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Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Jalen Carter unstoppable, Quinyon Mitchell shines
Observations from the NovaCare Complex.
By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton Jul 30, 2024, 7:26pm EDT 21 Comments / 21 New
Tuesday marked the fifth Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2024 season. Today’s session featured the players wearing pads for the first time this summer. The Eagles were mainly focusing on red zone work. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.
EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES
JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Mixed bag.
The positive: Hurts made a lightning quick throw after the ball was snapped to A.J. Brown for a touchdown at the goal line. Hurts hit Brown on a back-shoulder throw to Brown in the middle of the end zone to help the receiver get free from sticky coverage. Hurts scrambled and hit a crossing Kenny Gainwell in the end zone for a touchdown. Hurts’ fade pass to DeVonta Smith for an over-the-shoulder touchdown grab in 1-on-1 was right on the money.
The negative: Hurts had his first turnover-worthy throw of camp when he threw directly at Kelee Ringo, who had the ball bounce off his hands. Hurts had another throw that may have been out a tad late and was knocked down by Darius Slay. Hurts was guilty of holding the ball a little too long at times again, and it wasn’t just because the defensive line was creating pressure (although that was sometimes the case). Case in point: Hurts had at least two plays in 7-on-7 where he settled to take off running to end the rep instead of getting a pass off. Hurts also flat out missed wide while trying to hit Saquon Barkley for a dump off.
Hurts looked better than he did on Monday but not quite as good as he looked last week.
Day 1: Thumbs up
Day 2: Thumbs up
Day 3: Thumbs up
Day 4: Thumbs down
Day 5: Thumbs sideways
EAGLES INJURY UPDATES: Tyler Steen (ankle) missed his second practice. Saquon Barkley (personal reasons), Lane Johnson (toe), and Brett Toth (hamstring) returned to practice in full. Trevor Keegan (shoulder) was limited in practice. Landon Dickerson walked to the medical tent with trainers and did not finish practice. Kendall Milton walked into the team facility with trainers and did not return. Josh Jobe was seen leaving practice early. Oren Burks (knee) hasn’t practiced since the first day of camp. Sydney Brown is still on active/PUP and Cooper DeJean is still on active/NFI.
EAGLES ROSTER NEWS: In case you missed it, the team signed interior offensive lineman Nick Gates and cut Mario Goodrich III.
If it was up to me to give out an MVP award for today’s practice, I’d give it to Jalen Carter. The second-year defensive tackle was unstoppable. Carter destroyed Mekhi Becton on two reps. The first was in a team setting where he used a club move to swat Becton out of his way. The second was in a 1-on-1 drill where he used his power to toss Becton aside. Becton is listed at 6’7”, 363 pounds! Carter also blew up a run in the backfield, wrecked a designed QB run, and deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage. I feel like Carter is being underrated; this isn’t just a merely good player. As my friend Jonny Page said, this is an elite talent who could feasibly be Defensive Player of the Year sooner than later.
Carter wasn’t the only defensive standout; Quinyon Mitchell also shined. The first-round rookie had one of the more impressive reps by any player this summer when he blanketed A.J. Brown so well in 1-on-1 that Hurts didn’t even bother to get a throw off. For context, a quarterback not even throwing the ball in that setting is very rare. Mitchell stared down Brown after the rep. Mitchell is soft-spoken but he clearly has some swagger, which is typically something you want to see out of your cornerbacks. I think Brown seems to respect it, too. The next time Mitchell and Brown faced off, A.J. almost came up with an incredible one-handed grab but the receiver only managed to get one foot in at most. Good coverage again by Mitchell. Mitchell did give up a sideline completion to Joseph Ngata in 1-on-1s ... but it took a really good effort from the receiver to beat him. During team drills, Mitchell saw reps as the first-team nickel cornerback. Even if he doesn’t start on the outside this year, which he might, the coaches are probably going to want to get Mitchell on the field in some capacity.
CORNERBACK TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: Isaiah Rodgers took the first first-team cornerback reps across from Darius Slay in 11-on-11. That’s two for Rodgers and three for Kelee Ringo. Rodgers broke up a pass to Brown in 1-on-1.
LINEBACKER TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: For the fifth day in a row, Devin White and Zack Baun were the first first-team linebackers in 11-on-11. The only time I really noticed Nakobe Dean in coverage was when he was trailing Parris Campbell to allow a touchdown. He’s been at his best as a run defender/blitzer.
Last week, I highlighted how the Eagles have been using pre-snap motion and tempo more often under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Another new addition: the increased usage of the play action rollout. Hurts had multiple reps where that took place on Tuesday and it’s just not something we’re used to seeing, as good friend Sheil Kapadia evidenced with the stats he brought up in my guest appearance on The Ringer’s Philly Special. Check out the entire episode here:
Speaking of Sheil, he alerted me to Tanner McKee taking some reps with the second-team offense today. I didn’t even notice that. Interesting! Is a legitimate QB2 battle emerging?!
Becton got owned by Carter but he had a positive rep when he combined with Cam Jurgens to drive a defensive lineman (may have been Marlon Tuipulotu?) way back into the end zone. Those two offensive linemen were fired up about that block. As was good friend and former NFL offensive lineman Barrett Brooks, who was watching nearby. Becton’s size is obviously an advantage in the run game but it remains to be seen how he can hold up as a pass blocker.
Good practice for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was really active. Don’t think he got his hands on a pass but he regularly looked to be in good position. He sniffed out a screen to Saquon Barkley at one point and he was pretty fired up about that. CJGJ is bringing the juice.
Johnny Wilson continues to mix in for first-team reps. Wilson hasn’t done a whole lot in team drills but he did use his size to beat Kelee Ringo in 1-on-1.
Some random OL vs DL drill notes: Trevor Keegan looked good handling a stunt from Brandon Graham. Fred Johnson shut down Moro Ojomo. Cam Jurgens got driven back far by Jordan Davis but kept the big man in front of him. Nolan Smith absolutely dusted Anim Dankwah around the edge where the undrafted rookie couldn’t even get a hand on the rusher. Patrick Johnson drew praise for multiple wins.
Nolan Smith and Fred Johnson were chirping at each other after a 1-on-1 rep. Johnson apparently got the better of Smith this time after the latter beat the former twice on Monday. Potential beef to monitor as it relates to a training camp fight.
Speaking of, Zack Baun did not take kindly to getting pancaked by Fred Johnson during a team drill. Baun got up and shoved Johnson in the back as the backup lineman was going to the sideline. But players helped to separate them before anything got started.
Milton Williams deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage. He’s had an active camp, looks good.
I can’t say I’ve noticed Bryce Huff a whole lot so far. Of course, there are some important qualifiers to note, as I did on my appearance with Jonny Page and Shane Haff. Hardly time to panic.
Will Shipley looked good on a Texas/angle route. Caught a pass from Pickett for a short touchdown with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. trailing. Shipley also got some first-team red zone work.
C.J. Uzomah dropped a pass. He’s really only stood out for doing not good things.
Albert Okwuegbunam failed to reel in a make-able catch.
Matt Hennessy, playing at right guard, gave up immediate pressure that forced Kenny Pickett to leave the pocket. Pickett quickly got swallowed up by offensive line collapsing around him on another rep.
Eli Ricks logged a pass breakup on a McKee throw a tad wide of Ainias Smith. McKee had previously hit a crossing Smith in stride, who made a hands-extended catch, for a touchdown in 1-on-1.
Tyrion Davis-Price has dropped at least four passes over the last two practices. Not ideal.
Late in practice, Shon Stephens broke up an anticipatory throw from McKee to Griffin Hebert.
Mekhi Garner also had a PBU late in practice. The ball almost got deflected into being a catch for E.J. Jenkins, who then bobbled the ball back into Garner’s control, but the defensive back was already out of bounds to negate the interception.
No shortage of notable guests at today’s Eagles practice: Fletcher Cox (looking slimmed down in retirement), New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (who is an Eagles fan and spent some time talking to Nick Sirianni prior to practice), Delaware Blue Coats general manager Jameer Nelson, multiple members of Liverpool Football Club (they’re practicing at the NovaCare Complex today before playing at The Linc on Wednesday ... but go Chelsea), and this bird:
UP NEXT: The Eagles have a walkthrough closed to media access on Wednesday. Then they’ll hold their first and only public practice open to fans at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday evening starting at 6:30 PM Eastern. More details on that event, including how to get tickets, can be found here.