It was Jalen Hurts’ 24th birthday on Sunday and he got to spend it at the Linc with nearly 30,000 of his best friends.
That was a fun night.
Despite a hot evening, the Eagles nearly filled the lower bowl of Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night for their only public practice of training camp. The Eagles have a walkthrough on Monday and will be back at practice on Tuesday.
To the observations:
1. Not even the public practice will move housekeeping. Structure is important:
• You know it’s getting deeper into training camp when the injury report continues to grow. The Eagles were already without Jordan Mailata (concussion) and Andre Dillard (concussion) and now they’ve added Le’Raven Clark (hamstring) to the list. That means they were down to their fourth left tackle (Kayode Awosika) on Sunday night. More on that in a moment. But the Eagles also brought back tackle Jarrid Williams for obvious reasons. The UDFA was with them not long ago. The roster is full at 91.
• Javon Hargrave also joined the injury report with a groin injury. The other players who didn’t practice on Sunday: Grant Calcaterra (hamstring), DeVonta Smith (groin), Jimmy Moreland (ankle), Boston Scott (concussion), Jaquiski Tartt (personal reasons), Kary Vincent (groin), Greg Ward (toe).
• During practice, it looked like JJ Arcega-Whitside suffered an arm/shoulder injury. It came not long after an impressive diving catch. Something to monitor.
2. The highlight of Sunday night’s practice was a deep ball from Hurts to AJ Brown. Hurts dropped it in the bucket despite tight coverage from James Bradberry for a 30-yard touchdown. Hurts has hit Brown a ton throughout training camp and that didn’t change under the lights at the Linc.
3. Hurts also showed off his legs on Sunday night. That part of his game isn’t always featured in the practice setting but it was in this session. On one particular drive, Hurts had four runs, including one that left Brandon Graham grasping at air.
It was awfully reminiscent of the big juke run against the Saints last season. This is the second such run I remember from Hurts this summer.
4. The Eagles were down to their fourth left tackle on Sunday and it showed. Josh Sweat was feasting on Awosika early in practice. That had the potential to completely derail the offense. Eventually, Sweat was off the field in favor of Derek Barnett. That might have been out of mercy.
5. Speedy running back Jason Huntley is starting to stack good days. Without Scott (concussion) Huntley is getting more reps and making the most of them. He broke off a run of 50+ down the left sideline. Huntley has been impressing me with his toughness the last couple of days, seeking out contact, but what always stands out about him is that burst. That showed up a the Linc.
6. TJ Edwards makes a big play in every practice. In the last period of this practice, he almost had a diving interception on a Hurts pass in the middle of the field. If he was able to secure it, that pick would have been the play of the day. Still, a diving PBU earns a mention.
7. Tight end Noah Togiai (a favorite of the Eagle Eye podcast) had some notable catches on Sunday from Gardner Minshew and Reid Sinnett. Without Calcaterra and now possibly without JJAW, Togiai can show his ability. He’s still a long shot to make the roster but could stick on the practice squad.
8. Another long shot to make the team is Deon Cain. But the receiver, who wears No. 85, has caught a ton of passes during this camp. Again, probably not a spot for him on the roster, but he’s making a strong push.
9. Tarron Jackson had a few flash plays on Sunday. The second-year defensive end got a couple first-team reps as the defense rotated and made them count. He should be the fourth DE on the roster.
10. During the middle of practice, Sinnett ended up taking second-team reps during one period. Minshew didn’t seem injured and took second-team reps later in the night, but Sinnett got his first second-team reps of the summer. Sinnett is clearly ahead of rookie Carson Strong for the third QB spot.
Stupid Observation of the Night: During the early portion of practice, Hurts and Brown each tossed a football into the stands to fans. So two lucky Eagles fans walked out of the Linc with a pretty cool souvenir.
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