Eagles practice observations: Darius Slay’s ‘about time’ interception of Jalen Hurts; Kenneth Gainwell thrives

The Eagles held their 16th and final open practice of the 2024 training camp on Wednesday at the NovaCare Complex. Here are links to observations from Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Here are my takeaways from Day 16:

It took until the final day, but Jalen Hurts finally tossed an interception. Or did he? It looked like defensive end Bryce Huff knifed inside for a would-be sack. But Hurts stepped up in the pocket and threw a pass over the middle to receiver Parris Campbell that cornerback Darius Slay jumped and took the other way.

“About time,” Hurts said he told Slay. And, yes, while the lack of interceptions from the first defense could suggest it hasn’t performed well in camp, it’s likely more a reflection of how Hurts and the starting offense have taken to new coordinator Kellen Moore’s scheme. The second and third defenses had a number of picks this camp. But for a unit that had only nine interceptions a year ago, it’s worth noting.

Slay had two other pass breakups during the session and had, overall, a strong camp. He may be 33 and entering his 12th season, but he has rightfully earned his starting spot again.

We’re talkin’ about practice. Too much can be made of camp, but in my time covering the Eagles, it’s often been an indicator of how the team and certain players will perform in the coming season. I didn’t see 2020 happening, but that’s because COVID-19 had canceled all access. The reason I bring this up is because I wrote yesterday that Hurts was having his best camp. I stand by that statement, even though he threw his first pick a day later. But he’s been far from perfect, and as a natural skeptic, I have to question my analysis and look for signs that his past problems haven’t quite gone away.

The interception wasn’t his lone mistake. He has been prone to hold the ball too long, and on one early play, he was too slow in moving off his first read (A.J. Brown) to his next (DeVonta Smith) and had to throw wide of his receiver with Slay ready to pounce. Later in another period, the defense disguised with a single-high safety, but safety Reed Blankenship backpedaled well before the snap. Hurts might have seen it, but when he dropped, he had nothing and scrambled for little to no gain.

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He was sacked several times over the practice, the first few seemingly not his fault. But he held the ball too long on the last one and was crushed by the pocket. Moore wants Hurts to stay in the pocket and go through his reads a tick longer than he had in the past. He does have a tendency to take off early, although his mobility can produce big gains. But he needs to stay within the framework of any given play, and some of the sacks he has taken in camp could be a byproduct of overemphasizing.

But Hurts still had an arrow-up day. Running back Kenneth Gainwell was on the receiving end of two of his three touchdown passes, which I’ll get to, and several other throws. But Hurts fed his big dogs Brown and Smith on various short-to-intermediate routes. A few of Hurts’ best moments came vs. the blitz. His passes weren’t exactly spectacular, but he went to his hot read or where he knew his outlet would be vs. a certain kind of pressure.

He threw for a solid gain when he pumped a fake swing pass to running back Will Shipley — which drew linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. out of his zone — and hit Smith for about 20 yards downfield. And he finished a two-minute drill (the last of camp) with a 30-something-yard touchdown pass to Smith, who had gotten beyond cornerback Kelee Ringo on a fade route.

Hurts was without two skill-position starters. Tight end Dallas Goedert was out with an oblique injury in his side that he apparently suffered during Tuesday’s workout. Running back Saquon Barkley wasn’t listed on the injury report, but he didn’t participate in team drills because the Eagles are monitoring his workload.

Rookie guard Trevor Keegan (hip) and rookie edge Jalyx Hunt (oblique) also were held out of practice after suffering injuries on Tuesday. The following continued to be sidelined: guard Tyler Steen (ankle), receiver John Ross (concussion), receiver Johnny Wilson (concussion), tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), guard Matt Hennessy (back), and safety Caden Sterns (knee).

With Barkley resting, Gainwell made the most of his increased snaps with the first offense, especially as a receiver. He caught an improvised shovel pass from Hurts and juked linebacker Devin White for a nice pickup. The running back also caught the first touchdown when he leaked out of the backfield and wasn’t covered.

Gainwell had all four touches — a run followed by three straight grabs — in the red zone period. The last reception was his best, as he made a diving grab in the corner of the end zone with linebacker Zack Baun close in coverage.

» READ MORE: Eagles receiver Britain Covey works on breaking free as he fights for a spot

Gainwell and the first offense didn’t have much initial success on the ground. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter notched his daily tackle for loss on a Hurts zone-read keep and added other run stops and pass-rush pressures. He could have a monster season as long as he doesn’t get frustrated by double teams. Carter vomited during one period but stayed in. Vomit No. 2 after the next play, though, had coaches sub him and the rest of the defensive line out. Carter returned and joked about the moment afterward.

Cam Jurgens didn’t receive special recognition in Tuesday’s notes, but he had several lead blocks in the run game that warranted praise. There were some issues on the ground a day later, as stated above, but he paved the way for a couple of ample rushes up the middle as practice got deep.

Jurgens isn’t afraid to mix it up. He was aggressively blocking defensive tackle Moro Ojomo to the whistle during a stretch, and Ojomo pushed him out of frustration at one point. It was a brief tiff.

As leaders, Jurgens and tackle Jordan Mailata have been the most vocal and have organized extra running for the O-line after practice. During the second-unit team drills, quarterback Kenny Pickett threw a pass to receiver Austin Watkins that was intercepted by cornerback Eli Ricks. Watkins just watched Ricks run away with the ball, which prompted Jurgens to yell from the sideline, “Good effort, 4-1!”

Ricks had a great practice. He has been making a push for the 53-man roster, even though the drafting of cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean will make it more difficult. Ricks doesn’t offer much on special teams, which could hurt his chances. But he’s a better corner than Josh Jobe, who does have special-teams experience.

Ricks played a bunch in the slot last season, but only out of necessity. He’s an outside corner, and that’s where he’s been most of camp. He had another near-interception of Pickett later on. He was in coverage on a Joseph Ngata 15-yard out — the receiver’s best route — but had two pass breakups in the end zone to finish the period.

Safety Tristin McCollum is another who’s making a late push for the roster. He’s probably on the wrong side of the bubble, but he had a strong ending. He had a near-interception and three would-be sacks on A-gap blitzes that weren’t picked up.

Pickett took 26 snaps with the second offense to Tanner McKee’s seven. Neither had what could be described as a good practice. Pickett had two strong anticipatory throws to Ngata. He found running back Tyrion Davis-Price out of the backfield for a decent gain. But he often was under duress and struggled to adjust.

I counted six times that he was sacked. His protection completely broke down on one pass play, and it was hard to see who should have been credited with the sack. I wrote down: “Everybody?”

McKee was sacked on two of his seven reps with the second offense. He completed two short passes on his first two attempts but went overthrow, throwaway, miss, and scramble on his next four drops. He was more consistent in his stint with the third-teamers and had a couple of hookups with rookie receiver Ainias Smith.

Coach Nick Sirianni ended camp with competitive one-on-ones. The first had receiver Britain Covey matched up against DeJean. Covey had a half-step on his release, but the pass from McKee (or quarterback Will Grier) was too far and glanced off his one hand. The second pitted Brown vs. Mitchell on a go route. The rookie corner ran step for step with the receiver and Hurts’ pass sailed out of bounds. On the third, outside linebacker Nolan Smith shed tackle Darian Kinnard for the pass-rush win. I think it might have been Smith’s best rep of camp.

On the fourth, Davis-Price owned linebacker Ben VanSumeren in blitz pickup. On the fifth and final competition, VanSumeren — who played some receiver in high school and was recruited by Michigan as a fullback — switched to offense. Andre’ Sam was called on to cover him. The linebacker ran a wicked route and lost Sam on his release, which drew a round of Awwwwwwws from players, coaches, and spectators. But as VanSumeren ran wide-open, Pickett’s pass was too far despite a diving effort.

Defensive end Josh Sweat appeared to be getting some load management as well, which propped Brandon Graham up to more snaps with the first defense. He took advantage and was credited with a couple of sacks on Hurts during one set. … Huff took three reps in one-on-ones against backups and lost each one. … The Eagles released veteran tight end C.J. Uzomah. They brought back guard Jason Poe in Uzomah’s roster spot. … With the last open practice of camp comes my last observations column. Except for the warmups and individual drills portions, the Eagles will now close practice to reporters for the rest of the season. Thanks for reading. See you next spring.

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