Eagles practice observations: Kelee Ringo in the CB conversation; Dropping edges in Vic Fangio’s scheme; Jalen Hurts rebounds

The Eagles held their first practice of a three-day minicamp on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex. Here are my observations:

James Bradberry was present and accounted for — after staying away from the Eagles’ two voluntary OTAs open to reporters — well, at least until an apparent injury sidelined him early in practice. The veteran walked into the medical tent with a trainer during individual drills, spent a few minutes out of view, and exited without his helmet. Bradberry walked back to join the defensive back group, but he didn’t participate in the rest of the workout.

That’s a shame because we were supposed to get our first glimpse of him at safety this year. Before practice, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said that Bradberry would be getting repetitions at the position. He played in the slot a little last season, and could still fill that role this year, but the Eagles seem to be searching for something he can do after a disastrous 2023 at outside cornerback. Bradberry’s contract makes it difficult to trade him — not to mention his lack of foot speed — but it’s becoming difficult to find a spot for him on the 53-man roster.

» READ MORE: Set to try safety at Eagles minicamp, James Bradberry exits with an apparent injury

Along with Bradberry, the following vets who missed one or both of the two open OTAs were at the mandatory session: tackle Lane Johnson, wide receiver DeVonta Smith, cornerback Darius Slay, outside linebacker Josh Sweat, and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Sirianni said that guard Landon Dickerson was an excused absence. The Eagles remained relatively healthy with only safety Sydney Brown (ACL) and receiver Jacob Harris (injury unknown) fully out.

Kelee Ringo got the nod at first-team cornerback opposite Slay. That job is clearly up for grabs. Isaiah Rodgers took the starter’s snaps in the two open OTAs. Rookie Quinyon Mitchell can’t be counted out, of course. Ringo saw his share of action in what is essentially a passing camp. His best moment came when he broke up a Jalen Hurts deep fade to receiver Parris Campbell. Hurts made the correct read vs. a single high safety, and his pass was pretty much on the money, but Ringo flashed good one-on-one skills. Later, he stayed on receiver John Ross’ hip on a deep heave from Hurts that was out of reach.

Earlier, Hurts went back to Ringo’s side with his favorite target, A.J. Brown, matched up vs. the corner. Brown escalated for one pass thrown on a rope, and he reeled in another on a comeback route. But Ringo’s coverage was tight and the completions were just the price of doing business against one of the best ball catchers in the NFL.

Rodgers had his moments with the second unit, as well. He had a near interception when he jumped a Kenny Pickett pass to receiver Joseph Ngata and deflected the ball to the ground in seven-on-sevens. Not to be discounted from the cornerback competition, Eli Ricks ended practice by running step for step with receiver Austin Watkins on a Tanner McKee bomb that fell incomplete.

With Dickerson unavailable, Mekhi Becton took first-team reps at left guard. The former Jet filled in for Johnson at right tackle during OTAs. Becton doesn’t have any NFL experience inside. He’s a mammoth man at 6-foot-7, 363 pounds, and could theoretically play at guard. Ideally, he would be versatile enough to play multiple spots as a swing sixth man on game days. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland said that Becton can move around, so who am I to say he possibly can’t?

Mitchell lined up mostly on the outside, but he and fellow rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean took some reps in a quasi-linebacker role in dime personnel. Versatility has increasingly been the buzzword for defensive backs and the Eagles seem to want to see how much they can put on the plates of their two top draft picks. DeJean mostly pogoed back and forth between the slot and outside.

Avonte Maddox’s move to safety has been years in the making, but it isn’t permanent. He took first-team reps in the slot and second-team reps at safety. Nakobe Dean (foot) continued to get more snaps. While Devin White and Zack Baun remained the primary starting inside linebackers, Dean took a rep with the first unit.

» READ MORE: ‘Older’ Avonte Maddox is one of a few Eagles showing off positional versatility in minicamp

The return of Smith appeared to buoy Hurts, who had a rough practice on Thursday. The fourth-year receiver got open on variety of short routes — some after he lined up in the slot. Asked earlier how the Eagles’ new offense under coordinator Kellen Moore was different, Smith said it gave receivers “more freedom.” It’s tough to say with any certainty how much of that has been evident in just three one-hour practices, but Moore’s past schemes did utilize pre-snap motion and bunch formations more than Sirianni’s had the previous three seasons.

Hurts did toss an early interception when safety Reed Blankenship got his hand on a forced toss to Smith over the middle that went to White. The quarterback rebounded with a quick pass to Campbell over the middle on a mesh concept that picked up good yardage.

Saquon Barkley has been relatively quiet in the practices reporters have attended, which could be by design. Contact is limited, so run plays have been nonexistent, but the Eagles expect Barkley to have a significant role in the passing game. Sirianni has mentioned his presence whenever he’s been asked about not having an obvious third receiver on the roster.

Make no mistake about it, the Eagles are likely to ride Barkley this season. But the more likely reason for his light workload has been the team wants to keep the oft-injured running back healthy. Sirianni joked that he typically laughs off Giants fans who go at him in public. But occasionally, he said, he’ll fire back, “We got your best player!”

Midway through practice, Sirianni walked over to reporters watching from the stands to jokingly chide them for earlier asking edge rusher Bryce Huff several questions about dropping into coverage. Full disclosure: I did not. That isn’t to say it isn’t a worthy subject. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will drop his edges as to create pass rush mismatches as much as anyone. And he isn’t going to be obvious in which edge is dropping.

Sirianni pointed out to us that the Eagles were in seven-on-sevens, which would explain why Huff, Sweat or the other outside linebackers were dropping when in base personnel vs. a pass play. I had no plans on making a big deal of this fact, although others might have, but his gesture was made all in fun. I did note that Smith caught passes near Huff and Patrick Johnson after they dropped into zones.

The Eagles worked on punts on two separate occasions. First, on punt away situations by Braden Mann and then on pooch kicks near the goal line. Mann had some boomers during the initial period that gave the returners some issues. Britain Covey uncharacteristically muffed his first chance. Rookie Ainias Smith had one high boot sail through his outstretched arms.

Rodgers, DeJean and even Gardner-Johnson, who isn’t known for his returning, fared much better in their tries. Covey and Smith did bounce back in their second attempts.

Special teams coordinator Michael Clay and Sirianni got animated during the second period. They weren’t pleased with various gunners who failed to down balls short of the goal line, for whatever reason. Josh Jobe did receive plaudits for his effort. Mitchell, though, received a scolding from Sirianni. Details matter.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jeff Stoutland on bittersweet feeling of Jason Kelce retiring: ‘These guys are your family’

The second-unit O-line, from left to right, was Anim Dankwah, Darian Kinnard, Brett Toth, Matt Hennessy, and Fred Johnson. Rookies Trevor Keegan (left guard) and Dylan McMahon (center) jumped in for a few snaps with the backups.

Barkley’s backup, Kenneth Gainwell, was wide-open on another mesh play that freed him on a wheel route. But the fourth-year running back slowed up a touch when he looked back, and Pickett’s pass went too long.

Pickett went to Ross on a number of plays. The speedy vet who was signed just 10 days ago has shown that he isn’t a one-trick pony. He can pretty much run the entire route tree and has looked confident. Ross still has a considerable climb to making the team.

There were four tryout players at practice: receiver Griffin Hebert, receiver Brandon Smith, kicker B.T. Potter, and cornerback Parry Nickerson. Herbert had a couple of nice grabs. … Sirianni confirmed that the Eagles will have only one joint practice during training camp — at the Patriots on Aug. 13 ahead of their second preseason game. … The starting minicamp practice time of 1:30 p.m. is meant to mirror the regular-season schedule.