Eagles Day 13 Overreactions: Surreal Moment With Former Organizational Greats

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles scaled back practice to less than an hour on Tuesday as they prepare for a visit from the Cleveland Browns and two practices against them this week, leading up to summer’s second exhibition game, this one on Saturday at 1 p.m. The teams will practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

There were still a few things to overreact to on Day 13 of training camp:

Surreal moment. It was certainly that when Division 1 and HBCU head coaches Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson shared a press conference to talk about their game against each other on Oct. 30 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Who saw this coming when the two former greats shared a field and were making plays together more than a decade ago?

Vick, who is the head coach at Norfolk State, and Jackson, the head coach at Delaware State, shared a field as players during their time with the Eagles. The governor of Delaware, Matt Meyer, attended while the mayor of Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker could not attend, though her spokeswoman said she is fully supportive of the game but had something come up in her schedule, which did not allow her to be in attendance for the press conference.

Both Meyer and Parker’s spokeswoman said they are hopeful of making what they are calling the HBCU Classic an annual tradition and not just a one-time event.

New left guard: With Landon Dickerson on the mend from a meniscus injury in his right knee, Brett Toth took first-team reps at left guard. That seems to be a sure sign that Toth will make the 53-man roster when cuts need to be made on or before Aug. 26.

There was no update on Dickerson and the “minor” surgery – is there such a thing as minor surgery? – because no offensive linemen were made available to talk after practice, and the pre-practice coach who spoke was special team coordinator Michael Clay.

The shroud of silence could continue on Wednesday, though offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo will speak before the practice with the Browns begins. Head coach Nick Sirianni will speak on Thursday.

Eli again. Eli Ricks continued to do some positive things in what could possibly become a decision between keeping him on the 53 vs. keeping Adoree Jackson. Ricks made a pass breakup look easy when he used his long arms to flick away a pass from Tanner McKee intended for Avery Williams.

Back to earth. Backup quarterback Tanner McKee and roster-hopeful receiver Darius Cooper have had trouble replicating their outstanding performances from Thursday night’s preseason game. In the three practices since that game, McKee has had some underthrows and Cooper some drops.

That brings to mind this excellent perspective from Dorian Thompson-Robinson in an interview on Saturday

“You can be talked about highly one day, and forgotten about the next,” said the quarterback competing to be the emergency QB. “I think that’s the main thing. You can kind of pat yourself on the back for that performance. But at the end of the day, it’s preseason, and so it’s really about being able to show that you can execute your job and that the coaches can trust you when your name is called.”

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