What we saw at Eagles practice: Jalen Hurts goes deep, Fletcher Cox buys in and more
It's just practice, man, but there were still hopeful signs for the Eagles in their workout.
The Eagles ended organized team activities, otherwise known as OTAs, on Wednesday and reporters were permitted to attend. Let’s get to the action:
Roll call. Workouts were again voluntary, so there were several prominent players missing, including wide receivers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, tackle Lane Johnson, and defensive end Josh Sweat. A few of the guys who skipped Friday’s open-to-the-media workout returned — among them were defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, center Jason Kelce, tackle Jordan Mailata, and receivers Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal. Coach Nick Sirianni said he had strong attendance throughout offseason workouts.
Kelce and Mailata were absent last week because they apparently were attending guard Brett Toth’s wedding reception. Toth was back, too, but he watched practice with a sleeve covering his left leg. Tight ends Tyree Jackson (knee) and Richard Rodgers (injury unknown) were also spectators.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland returned after staying away from Friday’s session with an apparent sickness.
Cox man. Cox has been a sporadic attendee at OTAs in recent years. He typically has his own training routine, but he said after practice that he has been present for most of the offseason workouts this spring. He noted his attendance to emphasize his buy-in. Cox, of course, was nearly dealt before the trade deadline last season and again this offseason. He was then awkwardly released and brought back several days later after signing a one-year, $11 million contract.
Colleague EJ Smith has more on what Cox had to say about the March hullabaloo, along with other topics, but Cox seemed at peace with his decision to come back for an 11th season with the Eagles, one that will likely see him as even less the focal point of the defense. Jonathan Gannon’s scheme will remain multiple up front, but with Sirianni scrapping 11-on-11 drills, there wasn’t an opportunity to view a reconfigured base front with rookie Jordan Davis at nose guard and Cox and Javon Hargrave alongside him as 4i-techniques.
There were a few glimpses of edge rushers Haason Reddick and Derek Barnett as strong-side linebackers in 7-on-7 drills. Barnett still looks odd dropping into coverage, but Reddick has vastly more experience and laid a lick on receiver Greg Ward after a short grab on one play.
Isaac’s new position. Isaac Seumalo spoke with reporters for the first time this spring. The Eagles guard suffered a season-ending Lisfranc foot fracture last September. He said he underwent two surgeries — one in October to insert metal, and one in February to remove the piece — and that his rehabilitation is ongoing. He said that he anticipates being ready for training camp, but that doctors have given him varying timetables. Seumalo has been practicing, but it’s not like Sirianni’s sessions have been strenuous for linemen.
Seumalo has made the switch from left to right guard to account for Landon Dickerson’s ascension into the job after he went down. He has been first up in individual drills, at least at the two practices I attended, but he will face competition from Jack Driscoll. Some reporters suggested that Seumalo could have been released post-June 1 because of his $5.65 million salary. But both players couldn’t stay healthy the last two years, so the Eagles are unlikely to put their eggs all in one basket — at least not yet.
Taylor made. Davion Taylor had a couple of rough moments covering running back Jason Huntley on back-to-back plays. Credit to Huntley, who burned the third-year linebacker on wheel and flat routes, and to backup quarterback Gardner Minshew for making the correct reads. But Taylor was late on both plays.
He enters this year with a deeper linebacker room after the Eagles signed free agent Kyzir White and drafted Nakobe Dean. T.J. Edwards and White were the first-team linebackers for most of 7-on-7s, but White also took some second-team reps with Taylor. The former Chargers linebacker had the defensive play of the day when he tipped a Minshew pass to receiver Britain Covey that deflected to Taylor for an interception.
Hurts so good. Hurts didn’t have his top two outside receivers, but he had a strong outing throwing to the likes of Pascal, Watkins, and camp star Deon Cain. The Eagles quarterback uncorked consecutive impressive deep balls to Cain and Watkins. On Cain’s catch, he got matched up against safety Anthony Harris and toasted him down the seam. The offense celebrated in the end zone and new assistant GM Jon Ferrari facetiously tossed an unsportsmanlike flag.
Hurts’ toss to Watkins wobbled a bit, but he hit his receiver in stride after he got behind cornerback James Bradberry. The quarterback celebrated with a shimmy. Overall, Hurts completed 10 of 14 passes with a drop by running back Kenneth Gainwell. I thought he looked more in rhythm than he did last week, although it would be hyperbolic to make proclamations, good or bad, from what was essentially touch football.
Sirianni seemed pleased with Hurts’ development and said after practice that the quarterback looked more comfortable in his offense and that his drops were more crisp and his fundamentals improved. Tight end Dallas Goedert said that Hurts looked more decisive and wasn’t hitching as much before throws.
Minshew magic. Hurts and Minshew were the only quarterbacks to get reps. Reid Sinnett and rookie Carson Strong will have to wait till training camp opens on July 27 to get back under center. Minshew completed 7 of 10 throws. He hit John Hightower on a hitch route and the receiver was able to turn and go after pursuant cornerback Zech McPhearson took a poor angle. Minshew then threw a couple of check-downs before completing his first set.
During the second period, Minshew tossed a back-shoulder pass to Noah Togiai that resulted in cornerback Tay Gowan grabbing the tight end for a likely pass interference. Minshew then found newly-converted tight end JJ Arcega-Whiteside over the middle. After the interception, he tried for Cain in the vacated deep post, but his pass was slightly underthrown and cornerback Craig James was able to recover and knock the ball out.
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Other 7-on-7 highlights. Harris might have gotten beaten on the deep pass, but he also broke up a Hurts heave to Hightower over the middle. Goedert had a step on Edwards on a short crosser. Cornerback Kary Vincent broke up a Hurts heave to tight end Jack Stoll on a curl route. Pascal had a grab after he beat tight end Jared Mayden on a slant. Gainwell rebounded with a short crosser ahead of rookie linebacker Kyron Johnson.
And a few leftovers … With Reagor absent, Ward was first up on punt returns. Covey was next and he cleanly fielded his two tries. … Punter Arryn Siposs’ seven punts were a mixed bag of good (four), meh (one) and not-so good (two). … Sirianni canceled the last scheduled OTA for Thursday when wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead caught a punt at the end of practice. He needed two tries. Sirianni said the wind made his first attempt too difficult. Linebackers coach Nick Rallis was also given an opportunity, according to Sirianni, but he failed. … Former Eagles receiver Irving Fryar, former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, and former coach and Hall of Fame-bound Dick Vermeil were among the guests at practice.