Training Camp Thoughts Day 11: Slay Slays It, Injuries Grow
PHILADELPHIA - In the last major practice session before Thursday's preseason opener with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Club Sirianni went with shorts and shells over an 80-minute session.
Despite the light work, however, the Eagles still lost three players, the most serious likely being backup receiver Michael Walker, who needed help to get onto a cart before being taken into the NovaCare Complex.
Also leaving the practice early were Andre Dillard, yet another hurdle for the former first-round pick in the left tackle competition that has been slanted toward Jordan Mailata so far, and safety K'Von Wallace, who has been taking most of the first-team reps opposite Anthony Harris as Rodney McLeod continues to rehab from his torn ACL suffered last December.
Dillard was quickly diagnosed with a knee sprain and will be listed as week-to-week moving forward. Wallace, meanwhile, strained his groin and was also tabbed as week-to-week.
Mailata will start Thursday night against Pittsburgh and presumably take all the first-team reps moving forward. Brett Toth has been taking the third-team snaps at LT and the Eagles could start to cross-train Matt Pryor or Jack Driscoll for reps while Dillard works his way back.
Marcus Epps filled in for Wallace at safety and veteran free-agent pickup Andrew Adams could be in the mix as well.
Before practice, it was revealed that Ryan Kerrigan has minor thumb surgery and is expected to be out 7 to 10 days so veteran edge rusher should be ready for the regular season.
Backup cornerback Craig James, who is battling rookie Zech McPhearson for the top outside job behind starters Darius Slay and Steve Nelson, was listed as day-to-day with a left foot injury and was on the sideline in a walking boot.
The good news is that starting left guard Isaac Seumalo (hamstring) practiced for the first time this summer as a limited participant in individual work while RG Brandon Brooks (hamstring) was able to work in individual drills again.
SLAY-ING IT
Slay and Nelson continued what has been a very good camp for both with each CB again coming up with PBUa during team drills.
Slay used his veteran savvy to time a late-arriving pass from Jalen Hurts and knocked it away from Jalen Reagor. Later, Nelson had Travis Fulgham blanketed and continues to provide a physical presence.
The number of PBUs in this camp as a whole has been a startling number and one that has to be a concern for the Eagles' offense.
DEFAULT SETTING TE
With the receivers not exactly balling him out, Hurts seems to be getting more and more comfortable getting used to the idea of throwing the football to his talented tight ends: Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz.
Ertz obviously wasn't supposed to be here but the veteran is still on the roster and as long as he is Sirianni and Hurts are starting to both realize the default setting for success is probably going to be 12 personnel
That certainly wasn't the original idea, however.
After practice, Regaor admitted this was supposed to be a vertical offense.
"A lot that is just what our offense is based upon," he said. "I know that's what the coaches expect out of me. Me, guys like Quez [Watkins] and John [Hightower] who can run, Smitty [DeVonta Smith]. So pretty much the whole offense being vertical, going downfield."
JOE COOL
Veteran Joe Flacco was the best Eagles QB of Day 11, showing his fastball on occasion and throwing a Nick Foles-like RPO pass to Greg Ward that was about as explosive as the offense got.
After a slow start to camp, Flacco has distanced himself from third-stringer Nick Mullens, who just doesn't look like he's operating with his optimal arm strength after offseason elbow surgery.
BUBBLE THIS
Slot corner Avonte Maddox sniffed out a bubble screen to Reagor and blew it up, showing a nice understanding of what was going on and getting past the block before it could even get to him.
MILES TO GO
Miles Sanders is a wonderful receiver on the sidelines and I mean wonderful. He catches everything and then he hits the field and the drops return.
At some point, you have to start talking about the yips even if Ted Lasso doesn't want you to mention that word.
PRACTICE GAME BALL
There was no real highlight plays so let's give it to Slay, who has been solid both on and off the field for the Eagles.
His big personality can be off-putting to some on the outside, looking in but Slay is been extremely popular with his teammates and is always helping the younger receivers and corners with tips on how to improve their games.
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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 or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
