A Glimpse at Eagles Rookie Camp, and Will it Include Jalen Hurts?
Amidst pleas from the NFLPA to have rookies skip minicamps, three teams held theirs this past weekend and attendance was not a problem.
Estimates are that 100 percent of the rookies showed up for rookie camps held by the Jets, Raiders, and Colts.
That could bode well for the Eagles, who will hold their three-day rookie camp beginning Friday.
That means that all of the team’s draft picks should be in town, from first-round selection DeVonta Smith to seventh-round pick Patrick Johnson and everyone in-between: Landon Dickerson, Milton Williams, Zech McPhearson, Kenny Gainwell, Marlon Tuitupolu, Jacoby Stevens, and Tarron Jackson.
As for the undrafted free agents, there has yet to be any official confirmation from the Eagles exactly who those players are.
Reports are that Wake Forest/Georgia quarterback Jamie Newman was one who was signed after the draft. So, too, reportedly was Florida receiver Trevon Grimes. They are a pair of players who had draftable grades but weren’t picked during the three-day draft.
READ MORE: Eagles' Rookie Minicamp Set; What to Look For - Sports ...
The question is will players drafted last year be at rookie camp?
That group, of course, would include at least two players expected to have huge roles this season: WR Jalen Reagor and QB Jalen Hurts.
Others taken in 2020 who are still on the roster include linebackers Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley, safety K’Von Wallace, OT Jack Driscoll, and WRs John Hightower and Quez Watkins.
They should be eligible to attend should they choose after not having the experience of a rookie camp last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was reaching its zenith.
This year, with a vaccine available, the NFL would like to see on-field work resume.
The players’ union wants nothing to do with that. During a Friday call with its membership, Tom Brady told players to have “very intense negotiations” with their teams about modifying offseason work, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.
Pelissero also reported that Brady said the NFL is the only league with “overly competitive” drills in the offseason and that last year showed there is a better way to prepare.
Brady added, per Pelissero, that “There’s no f—ing pro baseball player that’s throwing 95 mph in mid-December.”
Of course, Brady plays with the Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a veteran-laden team.
The Eagles have their share of veterans, but it’s a shrinking number as the slow transition into a youth movement is underway with a rookie head coach in Nick Sirianni and a mostly new staff.
Rookies and select veterans also have the option of attending voluntary OTAs, which begin later this month.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
