Philadelphia Eagles Practices: Top 5 Takeaways from OTA’s
PHILADELPHIA – Reporters got to see the Philadelphia Eagles for 100 minutes this spring.
While the term practice is thrown around loosely this time of year, remember that OTA stands for offseason training “activity.”
“We don’t play football in the spring,” is what the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tells me.
That sentiment is true and nowhere is that better highlighted than in Philadelphia where the Eagles don’t even cosplay the idea of practice with no team drills whatsoever. Under Nick Sirianni when the Eagles are out on the field this time of year, the main focus is on individual work followed by some 7-on-7 action.
With no pads or contact allowed, having battle-tested veterans on the lines like Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham standing out there just to mimic a football game is a waste of time and something the Eagles seem ahead of in an inevitable curve trending toward less spring work.
Of the 13 allowed spring “practice” days allowed in the CBA, the Eagles used only six.
The point to all of this is to say any declarative statements you see about the reigning NFC champions after spring work is either uneducated or the next script for Pete Davidson’s “Bupkis” show.
However, there were some interesting tea leaves coming out of those 100 minutes, and here are the top five takeaways this reporter noticed during the oh-so-limited practice time.
RIGHT GUARD BATTLE - What’s interesting is how the Eagles handled a Jason Kelce absence this week. The 35-year-old five-time All-Pro is in the veteran maintenance day club that will unveil itself over the summer so there will be a host of days Kelce will not be practicing.
The veteran doesn’t need the work so that’s not the point here, the ripple effect is. Cam Jurgens is the leader in the clubhouse to start at RG but he remains both the heir-apparent to Kelce in the long run and the top backup if anything ever happened to the durable team leader.
A natural center, Jurgens would in theory need as many reps as possible to get up to speed at RG but on Thursday with no Kelce, Jurgens did shift back over to OC with the first-team in individual work and rookie third-round pick Tyler Steen, the other top contender for the RG spot, was the first-team there.
That might give you a window into Jeff Stoutland’s thinking but be wary of the interpretation. Either the well–regarded OL coach is completely comfortable with Jurgen’s ability to slide back and forth it’s not even an issue or he wants to give Steen every available rep with the big boys to better gauge where the rookie is at for a potential role in Week 1.
The best guess here is that Jurgens is more entrenched than most believe because Brett Toth and/or Cameron Tom could certainly hold down the OC reps in practice if Jurgens needed more reps to get comfortable at RG.
A SWIFT BUBBLE - The Eagles run a lot of empty sets in general and even more in the spring because linemen aren’t in the mix. They also run a lot of bubble screens in the offense as a whole based on the math equation of having a man advantage on the outside.
Yet, the offense wasn't terribly effective with it last season, one of the few areas it struggled.
The interesting twist this year is D’Andre Swift, a running back with the ability to catch the football and make the first defender miss, always a key to the success on those types of plays.
Instead of just dumping it out to DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, or Kenny Gainwell, who need to beat that first defender with finesse instead of power, Swift can do both and that might increase the efficacy of an offensive staple that’s been underwhelming.
SLOW PLAY - There’s a lot of uncertainty at the safety position for the Eagles, leading many to surmise that rookie third-round pick Sydney Brown will have a chance to be a plug-and-play starter.
That still might be the case but the Eagles are slow-playing things so far and Brown spent most of the spring on the third team behind the duo of Reed Blankenship and Terrell Edmunds, as well as second-teamers Justin Evans and K’Von Wallace.
In fact, in the first open OTA, Brown mixed in with the twos but by the second, he was strictly with the threes. Meanwhile, the penciled-in starters were effective so perhaps defensive coordinator Sean Desai and secondary coach D.K. McDonald will have a little more time than expected o try to get Brown up to speed.
SPRING LITMUS TEST - Second-year linebacker Christian Elliss looked like Derrick Brooks in the spring, intercepting both Jalen Hurts (a pick-six) and Marcus Mariota, and also recording a pass breakup while chasing receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.
If spring activity means anything, Elliss will be at worst the Eagles’ No. 3 linebacker behind Nakobe Dean and Nicholas Morrow and he should push the latter for playing time.
If Elliss falls apart in the summer put another nail in the coffin when it comes to the importance of showing up in May or June.
PAIN IN THE ‘YOU KNOW WHAT’ - You might remember the one kid in high school ball that made the rest look bad by racing to every drill and never letting up.
The Eagles drafted one of those types of players who happens to have significant talent in No. 30 overall pick Nolan Smith.
The rookie edge is an Energizer Bunny with the intensity and hustle to be the eventual “energy guy” replacement for Brandon Graham, 35, who has set the temperature in Philly for 13 seasons, an under-reported contribution to the organization’s culture.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today 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 YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
