PHILADELPHIA — Unimpressive and unspectacular are the two best descriptions for how the Eagles played against the Cleveland Browns in their second joint practice on Thursday.
Let’s start with the Eagles’ offense. They were without right tackle Lane Johnson (rest), wide receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring), left guard Landon Dickerson (knee) and running back Saquon Barkley (rest) in the team period, leaving them at a disadvantage.
Things got ugly on the first snap when Browns edge rusher Alex Wright chased Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts out of the pocket and forced an errant throw to tight end Dallas Goedert.
The passing game is disjointed without Brown. Philadelphia’s offensive line struggled against Cleveland’s strong defensive line, led by edge rusher Myles Garrett. Matt Pryor started at right tackle and Brett Toth was at left guard again.
On the ground, the Eagles still had a decent performance.
Hurts’ second pass of the day was knocked down by Browns cornerback Denzel Ward. It was intended for tight end Grant Calcaterra, who created no separation.
Ward won against Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith twice in the end zone. Smith was unable to get a step on Ward, and Hurts sailed it out of bounds. Later on, Ward outmuscled Smith for a contested catch and jarred it loose.
Hurts’ screen pass to Goedert backfired. Browns first-round rookie Mason Graham broke through the line of scrimmage and tackled Goedert for a loss.
Ainias Smith extended his arms on a bad ball from Hurts, and it rolled off his fingertips.
The biggest positive from Thursday’s practice was the offense didn’t make terrible mistakes — like Wednesday’s practice.
But explosive plays alluded them. It was a day of check downs and short completions.
The Eagles just took what was given to them. There weren’t many opportunities to go deep because Cleveland had sticky coverage.
Backup quarterback Tanner McKee completed four consecutive passes to backup RB AJ Dillon. Hurts also found Will Shipley on two straight throws, and neither turned into a big gain.
Considering the circumstances, which included Garrett causing pressure on nearly every play, Hurts did OK.
There’s no reason to panic, especially considering who was out.
Hurts had three designed runs and scored a touchdown on one. Center Cam Jurgens blocked Browns linebacker Devin Bush, clearing a huge lane for Hurts on the left side. The other two runs didn’t amount to anything.
In the first part of practice, Hurts sprinted up the middle to extend a drive after his pocket collapsed. That element of his game is difficult to defend. Just ask Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
In the left flat, Goedert made Browns cornerback Myles Harden miss and turned on the jets for a TD. He’s had a good camp.
DeVonta Smith and Jahan Dotson made some nice grabs too.
On a crosser, Eagles UDFA Darius Cooper ran past Browns cornerback Tony Brown, secured the catch and turned up field for a big gain. He later beat Ward on a quick slant for a touchdown.
Overall, it wasn’t a great day from the offense, but there’s more reason to be concerned about the other side of the ball.
Moving on to the defense
NJ.com Eagles beat reporter Bob Brookover had the Browns’ offense winning, scoring at least three touchdowns and possibly a fourth depending on whether a tackle would have been made by Quinyon Mitchell.
Notable plays:
The Browns fooled the Eagles’ defense with a couple of nicely designed trick plays with talented rookie tight end Harold Fannin involved in both.
The first one came early in practice when Joe Flacco threw behind the line of scrimmage to Fannin who looked briefly down field before throwing across the field to running back Jerome Ford, who had a clear path down the left side of the field.
Late in practice, Flacco threw a short pass to Fannin, who made a quick flip on a reverse to Dylan Sampson that left the running back with a clear path to the end zone.
One play before the trick play to Sampson, Browns tight end David Njoku beat Reed Blankenship in the red zone for a touchdown.
Flacco also completed a pass for a touchdown to second-year slot receiver Jamari Thrash, who slipped inside the coverage of Cooper DeJean.
The one play that might have also been a touchdown came when Jerry Jeudy ran a slant route and beat the coverage of Quinyon Mitchell. Mitchell probably would have made the tackle before it became a score, but it was still a long gain.
Flacco went back to Jeudy on the next play and Mitchell had terrific coverage.
The Browns could have had a TD on their final play, too, but veteran receiver Diontae Johnson dropped the ball and it landed in Drew Mukuba’s hands for an interception.
A sack Nolan Smith was negated by a defensive holding call on Jihaad Campbell.
The Eagles did play run defense well with Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Azeez Ojulari, Sydney Brown, Campbell, Smith and Blankenship all filling gaps nicely to make plays.
Depth chart
Adoree’ Jackson got initial first-team reps on left side with Mitchell on right side.
Jakorian Bennett got the second most reps at first-team cornerback and Kelee Ringo had the fewest. Ringo was called for defensive holding on one play and otherwise did not stand out.
Bennett didn’t do anything good or bad.
DeJean was at safety in base then immediately moved to slot, so that’s obviously how things are going to be.
Brown took the majority of the reps at safety with the first team.
Ojulari lined up with the first team at the start of practice, but there was a five-man rotation that included Patrick Johnson for most of practice.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.