Training Camp Notes Roundup – More Hitting

The Eagles had a very physical practice on Thursday. Lots of goal line plays. Overall, the defense got the better of the offense.

LINKS

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

Let’s go position by position.

QB

Nate Sudfeld made some terrific throws.

Carson Wentz sat out the 11-on-11 sessions again.

RB

Josh Adams had a strong showing. He was tough and physical. Adams ran hard at the goal line and had several impressive plays. Jimmy noted that Adams was also impressive in a pass-protection drill.  The UDFA runner is trending in the right direction.

Donnell Pumphrey was not impressive as a blocker. Effort was fine, but a combination of size, strength and technique issues made him ineffective. Darren Sproles might be short, but he’s thick, powerful and knows how to block.

WR

Bryce Treggs came off the NFI list and had his first day of practice. He looked good. As BLG pointed out, fresh legs can make a difference.

Shelton Gibson is still in the concussion protocol.

TE

Billy Brown did a good job in a pass-protection drill. He’s been somewhat quiet so far.

Dallas Goedert was up and down in the drill, but showed some promise. He doesn’t have to be a good blocker. He has to be functional.

OL

Jeff points out that Jason Kelce had a couple of highlight blocks. His ability to pull and block in space is second to none.

Matt Pryor had another strong day.

Jason Peters was on the field for plenty of reps. He might be an older guy and coming off an injury, but he’s always been freaky athletic and that’s still the case.

Isaac Seumalo had another snap over the QB’s head. You have to applaud his consistency.

DL

Jimmy thinks Bruce Hector has a legit shot to make the team. He’s not predicting it, but rather pointing out that Hector isn’t just a camp body. He’s got the quickness and skill-set needed to play DT for the Eagles. He’s made enough plays to get the coaches attention. That’s huge for a UDFA.

Sheil noted that Destiny Vaeao blew up a Sproles run and that the coaches like Vaeao. Jim Schwartz mentioned that Vaeao got hurt in the opener last year and that stunted his progress. Vaeao is healthy this year and doing a solid job.

Michael Bennett impress those watching practice. He made his share of plays. He also impressed with the way he interacted with his teammates, talking to both OL and DL and offering them pointers. Bennett did get in a shoving match with Richard Rodgers so he is intense during the reps/plays, but he tries to be helpful afterward.

Josh Sweat hurt his ankle and left practice.

DT Azziz Shittu made a couple of plays.

DE Steven Means seems to have a sack every day. He’s got a reputation as a great practice player. Mr. Bama was impressed by one rep.

“Steven Means had the “man moment” of the day, when he absolutely destroyed Jordan Mailata in OL-DL 1-on-1’s. Mailata went down hard on a Means bull rush, which drew some catcalls from Brandon Graham and Michael Bennett. Means is 6’3, 263, while Mailata is 6’8, 346. You don’t often see a guy that much bigger get jacked up the way Mailata did, but that’s why coaches place such a heavy emphasis on technique.”

LB

BLG raved about Kamu Grugier-Hill, who made multiple plays. One of them was an INT. Plays like that will get you noticed in a big way. Seems like the light has really come on for Grugier-Hill. He’s been a great athlete the last two years, but something wasn’t working when he played LB. That’s changed and he’s got a real chance to be the WLB.

S

BLG noted that UDFA Ryan Neal made a couple of plays. He was hurt this spring so Neal is behind the others.

Malcolm Jenkins had a strong showing in the blitz drills.

CB

A twist in the nickelback situation. Jalen Mills played inside. Sidney Jones went outside. We knew Mills would get some work on the inside. It does say something that Jones was the guy to move outside. I think, anyway.

Rasul Douglas made a few plays today, which he does every day. We would probably talk a lot more about how improved Douglas is if he didn’t play such a loaded position.

STs

Jeff on Cameron Johnston.

“And a leftover … Cameron Johnston worked on punting again. He looked better than he did the last time out, but consistency remains an issue. Special teams coach Dave Fipp is having Johnston work on landing some of his kicks between the numbers and the sidelines, so some of his punts haven’t looked as pretty if he were simply booming away. But too many have been shanked out of bounds or clanked short. It’s still early and he can’t be effectively judged until the preseason. But he needs to improve.”

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