Practice Notes Roundup

Posted: August 8th, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Practice Notes Roundup

This was supposed to be a physical practice, the final warm-up for the preseason opener. Instead, Doug Pederson dialed things back. Players were not in full pads and there was limited hitting. Nothing was wrong. Pederson just felt the team had worked hard recently and had to deal with some really hot days so he opted to ease up. He wants everyone ready for Thursday’s game.

LINKS

Jimmy Bama
Jeff McLane
Sheil Kapadia
Brandon Lee Gowton
Fran Duffy and Chris McPherson

Let’s go position by position.

QB

Jimmy had some strong comments on Carson Wentz.

Carson Wentz did not participate in 11-on-11’s, as he hasn’t for over a week now, but he did take reps in 7-on-7’s, and he was on fire. Three throws stood out.

  1. Early in the day, he threw a missile down the seam to Greg Ward, who made a great hands catch, given the velocity on the ball.
  2. In red zone drills, he pumped faked a throw over the middle to freeze the safety, and then hit Dallas Goedert with a perfect touch pass over Jalen Mills in the back corner of the end zone.
  3. Also in the red zone, tight end Josh Perkins was on the ground, just over the mouth of the goal line. No matter. Wentz lasered a low fastball into him through a tiny window. That was a wow throw.

Wentz has had some ups and downs, but he has had some really good highlight moments. When your focus is split between rehab and practice, there are going to be some hiccups. Wentz is going to keep pushing himself and working on his game.

Nick Foles is dealing with neck spasms. Doesn’t seem like a long term concern, but you won’t see him on Thursday.

You will see a lot of Nate Sudfeld. He had a solid showing on Tuesday.

RB

Jeff noted that Josh Adams got some reps with the #2 offense. Unfortunately, he had a bad dropped pass on one play.

The good news for Adams is that none of the other #4 RB candidates has really stood out. Matt Jones, Wendell Smallwood, Donnel Pumphrey and Adams are bunched up. Someone needs to create separation.

WR

Shelton Gibson was back at practice after missing time with a concussion. BLG noted that he made a nice catch.

A few people noticed Mack Hollins making some impressive catches.

TE

Josh Perkins got off to a quiet start, but has been coming on recently. He made some nice grabs today.

A few people pointed out that Dallas Goedert had some struggles as a blocker. That’s going to be his biggest challenge as a rookie.

OL

Matt Pryor had another good day.

Good stuff from Fran here:

The offense worked in various blocking schemes on these run plays, featuring a host of different players along the offensive line pulling to the outside and getting on the move. Jason Kelce flew upfield on the first play to block Rodney McLeod on a Jay Ajayi run. I saw Lane Johnson sprinting downfield two plays later, while Halapoulivaati Vaitai pulled outside on the fourth play of the drill. The Eagles have one of the best running schemes in the NFL. That’s a credit to the coaching staff for drawing up so many different variations of plays and executing them on gameday, but the offensive line deserves a lot of the credit as well. They’re the engine that makes this run game go. – Fran

DL

Derek Barnett had some standout moments today.

Sheil told a story about Azziz Shittu and Big V getting into it. Things were heated for a minute, but the players slapped hands and let it go. The point is to compete and really push each other, but never make it personal. The coaches put the message out there and the players do a great job of embracing it.

LB

Nate Gerry got first team reps at WLB.

Fran noted that when the Eagles went to a 4-4 look on D, the LBs were Gerry, Jordan Hicks, Joe Walker and Nigel Bradham. I really look forward to seeing Walker. He made one impressive play (TFL) on Tuesday.

S

Corey Graham is back and is the #3 safety. No shock there.

CB

The daily nickelback update…Sidney Jones got the start. He now leads De’Vante Bausby 6 to 4, with Jalen Mills also having one start inside.

C-Mac noted that Rasul Douglas made some nice plays today. He’s got a crowd in front of him, but Douglas is handling things the right way. He keeps making plays and forcing the coaches to notice him.

ST

Jimmy was not impressed with Cameron Johnston again today. CJ needs a good showing on Thursday to help everyone relax.

Corey Clement got some looks at PR behind Darren Sproles.

*****

A funny suggestion from Twitter.

That would make things crazy.

_


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