Eagles practice observations: Sean Desai’s defense taking time; Derek Barnett and Landon Dickerson square off

The Eagles held their ninth practice of the 2023 training camp at Lincoln Financial Field on Wednesday. Here are the links to Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Here were my observations from Day 9:

Practice at the Linc offered the first chance to see new coordinator Sean Desai call his defense up close. Last week during his news conference, he called himself out for making a bad decision against a certain offense, and on Wednesday after an early red-zone play resulted in a Jalen Hurts rushing touchdown, Desai was audibly upset with his call.

There was also again some confusion about which of Desai’s units needed to be on the field vs. the first-team offense at the start of the second team period. General manager Howie Roseman had to step in to alert the coordinator that he needed to switch his personnel. Camp is for working the kinks out, especially with a new coordinator, but the season is approaching.

Desai, for the most part, acted like your typical modern-day coach on the sideline: encouraging and enthusiastic. As for the end result, I thought his unit won the day, particularly the first and third defenses.

We had our first fight of camp. Or maybe skirmish is the better word. Eh, not quite. Altercation may be more apt. Sure, that works. We had our first altercation at a camp that has been light on drama — to the Eagles’ delight. Derek Barnett, to not much surprise, was involved. But the veteran defensive end, who is trying to come back from knee surgery, wasn’t the likely instigator.

Guard Landon Dickerson blindsided Barnett during a Hurts screen pass to receiver A.J. Brown after both were pretty much out of the play. “That’s some [BS], Landon,” a veteran defensive player yelled from the sideline. Barnett promptly popped up and pushed Dickerson, who didn’t yield an inch or offer retaliation. A player jumped in and wrapped up Barnett, thus denying observers further entertainment.

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But the scuffle ended late in what had to be the most intense practice of camp thus far and indicated that Barnett, at the least, was back to himself. Additional proof came earlier when he beat left tackle Jordan Mailata off the edge and pressured Hurts into an incomplete pass to D’Andre Swift, his unsuspecting outlet.

To simulate game conditions and to work on communication, coach Nick Sirianni moved practice from the NovaCare Complex to the Linc. The offenses and defenses occupied opposing sidelines and coaches who will be up in the booth on game days were in place. That meant shorter individual drill work and no one-on-ones.

The preseason opener is Saturday against the Ravens in Baltimore and with many young faces, Sirianni wanted to give his newbies — and maybe even Desai — a taste of how the Eagles run their operation. With starters and veterans unlikely to play much or at all on Saturday, many of the players who will be on the field in Baltimore will be inexperienced.

Nakobe Dean returned to practice after missing close to a week with an ankle injury. He was limited and did not participate in team drills. Christian Elliss continued to take most of his repetitions at first-team middle linebacker, but Myles Jack, who was acquired earlier this week, also got some playing time with the ones at MIKE.

As for the rest of the injury list, outside linebacker Patrick Johnson (ankle) and receiver Deon Cain (ankle) were out. Receiver Devon Allen (calf) was again limited.

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During the “backed up” period, Desai matched offensive personnel with a heavy front of, from left to right, Haason Reddick, Jalen Carter, Marlon Tuipulotu, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams, and Josh Sweat. The O-line, somehow, opened a crease that running back Kenneth Gainwell slipped through.

“What are you doing, Jordan?” defensive line coach Tracy Rocker shouted at Davis. Two plays later, though, Davis read the handoff to Gainwell, slanted inside center Jason Kelce, and notched the would-be tackle for loss. “There you go, JD,” Rocker said.

Mental note: Good Davis is “JD” and bad Davis is “Jordan.”

The Eagles worked a fair amount on the run game with perhaps the most rushes called so far in camp. Sirianni unveiled early on a two-back look with Gainwell and Swift lined up on each side of Hurts. Gainwell got the handoff — as Swift ran a flat route — and gained positive yardage up the middle.

Rashaad Penny rushed three straight times with the second unit and picked up positive yardage on each carry. But Gainwell seemed to have the best day on the ground, and understandably so, since he spent most of his time running behind the first-unit O-line.

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On the opposite side of the ball, there were some standout stops. Elliss shot into the backfield at one point and touched up running back Boston Scott. Undrafted rookie inside linebacker Ben VanSumeren struck running back Kennedy Brooks for no gain on a goal-line run.

Jack Driscoll’s seemingly tough camp continued. Lined up at right tackle with the first unit when Lane Johnson took a breather, Driscoll was a turnstile on Brandon Graham’s way to “sacking” Hurts. Kelce took off the same plays as Johnson during the set, and as seen before, Cam Jurgens moved over from right guard to center and rookie Tyler Steen took his place.

Driscoll is probably guaranteed a roster spot. He’s a Sirianni favorite and has a ton of snaps at several positions under his belt since joining the NFL in 2020. But with Steen guaranteed to make the team and Josh Sills, Dennis Kelly, and others vying for what could be only four reserve spots, nothing is given.

Driscoll, to his credit, rebounded a period later with the second unit and stood up to a Graham inside rush.

Hurts dropped a 50-something-yard dime into the bucket of Brown during the “backed up” period. Rookie cornerback Kelee Ringo had tight coverage, but Hurts’ toss might have been his best downfield pass of camp. To his dismay, one of his O-linemen was flagged for holding, negating the long gain — but not the impressiveness of his throw.

Earlier on a red-zone play, Hurts rolled to his right and had no one open. “Go get him!” Desai yelled. Hurts made for the end zone, defensive end Tarron Jackson followed Desai’s advice, and the two collided to the horror of some fans in attendance. Jackson eased up, though, as much as he could, and any crisis was averted.

Hurts merely unclutched himself from Jackson’s grasp and sauntered to the sideline.

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota has now pieced solid back-to-back practices together. Could the explanation for his improvement be as simple as having a center capably snapping the ball? That may be the case after the Eagles replaced Brett Toth with Josh Andrews.

Mariota strung together a touchdown-scoring drive during an early series — his best throw coming on a fade to receiver Britain Covey after he got behind cornerback Zech McPhearson. And he later found Covey again over the middle on a deep dig vs. zone coverage.

With DeVonta Smith excused for a personal reason, Quez Watkins moved from the slot to outside receiver. He beat Ringo on a 15-yard out early in practice, showcasing his flanker skills. … Terrell Edmunds seemingly distanced himself from K’Von Wallace in the competition for the safety spot opposite Reed Blankenship with a strong set that ended with a breakup of a pass intended for Watkins. … Rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter avoided a double-team block with a quick twitch move to the outside that set the edge and forced quarterback Ian Book to eventually take a sack. … Rookie quarterback Tanner McKee hit the recently-inked Johnny King on a slant into the end zone.

Punters Arryn Siposs and Ty Zentner squared off again and while hang times and distances weren’t available, Siposs won the eye test with some boomers and a long boot that somehow landed at the 4-yard line and stayed there. … Jake Elliott connected on 4 of 4 kicks from 33, 38, 41, and 43 yards during field-goal drills. He also made a number of kicks during team drills, including a 52-yarder. … The Eagles will practice for a third straight day on Thursday before Friday’s day-before-game walk-through.

Fresh off their appearance in Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles are officially back in action this Saturday for their first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Join Eagles beat reporters Josh Tolentino and Olivia Reiner as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from M&T Bank Stadium.