Eagles Training Camp Observations Day 15: Browns Pull Out All The Stops

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles got a little taste of what it’s like to be Super Bowl champions on Thursday when the Cleveland Browns pulled out all the stops in a joint practice.

The highlight of the short 66-minute session was a hook-and-ladder play in the red zone when Joe Flacco threw a short pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who lateraled it back to Dylan Sampson, for a walk-in touchdown.

That wasn’t the only trick play during the practice, either. At one point, a quick pass outside by Cleveland resulted in a throwback across the field to RB Jerome Ford, who thought about throwing but ultimately tucked the football for a decent gain.

The session was heavy on red-zone work for the Browns offense, so there were several scoring plays, the most impressive of which was a corner fade to gifted tight end David Njoku, who beat Jihaad Campbell and Reed Blankenship in coverage.

Other highlights included Browns WR Jamari Thrash beating Cooper DeJean on a pivot move, feigning outside before breaking back inside for a TD from Flacco. Fannin also caught a TD from backup Dillon Gabriel, using his big body to hold off Drew Mukuba in coverage.

The focus by Eagles On SI was on the Philadelphia defense today after honing in on the offense Wednesday.

However, we can report a similar result for the offense, which featured few splash plays, a heavy emphasis on inside zone running plays, and the flats in the passing came despite a similar plus-25 or in approach.

Two potential TD opportunities to DeVonta Smith fell incomplete, and the offense as a whole felt vanilla, emphasized by at least three consecutive throws in the flat to A.J. Dillon.

The context of that was the fact that Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson was out after his Wednesday knee surgery, as was All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, who was resting, and All-Pro WR A.J. Brown (hamstring).

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Dickerson arrived after practice with a duffel bag of light beer to share with some of the Cleveland offensive linemen. He was seen with a sleeve on his right leg and walking well.

Landon moving well. pic.twitter.com/eimM5F7qkB
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) August 14, 2025

-The other Eagles not practicing were OL Kenyon Green (shoulder), and safety Lewis Cine (groin), who did practice on Wednesday.

RB Saquon Barkley was on a rest day and listed as limited, as was LB Zack Baun (back) and WR Elijah Cooks (shoulder). That’s the first time Cooks has been involved since hurting himself in the preseason opener last Thursday.

-Bad news for Kelee Ringo. Adoree’ Jackson got the first rep opposite Quinyon Mitchell, which wasn’t concerning until Ringo didn’t rotate in for his first-team reps. Those went to recent trade pickup, Jakorian Bennett.

Meanwhile, Bennett and rookie Mac McWilliams got the first reps as the second-team CBs ahead of Ringo and Eli Ricks. Eventually, Ringo and Ricks did get some second-team reps, but they were scaled back dramatically.

With McWilliams getting more outside reps recently, undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson has been getting elevated second-team reps. Browns WR Cedric Tillman beat McWilliams for a big gain.

-It has also been notable that Jalyx Hunt has been getting a lot of reps on the left side behind Nolan Smith, while Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche get opportunities at right end. Also, Ogbo Okoronkwo get some work at RDE when things were near the 10-yard line or inside of that.

-Sydney Brown greatly outdistanced Mukuba in nickel reps opposite Reed Blankenship and really shows up as a physical player going downhill with several solid run fits and a big smack on Fannin while knocking th TE out of bounds.e

-On special teams, the work was kickoff returns. In coverage, the outside vice players for the Eagles were Ringo and Andre’ Sam, followed by Ricks and Avery Williams, and Ainias Smith and A.J. Woods.

On kickoff returns, the Eagles’ pairings were Will Shipley and A.J. Dillon, followed by Darius Cooper and Williams, and Ainias Smith and Keilan Robinson.

-Ochaun Mathis had a nice, disciplined pass rush on a second-team rep that forced Gabriel to throw the football away at one point

-Mitchell was beaten for one of the few times this summer by the speedy Jerry Jeudy on a slant in the middle of the field. The shifty Jeudy also got Mitchell to slip on the next play, but Flacco misfired on the flow.

-An interception by DeJean off of a deflection was wiped out by an illegal contact penalty. Nolan Smith also could have been awarded a sack before the football was ever thrown.

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