Practice Wrap
Posted: August 2nd, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 34 Comments »Back to football.
Jimmy Bama posted his practice notes.
• Curtis Marsh is quietly having a nice camp, and he needs one. He broke up a deep ball nicely today, and was in position absolutely destroy LeSean McCoy on a swing pass, Sheldon Brown/Reggie Bush style. That swing pass should be a concern for Eagles fans season, by the way. The Eagles are running a ton of them to the RBs, and if you get a defense that calls zone flat responsibility to that size with a CB who likes to hit, the RB is going to be exposed.
• Ifeanyi Momah looked like a legitimate threat to take a roster spot during OTAs and minicamp. I’m not seeing that anymore. He has struggled.
He’s also got lots of stuff on Mychal Kendricks and the O-line.
The note on Momah is interesting. I wondered if he would be ready to really challenge for a roster spot since he’s only played one game since the 2010 season. Think how far back that is. Nnamdi Asomugha was a star CB.
Momah could be a good developmental prospect. Some time on the practice squad could be perfect for him.
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Sheil Kapadia also posted notes. Let’s see what he has on the QBs.
* Nick Foles had a good day with the deep balls. This was an issue for him last year. Just 35.7 percent of his passes that traveled 20 yards or more downfield were on-target, according to Pro Football Focus. That ranked 24th in the league, just ahead of Michael Vick (35.0 percent).
During 11-on-11s, Foles unleashed a bomb to Damaris Johnson that traveled about 50 yards through the air for a touchdown past Emmanuel Acho and Kurt Coleman. Later, against a heavy blitz, Foles got rid of the ball quickly and lofted a perfectly-placed pass into Greg Salas’hands near the left sideline, but the wide receiver couldn’t hang on. And Foles also hit Riley Cooper for a 40-yard strike past Brandon Boykin, one of the only times the second-year corner has been beaten all camp.
* On one play, LeSean McCoy got pushed back into Vick in pass protection, and the QB came up hobbling. But he stayed on the field and hit Salas for a 35-yard completion on a corner route near the right sideline on the very next play.
The talk on Twitter was that Vick might have been injured after the hit. Reporters were very impressed to see him stay in, let alone throw a terrific pass to Salas. Chip Kelly has talked about the importance of QB durability. No one questions Vick’s toughness, but he must find a way to stay on the field if he’s going to win and keep the QB job.
It is good to hear Foles is showing some improvement with his deep throws. He didn’t use his lower body well at all last year. Deep balls don’t require a great arm. A good QB can used balance and mechanics to generate throwing power. Sounds like Foles has made some progress in that area.
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PE.com has their notes. Any Hemingway today?
Cornerback Brandon Boykin made a sticky hands interception early in practice in which he stepped in front of the receiver on a curl and snagged the ball while contorting his body, so as to not physically interfere, and reaching his arms out to the side. Deft body control, great play. No pushups needed after this rep.
Contorting? Deft? How do they expect Jimmy Bama to understand these notes?
Whether Boykin is in the slot or outside, it is great to hear he’s playing so well. The secondary is a huge question mark. If he can play well, that is a step in the right direction. We need more guys to join him, but at least one DB is playing really well by showing some deft contortion ability.
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Brandon Lee Gowton posted his notes on BGN.
• I forget that Zach Ertz is a tight end sometimes when watching him play. I see # 86 and I think, “What WR is that?” only to be reminded that it’s Ertz. Between the way the Eagles line him up and his body type/skill set, you can see where my confusion comes from.
I really do think Ertz is going to be a key guy when it comes to replacing Jeremy Maclin. Ertz can be the big WR playing opposite of DeSean. Not all the time, but in some sets.
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The Eagles reached an injury settlement with BJ Cunningham. That’s too bad. I was a big fan of his at Michigan State and thought he had good NFL potential. This move opens up a roster spot.
The Eagles will need to add a WR. I wonder if they go for a camp body or do look to bring in more of an established veteran. Don’t mis-read that. I’m not talking about TO/Chad Johnson types. I simply mean a player that has been in/around the league a few years and can get up to speed quickly.
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I’m more of aluminum foil guy. Hats fit me better.
That explains a few things.
Excuse me for a moment of silence. You got it!
Between Marsh, Boykin, Fletcher and Williams, I think we will be fine at CB. The 3 first seems to have impressed even in drills that favor the WR/TE and Williams will a little bring some attitude.
Im really exciting about the news of Ertz. It seems he havnt been hurt the least about that stupid graduation rule.
The secondary is a huge question mark, but too many people assume that means the answer will be bad. It could turn out to be good.
or…they could be bad. Very bad. But that’s still better than last year.
think the jags would want to trade justin blackmon??
He was great in college. Really wonder if he’ll pan out in the NFL.
He did have 65 catches for 865 yards and 5 TDs. That seems like a very decent rookie season for me. His suspension of course put a damper on things.
Not every WR is AJ Green or Julio Jones (and got the QB to support them) coming out of college
dangle that 2nd round pick in front of them? hell maybe they could take vick off our hands if need be
We should sweeten the pot by offering Kempski. I guarantee you Jacksonville needs some bloggers, even terrible ones.
Tommy, I saw my first vid of jimmyk on philly.com today. Tell him my praise goes out to him… however, you along side of him would bolster views in my aluminum world!
Don’t know if you heard, but Riley Copper used the n-word!
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
No offense, Tommy, but I’m tired of reading about how the Eagles look. I’m so ready to see what all of this looks like. Almost there!
I’m with you, that’s why I won’t blame JW Booth.
Can’t wait to see them in action myself. The lack of TC video this year is driving me crazy.
I guess it would restrict press freedom if word processor thesauri came with a two week waiting period, and we wouldn’t want to deny PE.com its first amendment rights.
I do think that TV football announcers should pay a small fine for using adjectives as adverbs, because it teaches young viewers bad grammar.
Williams is back so Fletcher gets injured. Is an injury every minor with MeSean? Does AB have one foot out the door yet? Hard to impress if you’re not on the field. Great notes all around.
Can we stop with the “MeSean” thing? It’s tired, unoriginal, and ignores that he actually sorted himself out and played hard last year.
No. He played hard last year? You mean, the games he actually played. If he plays a full season, you have my word, I’ll stop.
Can you expand on this? DeSean has done a lot to damage his reputation with fans and I get that, but I’m not sure I follow your reasoning behind the “You mean, the games he actually played.” He didn’t break his own ribs.
So despite the fact he only had one drop and was on pace for career numbers before breaking his ribs on an end around, you’re still not going to let things go. I only hope you never make a mistake. I can’t see how you’d ever forgive yourself.
You think he was being selfish, because he didn’t play through broken ribs? Are you kidding me? You didn’t call him fragile, or injury prone, you called him MeSean. It’s a complete non sequitur.
But hey, if you want to show us how manly he should have been, how about we break your ribs and watch you try to run some wind-sprints?
Even if you want to continue to hold 2011 against him, which I disagree with but totally understand, the name calling isn’t really the best way to go about it.
Boy — this Cooper thing has a lot fans undies in a bunch. Who cares if you do/don’t like the nickname. People have been calling McNabb/McChoke/McFlabby etc etc for years. Suddenly nobody has a sense of humor. Egads.
I don’t forget. I don’t forgive MESEAN for giving up his play because of more money. Maclin didn’t do it. That’s a stand up MAN/team player in my book. I guess everyone is forgetting that Chip and Mesean had to get on the same page — because you know, Desean is not about himself. He just felt he didn’t deserve the treatment Chip was giving him.
Now, about his play, he gives up on plays. He avoids contact at all costs. I know, some people say guys his size SHOULD avoid contact. I’m not from that school. There are PLENTY of undersized players that are willing to take a beating AND keep on ticking. Mesean is just not one of them. It’s my opinion. I’m entitled to it(no matter how delusional).
I call him Mesean because Prima Donna takes to long to type. Lighten up folks, it’s Friday. Weekend is here…
You seem to be under the illusion that any of those nicknames were clever.
But as for what you actually say here, go back and find me some plays from last year where DeSean gave up. I know watching the games, I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw. I know he didn’t drop a catch till mid-November. I saw him catching balls with safeties closing in. The reason everyone is getting riled up is that you’re talking like you didn’t watch a game last year. Sure you’re entitled to your own opinion, but don’t expect people to not call you out on it when there’s a lack of factual basis.
Yes DeSean has an ego, and it appears to be his main character flaw. But he kept it in check last year, and this year, when it cropped up again, it looks like he’s dealing with it. Obviously we’ll see this season, but give a man a chance to deal with his own flaws.
I hope he has a pro bowl season.
Tommy, my commutes have been rough. Will you and Jimmy be doing another H2H show before the preseason starts or waiting? Thanks for all the great coverage and kudos on the way you wrote about the Riley situation.
Covering TC has eaten up all Jimmy’s time. There is a day off tomorrow. I’m hoping we can maybe record a couple of shows then. No promises. Gotta talk to him.
Coop suspended indefinitely. Is this the long goodbye?
I’m seeing “excused”, not suspended… Sounds like it’s supposed to have been his call.
Saw a crazy stat about this yesterday: Since the beginning of the 1987 season, 327 out of the 415 games the Eagles have played have been started by a black QB (79%). I’d have to think whatever the 2nd place team is in that timeframe isn’t even close.
Probably Oilers/Titans next with Moon, McNair, V. Young.
I really am not all that concerned at all about the lack of WR depth with Riley out for an indef. period. I was hopeful the other guys on the roster would play him out of a spot before we ever got to training camp. Even if we end up thin at WR there are still talented players here that chip can utilize. I think he is salivating at the screen and HB options for Damaris Johnson. Yeah the big guys are not really there at the moment. I’d say thats okay though, make due with the little ones. Avant isn’t big, but he sure plays like it. I really do think he is on equal footing with a guy like Anquan Boldin at this point. He might be lacking in size compared to Q, but he is going to catch the ball if you throw it to him. Covered or not.
And let us not forget Tommy’s order of Chip’s importance on skill position players. WR brought up the rear there.
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