Eagles' OTA Practice Observations
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles held a full-team OTA practice on Tuesday, the first of the Nick Sirianni era open to the media for about 45 minutes or so.
With the NFLPA pushing for fewer offseason commitments for the players, a treaty of sorts was worked out locally in which June's mandatory minicamp was canceled in favor of a series of less strenuous OTA practice sessions over the next few weeks before things break until training camp in late July.
The compromise resulted in a well-attended session for Sirianni and his coaching staff.
Along with tight end, Zach Ertz, who was not expected to attend in advance of the June 1 date that is still likely to result in a trade or release, other veterans who were not on the field for Tuesday's session were Pro Bowl defensive linemen Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham, as well as cornerback Darius Slay.
Cox and Graham have been around, however, and each spoke to the media last week.
As for the session the Eagles wore so-called "shirseys" - black for the offense and gray for the defense - something linebacker Alex Singleton noted was more comfortable.
There were no 7-on-7's or team drills at all and each unit kept to themselves with the defense on the far fields.
As for the open part of the session, the position groups broke off and worked on technique and fundamentals with quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Joe Flacco, and Jamie Newman honing in on footwork as well as ball-handling at the goal line.
DeVonta Smith was seen working on hand-eye coordination pre-practice with a tetherball-like apparatus.
One interesting drill involved the running backs and receivers Jalen Reagor and Smith with inside hand-offs faked at the goal line in favor of end-arounds for the WRs.
When the receivers and the QBs got together for some route-tree work, the rotation was Reagor, Quez Watkins, undrafted rookie Jhamon Ausbon and John Hightower at flanker or Z and Smith, Travis Fulgham, Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Khalil Tate, and Trevon Grimes at split end or X.
After practice, Reagor noted that he expected a slot of slot work this season before perhaps realizing he was letting the cat out of the bag and noting he will be playing at all three positions, something that has been the Sirianni mantra to this point.
The slip could mean everything or nothing but the early favorite for the WRs in 11 personnel are Smith at Z, Reagor in the slot, and Fulgham at X.
Undersized running back Adrian Killins also got in some work as a manufactured-touch player at WR. Rookie RB Kenny Gainwell looked as smooth as advertised and Elijah Holyfield is still the Joe Ostman on the offense when it comes to making each rep count.
Maybe the best news was seeing All-Pro right guard Brandon Brooks back at practice after his second Achilles tear in June of last year, something that caused the big man to miss the entire 2020 season. Recently signed offensive tackle Le'Raven Clark is still rehabbing from his own Achilles' injury and watched practice from the side.
The Eagles also made a roster move before the practice began, adding defensive tackle Willie Henry, a former fourth-round pick in Baltimore, and waiving linebacker Joe Bachie.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven 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.
