a 58-minute "green" session.
The word of the day was probably sloppy as coach Nick Sirianni got very vocal, especially after a series of pre-snap penalties by the defense in red-zone work.
The first-team offense wasn’t great but ahead of the defense for the most part, a 180 from the typical NFL cliche but perhaps it should have been expected because the Eagles’ star-studded offensive unit suffered far less attention than the defensive side of the football in the offseason.
Here’s what we saw:
-First, the bookkeeping. All-Pro edge rusher Hasson Reddick was out with groin soreness but it’s nothing serious. Reddick was on the field watching the practice and is expected back this weekend. Defensive end Derek Barnett (knee) and cornerback Avonte Maddox (toe) were limited as they each recover from surgeries. Barnett tore his ACL in Week 1 last season while Maddox played through a painful toe injury in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LVII.
-Maddox mixed in with the first-team in 7-on-7s but Zech McPhearson handled most of the nickel work in team drills with the top unit.
-The Eagles also officially announced the signing of receiver Deon Cain, who worked out with the team Tuesday and had been with Philadelphia previously before earning USFL Championship Game MVP honors with the Birmingham Stallions this spring.
-Star quarterback Jalen Hurts, fresh off his $255 million extension, looked sharp but far from perfect as the first-team offensive line, which did start with Cam Jurgens at right guard, had some trouble with the pass rush of the athletic defensive front.
-Hurts excelled in the red zone by using 6-5 tight end Dallas Goedert as a weapon, both outside and on an option route when the veteran easily shook Nakobe Dean. Hurts also waltzed into an end zone on a QB draw when Dean and Nicholas Morrow didn’t handle some eye wash very well.
-The star on defense was second-team All-Pro James Bradberry, who had two pass breakups while matching up with Goedert outside the numbers. Known as one of the savviest cornerbacks in the NFL, Bradberry immediately recognized a ball Hurts threw a bit inside and swatted it to the ground for one of his PBUs.
-Another practice and another interception for second-year linebacker Christian Elliss, who sat down in the middle of a zone defense to victimize backup Marcus Mariota. Elliss also has interceptions of Mariota and Hurts in OTAs, the latter a potential pick-six had it been live-action. Dean got all the first-team reps at linebacker but Elliss and Davion Taylor mixed in a bit for Morrow at times with the first group sp there is a real competition developing at Will linebacker.
-Taylor also had an interception during red-zone work with safety Tristin McCollum deflected a Tanner McKee throw to D’Andre Swift into Taylor’s arms.
-Mariota did not look sharp as a whole while rookie McKee got the third-team reps over Ian Book, who was the signal caller in the developmental period post-practice.
-The Eagles started in their “50 front” on defense and developing second-year player Jordan Davis was obviously the nose tackle. The surprising part was that Davis got a lot of looks in four-man fronts as well and veteran Fletcher Cox pointed to Davis’ dedication to conditioning in the offseason. It’s possible Davis has a bigger role than expected. The 4Is outside of Davis were Fletcher Cox and Milton Williams.
-Rookie first-round picks Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith both flashed their athleticism. Carter started with the second team on defense and Smith mainly ran with the threes and was way too much for the Eagles’ backup offensive linemen.
-It was interesting how vocal Sirianni got when the defense faltered a bit with pre-snap work. Most fans don’t realize how involved Sirianni gets in all areas. He’s turned into a true CEO coach who puts his fingerprints on the entire team.
-Pre-practice Sirianni pointed out that the running backs are going to be rotated and not to put too much into how that shakes out. Boston Scott, Kenny Gainwell, Rashaad Penny, and Swift were all involved with Hurts on the field at times. Scott may have had the play on the day for the running backs when he juked undrafted rookie cornerback Eli Ricks on the way to the end zone.
-The athleticism alert goes to tight end Tyree Jackson on offense and defensive end Janarius Robinson on defense. After getting scolded by tight end coach Justin Michael early in the session for a poor route, a healthy Jackson showed off his receiving skills with two nice catches, including a nice toe tap at the back of the end zone. The 6-foot-5 Robinson, meanwhile, looked like a praying mantis when he knocked down a Mariota throw at the line of scrimmage.
-With Jurgens at right guard, it was Brett Toth taking the second-team reps at center. Rookie Tyler Steen was with the second team at right guard. Presumably when Jason Kelce gets maintenance days, Jurgens will slide to center, his natural position, and Steen will work with the first team.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
