A Good Sign

One of the fears you have with a team coming off a great season is that players, especially young players, will get wrapped up in the success and lose their way. It is basic human nature. People shower you with praise and you have to deal with all kinds of off-field distractions. It is easy to lose your edge.

That doesn’t seem to have happened with this Eagles team. We know veteran leaders like Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Lane Johnson and Zack Baun will be locked in. The bigger concern is younger players who are experiencing success and don’t have the time in the league to know how to handle their business.

Let’s talk about Jeremiah Trotter Jr. He was a STer and backup last year. The team spent a first round pick on a player at his position. It would have been easy for Trotter to get frustrated and come in this summer less than enthusiastic. Quite the opposite has happened. Trotter is playing well and doing everything he can to push Jihad Campbell. Trotter doesn’t want to give Vic Fangio an easy decision to make.

BLG offered some thoughts on Trotter and Jihad Campbell.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. isn’t going down without a fight. The second-year defender broke up a Hurts pass for the second day in a row. This time it was him having tight coverage from a trailing position on Goedert in the end zone. Trot Jr. is regularly in good position to defend the run. At the same time, Jihaad Campbell is pushing for playing time. The rookie first-round pick saw more first-team reps due to Baun not practicing. He had some good moments against the run and blew up a short throw to Dallas Goedert. Campbell thudded the tight end to the ground and then helped him up since the starters aren’t supposed to actually live tackle each other in practice.

Yesterday we talked about young DTs Moro Ojomo, Thomas Booker and Gabe Hall all having good starts to camp. They had to be encouraged by Milton Williams leaving and a spot opening up. Still, they didn’t assume the job would be given to them. All three of them came to camp in good shape and ready to compete.

Jalyx Hunt has generated a lot of positive buzz. His teammates have heaped praise on him and Fangio has spoken highly of him as well. Hunt has a huge opportunity this year and seems ready to take advantage of it.

Standout DBs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have both played well this summer. They each had great rookie seasons and look to have gotten even better. That’s great news for Fangio and the defense. With so much change in the secondary, they need Mitchell and Cooper to play like stars.

A couple of players who have been up and down had good showings on Tuesday. Kelee Ringo caught Jeff McLane’s eye.

In the outside cornerback competition, Kelee Ringo appeared to outplay Adoree’ Jackson. The opposite seemed to occur the day before. Fangio made a crucial point to reporters before practice when he said we can’t possibly see it all when evaluating performance. Our eyes are often on the ball and not away from it when players may or may not be doing the right thing.

Still, we can get a general sense, and neither Ringo nor Jackson has put a stranglehold on the position. Ringo had a strong repetition against Terrace Marshall during one-on-one drills. He got inside the receiver and prevented him from completing his route into the end zone. Later during team drills, Ringo evaded a block on a screen and held receiver Giles Jackson to a minimal gain.

Ringo isn’t getting down on himself. He’s continuing to battle. Eventually you want him to start stacking practices, putting one good day after another. If he does that, he can win the starting job.

Tyler Steen hasn’t stood out in camp so far. Tuesday was the first day wearing the pads and that seemed to make a difference for Steen.

Jeff Stoutland: “Today was a big day for Tyler Steen, in my opinion. He did some things that I’ve been talking to him about and he executed them and he did a good job.” pic.twitter.com/QPv9ecXKWg

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) July 29, 2025

Young players have to learn. They need to adjust. You want to hear that Steen is taking coaching and then working on those points. That’s how he’ll show real improvement on the field and have a chance to be the starting RG. Now that the pads are on and there is more contact you can expect some other young OL to start playing better. Most young OL are better run blockers so the first week is tough on them since there are so many passing plays.

In order for the Eagles to sustain success they need young players to continue developing and playing well. It is really encouraging to see so many young guys doing just that.

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The WR position is one where things are up in the air. AJ and DeVonta are the best duo in the league. Jahan Dotson has a chance to be a good #3. Things are wide open after that. Johnny Wilson flashed ability last summer. He’s struggling so far this time around. Ainias Smith has looked good in some 1-on-1 drills. We’ll see if he can build on that. The Eagles really liked him coming out of last year’s draft.

Danny Gray and Terrace Marshall had good springs. They had been up and down in camp. Gray was cut on Tuesday and Marshall got hurt. One guy who has come alive in camp is Elijah Cooks. Jimmy Bama had some notes on him.

The standout play of the day was made by WR Elijah Cooks, again. Tanner McKee fired a ball to the back of the end zone, where Cooks went up and snagged it in traffic. He was juuuust able to keep both feet in for the score. Cooks seems to make a highlight reel play every day.

And as noted above, Cooks also had a nice slant route for a TD while working against Jackson. He has been the underdog standout the first week of camp.

Cooks is big at 6-4, 215. Just as importantly, he plays big. He can go up and get the ball. Cooks will turn 27 this year so he’s not your typical camp body. Cooks has been in the league a couple of years.

It doesn’t matter who, but the Eagles do need some backup receivers to start really showing something.

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