The Eagles were back on the practice field Tuesday afternoon for their fifth of six OTA practices this spring and this one was the second open to reporters.
It was a perfect and sunny day for a practice and the Eagles went for about 1 hour and 20 minutes before the final whistle.
The Eagles will have their final OTA on Thursday and will finish up their spring schedule with one day of mandatory minicamp next Tuesday. After that, it’s a long break before training camp in late July.
Here are some notes from Tuesday’s practice:
1. Several players who were not in attendance last Wednesday (Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Reed Blankenship and Ben VanSumeren) were all back on Tuesday.
The players not in attendance on Tuesday: WR DeVonta Smith, WR Johnny Wilson, TE E.J. Jenkins and WR Elijah Cooks. I wouldn’t worry about Smith. These practices are voluntary and he has earned his reputation as a hard-worker.
The following players were in attendance but not practicing: C Cam Jurgens, LB Jihaad Campbell, LB Nakobe Dean, WR Avery Williams, OL Marcus Tate.
Jurgens, Tate and Williams worked on a side field. Jurgens is coming off a back surgery and worked next to the recently signed Tate, who was a tryout player at rookie camp. Tate had knee surgery after the 2024 college season at Clemson.
Return specialist/receiver Williams was not in attendance for the practice open to reporters last week; we now know he has an injury. Campbell had a helmet on for this practice but was a spectator as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery in March. DC Vic Fangio said he doesn’t expect Campbell to return until August. Fangio also doesn’t expect Dean back for a while either as the fourth-year linebacker comes back from a torn patellar tendon. Dean was absent and the beginning of practice but arrived as a spectator during the session.
2. Some offensive depth chart notes:
• Tyler Steen continues to work as the first-team right guard. This appears to be his job to lose after Mekhi Becton left in free agency. Of course, Steen was getting these reps this time last year too. But when Steen suffered a minor ankle injury in last training camp, the Eagles plugged Becton into the lineup and never looked back.
• With Jurgens still sidelined, Brett Toth again took first-team center duties.
• First-team OL (from left to right): Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Toth, Steen, Lane Johnson
• Second-team OL (L to R): Kendall Lamm, Trevor Keegan/Kenyon Green, Drew Kendall, Matt Pryor, Darian Kinnard
• Third-team O (L to R): Cameron Williams, Hollin Pierce, Kendall, Laekin Vakalahi, Myłes Hinton
• A.J. Brown was in attendance but didn’t see action in team drills and there also was no Smith or Wilson. So a lot of Jahan Dotson, Terrace Marshall and Ainias Smith at receiver.
• Saquon Barkley didn’t get reps in team drills last week but got a few on Tuesday. The Eagles work to keep him fresh.
3. Some defensive depth chart notes:
• Since Blankenship was back on Tuesday, we got to see who would get the first crack at starting next to him. It was Sydney Jones when the Eagles kicked off 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s but rookie Drew Mukuba got some reps in there too. So did Tristin McCollum, Andre’ Sam and Lewis Cine as the Eagles rotated heavily at the position.
It was notable that Fangio brought up McCollum’s name when asked about the safety competition. Most people see it as a two-man race but the guy making the decision doesn’t want you to forget about the third option. Still, it seems notable that Mukuba is getting this many first-team reps at a difficult position so early in the spring.
• The Eagles opened 7-on-7s and went through the full period in their base package, which meant more Cooper DeJean snaps at outside (right) cornerback. Fangio also said that DeJean could perhaps play safety. We didn’t see that in team drills but DeJean did get some work with the safeties in individual drills.
• The second-team corners to start 7-on-7s were Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson. When the Eagles began 11-on-11s in the nickel package, it was Ringo lined up as a starter opposite Quinyon Mitchell, while DeJean manned the slot. Jackson did get some first-team reps too. The competition appears to be between Ringo and Jackson for that job.
• Without Dean and Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. continues to get all the first-team reps next to Zack Baun. The second-year linebacker has looked solid and is enjoying all these valuable reps.
• Nolan Smith is still not participating in team drills as he recovers from the torn triceps he suffered in Super Bowl LIX, but Smith said he expects to start striking with that left arm next week.
• Jalen Carter isn’t participating in team drills either but he’s fine. This is probably just a way to make sure 98 doesn’t wreck a spring practice.
4. Jalen Hurts had another efficient and surgical day as the QB1. He didn’t throw downfield much but he was pretty accurate and hit his underneath routes and check downs. But Hurts did get to air it out deep once. He hit Dallas Goedert down the left sideline in stride with a beautiful 25-yard pass. Hurts dropped it in the bucket and Goedert made the grab as Zack Baun trailed him in coverage.
5. Remember the name Danny Gray. The 49ers drafted him in the third round out of SMU back in 2022 but it didn’t work out in San Francisco and the Eagles added him to their practice squad during last season. Gray is my vote to become the Training Camp Darling of 2025. He has blazing speed (ran a 4.33 at the Combine) and has seen a bunch of targets in the two practices reporters have seen this spring.
He dropped one ball that came his way through traffic on Tuesday but he made up for it. Gray had a few catches in rhythm and even had a nice catch on a ball that was thrown behind him. He had to show off his body control to make the grab.
6. The worst throw of the day came from Dorian Thompson-Robinson working with the third team offense. DTR tried to dump it off into the flat and it came out like a wet noodle. Meanwhile, we did get to see rookie sixth-round pick Kyle McCord throw his first passes in OTAs and he didn’t disappoint. He threw an absolute laser to Kylen Gransen through traffic in the final period of practice.
The battle for the QB3 job will be decided this summer but you’d think the Eagles would prefer the recent draft picks wins it. Based on what we saw Tuesday, that’s lining up nicely.
7. Fifth-round pick Mac McWilliams had a great pass breakup on the right sideline on a ball from Tanner McKee intended for tight end Harrison Bryant. It was the loudest cheer of the day from the defense. McWilliams’ role as a rookie will likely be as a backup and special teamer but it was a good moment for him.
8. The Eagles ran a snap with 21 personnel on Tuesday. We saw this from them at times last summer but not much during the season. On this play, Will Shipley lined up in the backfield and Barkley was in the slot. Barkley was put in motion and the play went away from him. Something to keep in mind as we head into training camp in a couple months.
9. We’ve seen plenty of passes to running backs in these early spring practices. We’ve seen some go to Saquon Barkley, Will Shipley and AJ Dillon. Maybe this will really be the year the Eagles throw to their backs more but this seems to be a talking point every spring and summer and then it doesn’t come to fruition.
10. We saw a couple play-action looks from the Eagles’ offense during Tuesday’s practice and they looked good. Hurts last season had just 137 dropbacks in play action, which ranked 15th in the NFL, per PFF. But his numbers with play action were good: 87/120 (72.%5), 1,120 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs.
Stupid Observation of the Day: The Eagles have a ball security drill where players run through and staffers try to jostle the ball free with a helmet on a stick and a boxing glove on a stick. When Jalen Hurts ran through today, the guy with the boxing glove didn’t want any part of hitting him. That’s fair. Don’t injury QB1 on June 3.