Eagles practice observations: Reed Blankenship intercepts; Cooper DeJean nearly gets pick; Devin White blitzes

The Eagles held their second practice of a three-day minicamp on Wednesday at the NovaCare Complex. Here are links to OTAs Day 1, 2 and minicamp Day 1. My observations from Day 2:

James Bradberry watched practice a day after leaving early with an unspecified injury. I had heard he was in the training room getting something worked on before Tuesday’s session, but the Eagles haven’t offered more detail on what is ailing the possible cornerback-turned-safety. Rookie guard Trevor Keegan joined Bradberry on the sideline with a sleeve over his left leg.

The following players returning from significant injury remained out: safety Sydney Brown (ACL), cornerback Zech McPhearson (Achilles), and tackle Le’Raven Clark (unknown), who remains on injured reserve. Receiver Jacob Harris (unknown) was out again. Guard Landon Dickerson was still excused for a personal matter.

Reed Blankenship snagged another interception a day after deflecting a pass that was picked off. Both plays were similar with Jalen Hurts attempting a short pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith over the middle. Blankenship read Hurts’ eyes and made a relatively easy grab.

The safety has played well in the practices open to receivers and has been on the first team alongside positional counterpart C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Blankenship suffered an ankle injury that affected his performance late last season, but he was one of the Eagles’ few consistent defenders in the first half of the season. (For more on him, his background and how he was scouted listen to this episode from my podcast, “unCovering the Birds.”)

Too much can be made of spring practices in shorts and shells. The Eagles are installing a new offense with new terminology and there are simply going to be mistakes. Hurts’ throw on the Blankenship interception wasn’t a good one, but it was compounded by the fact that he missed Will Shipley, who had gotten open deep on a wheel route.

Hurts fared better on throws to tight end Dallas Goedert (more on him later) and receiver A.J. Brown. One of his best passes came on a Brown 20-yard dig route over the middle. During the last period — team drills — Hurts opened up with a dart to Smith on a quick curl and then found his receiver alone on a crosser for a nice gain.

» READ MORE: Sizing up the Eagles’ wide receiver race behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith

A few plays later, Hurts went deep to Brown — after outside linebacker Josh Sweat jumped offside — but he was a smidge out of his receiver’s reach.

Goedert can be easy to overlook at this point in his career. Injuries have mostly kept him from being included in the top tier of NFL tight ends, but he has the ability to be a high-volume receiver even if Brown and Smith are options 1a and b. Hurts went to him several times on Wednesday and they hooked up on a sweet pitch-and-catch near the sideline that the quarterback threaded through a needle.

Grant Calcaterra has assumed the backup tight end spot after Jack Stoll’s offseason departure. He has already seen far more action than he did in his first two springs, and caught about a half-dozen passes on the day. Calcaterra has steadily improved as a blocker, and he’ll likely have to do as much of that in 12- and 13-personnel, but he has an opportunity to increase his workload.

A day after Kelee Ringo took most of the snaps at outside cornerback, Isaiah Rodgers was back with the first-unit defense. He was consistently around the ball, and aside from Shipley’s wheel route, didn’t allow anyone to get open behind him.

» READ MORE: ‘He’s definitely growing’: Cornerback Kelee Ringo, 21, competes for a starting job at Eagles minicamp

Ringo and rookie Quinyon Mitchell rotated into the starting lineup for a few repetitions, as well. The former lost receiver John Ross on a quick out early on, and got out-muscled by rookie receiver Johnny Wilson at the catch point later on. But he broke up a Kenny Pickett toss to Ross during seven-on-sevens and remains very much in the starting cornerback conversation.

Mitchell moved in and out and all over — from outside into the slot and even a little at linebacker. After the Eagles drafted him first overall, general manager Howie Roseman said that Mitchell was strictly an outside corner. But clearly the team sees him capable of playing multiple spots, which speaks to his ability to digest a lot of information already.

Mitchell is already advanced when it comes to playing with his eyes on the quarterback. He’s quick to the ball on shorter passes. He’ll need some work in press coverage, but during one man-to-man rep with Ross, he stayed with the speedy receiver after he shifted into sixth gear on a go route.

Cooper DeJean has impressed with his versatility, as well. He’s gotten first-team snaps in the slot and looks on the outside in other scenarios. He nearly had a pick when he dropped into a zone from the slot. Hurts tried to loft a pass over DeJean to Brown, but the rookie had a bead on the throw, got his hands on the ball, but couldn’t pull it in.

A quick disclaimer on seven-on-seven drills: They’re not actually seven vs. seven. In fact, it’s often six on offense (with a team staffer filling in for the center and snapping the ball) vs. eight on defense (with one or two edge rushers feigning a rush).

We’ve seen far more of the Eagles defense in base personnel during seven-on-sevens than I believe we did under the two previous defensive coordinators at this time. It could just be that new coordinator Vic Fangio wants to work more on that package in the spring. But it has created some undesirable matchups for his unit. For instance, defensive end Tarron Jackson got singled up on tight end Albert Okwuegbunam in coverage about 15 yards downfield. To no surprise, quarterback Tanner McKee went to Albert O for an effortless completion.

Devin White has been maybe the most productive pass-rushing off-ball linebacker in the NFL in recent years. He had 23 sacks in his first five seasons. I asked him before practice if Fangio’s defense would allow him the opportunity to blitz as much as he did with the Buccaneers. He said that he hoped so and that he thinks Fangio will cater the scheme to his skills.

The Eagles have had only two brief team periods in minicamp, but White blitzed on each set. He didn’t get home on Wednesday. Running back Kenneth Gainwell did well to pick up his blitz. But Hurts was eventually forced outside and had to throw the ball away.

Wilson, as expected, has had his ups and downs — like most rookie receivers. After he used all of his 6 feet, 6 inches to high point a high pass from Pickett, he found a hole in Cover 2 for a catch ahead of late-arriving corner Eli Ricks. Wilson did have a short pass that sailed through his hands later on.

Shipley was the benefactor of a handful of checkdowns. He caught every one and has looked the part of a receiving running back. Let’s see how he runs once the pads are on. Gainwell dropped a pass. McKee found undrafted rookie running back Tyrion Davis-Price for a long gain after a busted coverage. Backup center Brett Toth rolled a snap to Pickett. Rookie edge Jalyx Hunt got around tackle Fred Johnson and forced McKee to get the ball out quick during team drills.

Special teams worked on the new kickoff rules. The following took turns with the returns: Britain Covey, Parris Campbell, Rodgers, Shipley, Ainias Smith, Ross, and Gardner-Johnson. … A couple of starting offensive players took a seat on the concrete stands during special teams drills. It was a humid day and who am I to question their fitness or coach Nick Sirianni’s authority. But I don’t think I have ever seen an Eagles player sit at practice — certainly not during Andy Reid’s tenure — in all my years covering the team. Take a knee instead, right? … Villanova hoops product Jalen Brunson was at practice.