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Eagles training camp: What we’ve learned about Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, and the defense

Early returns from a team in transition: Isaiah Rodgers should start. As for Nakobe Dean?

Eagles’ A.J. Brown rest as his daughter Jersee performs a handstand on Monday after a football training camp session at NovaCare Complex.
Eagles’ A.J. Brown rest as his daughter Jersee performs a handstand on Monday after a football training camp session at NovaCare Complex.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
    by Marcus Hayes | Columnist
    Published 

Usually there’s not a lot to be learned in the first 10 days of an NFL training camp. But when you replace both coordinators, the 1,000-yard running back, four of five defensive backs, lose two legends to retirement, and strip the head coach of some power, the tea leaves will likely indicate plenty, even early.

Such is the case with the Eagles.

Here’s what we’ve learned:

  1. DeVonta Smith is the second-best route runner in Eagles history, behind Terrell Owens, and he might wind up as the best receiver in club history. A.J. Brown, currently the best receiver in club history, has been blown away with Smith’ precision and attention to detail:

“Nobody has been able to cover DeVonta all camp. I’m expecting Smitty to take another jump, because he definitely has all the tools.”

» READ MORE: DeVonta Smith amazes with his Eagles training camp catches: ‘Nobody has been able to cover DeVonta’

  1. Bryce Huff is a $51 million project. He’s a pass-rush specialist who can’t play the run. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is trying to teach him how to do it in his fifth NFL season.

“It will be a work in progress,” Fangio said. “Does he look like he can do it today? No. I do think eventually he will.”

» READ MORE: Will Bryce Huff be more of an every-down player for the Eagles? Vic Fangio says it’s ‘a work in progress.’

  1. First-round rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell is a plug-and-play pick. He already can handle Brown in the slot. This means Mitchell likely will travel with the opposition’s best receiver by the beginning of next season, if not sooner.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Quinyon Mitchell embraces battles with A.J. Brown while navigating slot position

  1. Isaiah Rodgers, suspended last year for violating NFL gambling rules and signed for a pittance, was a steal. He should start opposite Darius Slay.

  2. Despite the influx of talent, there’s no telling exactly what the secondary will be. Rookie DB Cooper DeJean is injured, returning safety Reed Blankenship is the definition of ordinary, and none has played together. Fangio makes no promises:

“They’re new. That’s unique, in that we have a lot of new guys here that weren’t here last year, and you got a new system and you got a new coaching staff on defense. There is just a lot of newness, and they’ve got to learn to play together, know the nuances of what we’re doing schematically, and how to play to the guy next to them. So just a lot of newness.”

  1. Nick Sirianni realizes, in his fourth season, that his team has not been in good enough condition in Decembers, so he’s working them harder in July and August, which is what he should have done all along. You know, like three-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid does.

“You can’t play with relentless effort without being in great shape,” Sirianni said. “Yeah, we’ve made a push there as far as doing some extra conditioning.”

  1. That said, neither Jordan Davis nor Jalen Carter, young first-round defensive tackles on whom everything hinges this season, seems in markedly better shape than last season. This could be catastrophic.

» READ MORE: Vic Fangio’s job: Make sure Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith aren’t the latest Eagles DL busts

  1. After getting injured again last season, Jalen Hurts seems healthy and vigorous.

  2. Brown, the best receiver in Eagles history, was shaken last year by teammates’ criticisms and talk-radio trade fantasies. He seems more … grounded.

  3. Dallas Goedert got even better. If only the quarterback didn’t fear throwing to tight ends.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts and his ‘outstanding camp’ were on full display Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field

  1. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Hurts are simpatico: “He’s been in complete control of the offense and really operated at really high level,” Sirianni said of Hurts. “Knowing where to go with the football, making accurate throws, moving in the pocket to buy extra time, or whatever.”

  2. Sirianni seems at peace with having his wings clipped as the offense’s architect and monarch, having ceded the role to Moore.

  3. Hurts has learned the folly of always speaking in parables and mottoes; he now does so less, and so sounds more sincere and less condescending.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts hits all the right notes in his do-over comments on Eagles coach Nick Sirianni

  1. Left-side blockers Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson got $150 million in contract extensions and immediately matured into leaders in the absence of retired center Jason Kelce.

  2. Saquon Barkley’s thighs are obscene.

  1. Former cornerback James Bradberry can’t play safety, either.

  2. I was wrong about young linebacker Nakobe Dean, whom I loved.

  3. C.J. Gardner-Johnson has a nice shooting stroke.