PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles are set to conclude organized team activities before the full mandatory minicamp begins next week. The team concluded their fifth of six OTA practices Thursday, the second of which was open to the media.
This practice mostly conducted of 7-on-7 drills and one 11-on-11 segment with some interesting depth chart observations. Mandatory minicamp is scheduled from June 4-6.
Here are some observations from the open practice on Thursday:
Who wasn’t there?
This is a voluntary OTA practice, but the Eagles had strong attendance. DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Darius Slay, James Bradberry, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Josh Sweat were not present. Kelee Ringo and Jake Elliott weren’t at last week’s open practice, but were present Thursday.
We’ll see if Bradberry is present for mandatory minicamp next week, which will be a better indication on his future.
Bradberry is still on the roster but the Eagles can designate him as a post-June 1 cut and not owe anything toward the salary cap. Bradberry’s contract would carry $4.305 million in dead cap, but the Eagles could just eat the money over two seasons if the 31-year-old isn’t in the team’s plans to start in 2024.
Depth chart observations
The Eagles gave a 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 look in Thursday’s practice, and the depth chart for both had a few differences.
Here was the first-team look for 11-on-11 on offense and defense:
- QB Jalen Hurts, RB Saquon Barkley, WR A.J. Brown, WR Parris Campbell, WR Joseph Ngata, TE Dallas Goedert, LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, C Cam Jurgens, RG Tyler Steen, RT Mekhi Becton
- EDGE Brandon Graham, DT Jalen Carter, DT Jordan Davis, EDGE Bryce Huff, LB Nakobe Dean, LB Zack Baun, CB Kelee Ringo, CB Isaiah Rodgers, S Reed Blankenship, S Avonte Maddox, Slot CB Tyler Hall.
And some second team depth chart notes:
Devin White mixed in with Nakobe Dean on the first team defense at linebacker. White was in on 7-on-7 while Dean was in on 11-on-11. Milton Williams also rotated on the first team with Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter.
Injuries
- Eli Ricks is back after walking off the field with a trainer last week, not practicing the rest of the way. He participated fully.
- Nakobe Dean is back in the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 portion after just participation in the individual drills last week.
- Wide receiver Jacob Harris watched from the sideline.
- Ainias Smith caught punts as he is recovering from a stress fracture in his foot.
What happened in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11s?
- Jalen Hurts threw a pass to Joseph Ngata, which he proceeded to drop. A frustrated Ngata slapped the turf in frustration.
- Mekhi Garner intercepted a deep throw by Kenny Pickett. Garner was playing safety on the second team, when Pickett underthrew a deep ball to John Ross — who was open.
- Tanner McKee found Britain Covey for a 15-yard completion with Brandon Smith in coverage. Covey was frequently targeted on second and third team.
- Avonte Maddox almost picked off Jalen Hurts as he was a finger tip away from the football. Dallas Goedert ended up getting the ball for a completion, as Hurts has made an effort to target the middle of the field more this offseason.
- Jalen Hurts targeted A.J. Brown frequently, as he threw a nice ball to the sideline that Brown caught over Kelee Ringo.
- Zack Baun picked off Jalen Hurts on a tipped ball that was initially behind him. Baun tipped the pass to himself for one of Hurts’ three interceptions on the day.
- Nolan Smith wasn’t targeted on this play, but he was covering A.J. Brown in a flat slant. Brown was frustrated he was covered.
- John Ross — who had a good day — caught a 20-yard pass from Kenny Pickett. Ross later received a compliment from wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead and wide receiver Parris Campbell.
- Kenny Pickett missed a wide-open Albert Okwuegbunam. It’s clear the Eagles like Okwuegbunam as he fights for a roster spot.
- John Ross got open again later in practice, but Tanner McKee threw behind the wide-open Ross for an incompletion. Both McKee and Ross were frustrated.
- Jalen Hurts threw a good sideline ball to Dallas Goedert on a deep out. The pass was just out of the reach of Goedert, but in a very tight window.
- Kelee Ringo should have picked off a Jalen Hurts pass to Parris Campbell. Hurts went deep to Campbell, but Ringo was step by step with him. Ringo was frustrated he didn’t get the interception.
- Isaiah Rodgers picked off Jalen Hurts and returned it the other way for a touchdown. Rodgers had a great read on the ball and a great break when Hurts threw the football.
- A.J. Brown was targeted often and beat Avonte Maddox on a sideline throw from Jalen Hurts.
- John Ross had a sideline catch on a ball from Kenny Pickett.
- Albert Okwuegbunam had a 25-yard catch from Kenny Pickett over Oren Burks.
- E.J. Jenkins caught a pass over Andre Sam that had a loud ovation from the Eagles sideline. The ball was from Tanner McKee as Jenkins has impressed in the open portion of practice.
- Cooper DeJean broke up a pass intended for Britain Covey.
- Shon Stephens picked off Tanner McKee on the last play of practice.
Other observations
- Saquon Barkley wore a sleeve on his calf last week and this week he didn’t.
- Cooper DeJean did see a play with the first team in the slot.
- Neither Jalen Hurts nor Kenny Pickett were sharp. Hurts ended up throwing three interceptions.
- Hurts is targeting the middle of the field significantly more in these open practices. The Eagles were dead last in pass attempts in the middle of the field at 37.1% and Hurts was second-to-last at 37.6% of the quarterbacks that had 100+ attempts (Kenny Pickett was last).
- Isaiah Rodgers was returning punts with Britain Covey.
- John Ross and Isaiah Rodgers were standouts on Thursday. Ross got open on several routes, while Rodgers had a few plays in coverage. Ross has some work to do to move up the depth chart, but Rodgers is making himself a factor in the cornerback room.
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Author: Jeff Kerr
May 31, 2024 | 8:15 am
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