Eagles Training Camp Notebook: Passing Game Looks Sharper
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PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles went through a high-intensity "green" practice in the heat of South Philadelphia Wednesday morning and it may have been the sharpest session yet for the passing game, especially during 7-on-7s.
There is generally no wasted motion in these kinds of practices and perhaps that tempo helped the passing offense which looked a little crisper than usual.
As always, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert were the main pieces to the passing game but veteran Zach Pascal received a number of targets today while toggling between the first and second teams.
Pascal had a slow start to this camp after losing 16 pounds to a bout with food poisoning but has started to show up and prove to be a reliable target, especially in the absence of DeVonta Smith, who was working on a side field and looking close to a return from a groin injury.
Smith has missed five practices to date.
"We're hopeful here soon with him," said head coach Nick Sirianni prior to practice. "He's getting more and more comfortable on it (his groin). We sure as heck miss him. We need him out there. We know how good of a football player he is and how important he is to this organization."
The good news is that left tackles Jordan Mailata and Andre Dillard, who were listed as limited on the practice report, did return to some team drills.
Starting safety Anthony Harris (tooth) missed the practice and both Andre Chachere and undrafted free agent Reed Blankenship got some first-team reps.
K'Von Wallace and Josiah Scott handled most of the second-team work on the back end while Chachere also got some looks in the slot so the cross-training is ramping up.
On the field, Jalen Hurts started hot in team drills by extending the play, rolling right, and finding A.J. Brown for a touchdown. It got a little shakier from there when Darius Slay had a nice PBU on Brown and then Jalen Reagor made a nice toe-tap catch on an out pattern that could have been thrown better.
During 7-on-7s, however, Hurts may have had his sharpest session of the summer with a deep fade to Brown for a TD, a nice throw to Pascal out of a five-wide look, and a solid check down to Quez Watkins when nothing was there.
Pascal also had a deep TD from Gardner Minshew in 7-on-7s.
PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS:
-In the wake of Jason Kelce's elbow surgery, rookie Cam Jurgens took all the first-team looks at center and was backed up by Cameron Tom.
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-Nick Sirianni noted that he expects to play his starters in a series or two in the preseason opener against the New York Jets on Friday night.
-LB Christian Elliss came up with an interception after a Gardner Minshew pass bounced off Lance Lenoir, another tough turnover that wasn't necessarily the backup QB's fault.
-Reid Sinnett continues to impress and had a nice connection with Britain Covey out of the slot on Wednesday.
-CB Zech McPhearson got a little too physical with Lenior at one point, drawing a DPI flag.
-With only five running on the roster the Eagles worked out DeAndre Torrey today. At 5-foot-7 and 195 pounds, however, Torrey is not the big back some believe the Eagles need.
-On one red-zone play, which looked like a pseudo-RPO, the Eagles' offense looked confused, and Hurts and right guard Issac Seumalo were talking with offensive coordinator Shane Steichen as they exited the field.
-WR coach Aaron Moorehead said Reagor came into camp in tremendous shape which was not the case before the 2021 season and the embattled WR has had a terrific camp. Today it was the toe-tap catch.
-The best grab of the morning, though, belonged to backup TE Noah Togiai, however, a one-handed stab of a Minshew throw.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
