Eagles Day 9 Overreactions: Second Cornerback Starting Job Is "Close"

PHILADELPHIA – The three pre-camp starting battles everyone expected are all but settled.

The right guard will be Tyler Steen. He has taken all the first-team reps, so to expect someone else to jump in there after nine days of training camp doesn’t seem realistic.

The second safety will probably be Sydney Brown. The shoulder injury suffered by rookie Drew Mukuba has set him back. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said “probably not” when asked if he thinks the rookie will be ready to play in Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Bengals.

As for Brown, the DC said: “He just needs to put some polish on his operation and just recognize things a little quicker and I think that will take his game to the next level.”

The third competition is too close to call, and that is at the second cornerback spot, where the competition between Adoree Jackson and Kelee Ringo will probably go down to the wire.

“It's close,” said Fangio. “I think both of them are having a good camp, but it's close and been happy with both of them and we'll see.”

And now, let’s squeeze in three overreactions from Day 9 of training camp on Monday.

Work to do. Kenyon Green better show up in the preseason games because training camp has been a mighty struggle for him. He won’t make the 53-man roster at this pace. He might not even make it to the end of August.

Green was running third team right guard on Monday, with Brett Toth getting second-team reps at that spot. During one-on-one drills, Thomas Booker ran right over him like he was an orange traffic cone. It wasn’t a good look.

Asked about Green last week, line coach Jeff Stoutland said: “We have some things and he knows…you need to work on balance and body control, your hands are lacking, so we try to target each day or each week what we need to do to help a player so they can achieve that in practice.”

Speaking of Booker. It was a standout day for the player fighting to be in the defensive tackle rotation after the big three of Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Moro Ojomo. He was strong on three one-on-one reps, including the one against Green, and he swatted down a pass at the line of scrimmage against Tanner McKee.

“It’s just about the work, staying consistent with my process, and whatever reps I do get, dominating and executing, so I try to bring that mindset that I have to earn it every day,” said Booker, who played 166 snaps (16 percent) last yearm, his firt with the Eagles.

All-Pro secondary. Get ready for it, Philadelphia, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean will both be All-Pro this season. They were finalists for the AP Rookie of the Year Award, and they are building on those seasons in training camp. Both are having solid summers.

Mitchell had another interception on Monday, though it was against Tanner McKee. Still, it was his second one of the summer. DeJean has been bouncing between the slot and safety, and has looked good at both.

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