TC Notes – Tackling Begins

Doug Pederson unleashed the beast. Instead of just hitting, the Eagles actually did some tackling, taking players to the ground. This has to be done to get the players some tackling experience before the preseason. As you can imagine, things were a bit sloppy.

Here are your links.

Jimmy Bama
Sheil Kapadia
Brandon Lee Gowton
Jeff McLane
Fran Duffy and Ben Fennell

Let’s go position by position. Different format for tonight.

QB

Sheil thought Joe Callahan had his best day of practice. That isn’t a huge deal with him as the #4 QB, but Callahan will play in the preseason games and you hope for the sake of the players around him that he can be effective.

Carson Wentz wasn’t on the field for any of the sessions where there was tackling. Obvious, of course.

RB

Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles weren’t in the tackling sessions. That meant plenty of reps for the other backs. Jimmy was not impressed by Wendell Smallwood. He had a sloppy day of practice. That’s not good with RB being such a deep group this year.

Matt Jones was tough to tackle, but got banged up and had to leave practice. He’s fine, though.

Jimmy still isn’t sold on Donnel Pumphrey. He saw good moments, but still feels like something is missing. Brandon Lee Gowton thought Pump had a solid day.

WR

Everyone noted that Mack Hollins had a good day, after being somewhat quiet the first few days. Sheil says he thinks Hollins is better in games than practice so he doesn’t see this as an issue for fans to worry about.

Ben had some good things to say about Shelton Gibson, who did get hit on a play over the middle and had to leave practice. It didn’t prove to be anything too serious.

Greg Ward made multiple impressive catches. He has had a strong TC and could be pushing for a roster spot.

TE

Jimmy was not impressed by Dallas Goedert’s blocking. The rookie can catch the ball, but has a long way to go as a blocker.

Brandon is not impressed by Joshua Perkins (and apparently hasn’t been at all).

OL

Isaac Seumalo continue to have errant snaps. Not ideal from your backup C.

Brandon Brooks returned from his illness to take over the starting RG spot.

Chance Warmack struggled in the 1-on-1 drills.

Matt Pryor had another good showing.

Ben Fennell actually saw some good things from OT Jordan Mailata. Maybe things are starting to click for the young man.

DL

Several people noted that rookie DT Bruce Hector flashed on a few plays and has been more noticeable the past few days. He is a 1-gap penetrator so he must make plays if he’s going to succeed. Hector won’t be eating up blocks to shut down the run.

Rookie DE Joe Ostman beat Big V for a sack. Jimmy has a good note on why Ostman signed with the Eagles. Make sure to read his piece.

A few people noted that Elijah Qualls had some good moments. Hopefully one of the young DTs will step up and show that he’s the best of the group.

LB

Brandon was impressed by Jordan Hicks. The young LB was active and made his share of plays. It is very encouraging to hear about him playing well. Hicks and Nigel Bradham give the Eagles a terrific duo at LB.

The Eagles continue to mix in looks with Bradham and Hicks outside and Joe Walker in the middle. Walker did have a real nice play today in coverage. If his knee is all the way back, that’s a great sign.

UDFA Kyle Wilson was the backup MLB in one set. That’s interesting.

Kamu Grugier-Hill continues to flash. He’s doing everything he can to win a starting gig.

S

Lots of praise for Tre Sullivan. He hit well and made coverage plays.

Rodney McLeod made one very impressive play and one smart one. He could have lit up a receiver over the middle, but decided not to hit him at all. There is just no reason to blow up a teammate with a vicious hit.

CB

Sidney Jones was the starting nickel today. That give him a 3-2 edge over De’Vante Bausby so far. Jones had a good day of practice.

Sheil was impressed by Avonte Maddox today and says the rookie is playing well. Maddox seems to be the #2 guy in the slot no matter who starts. That shows you the coaches like what they are seeing from him.

Fran had some praise for UDFA Chandon Sullivan. We’ve heard a few things about Sullivan recently. He’s trending in the right direction.

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