Eagles practice observations: Jalen Hurts redux; Jalen Reagor returns; Grant Calcaterra shines

The Eagles opened the 2022 training camp with their first practice of the summer at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. Here were my observations:

Ahem, injuries. The Eagles entered camp in perhaps their best collective shape in some time. Only three players were placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list: tight ends Tyree Jackson (knee) and Richard Rodgers (injury unknown) and offensive lineman Brett Toth (knee). They won’t be eligible to work out before the season starts. No other player missed practice because of injury. The following either sat out because they recently tested positive for COVID-19 (center Jason Kelce and wide receiver Keric Wheatfall) or were limited because of the virus (defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and safety Anthony Harris). Receiver Zach Pascal was out with an unspecified illness.

Depth chart notes. The Eagles don’t have many legitimate positional battles. Right guard was seemingly up for grabs, but coach Nick Sirianni endorsed Isaac Seumalo as the starter before practice even though some still expect Jack Driscoll to push the veteran. Seumalo took most of the first-team snaps. Cam Jurgens spelled the absent Kelce at center. Otherwise, there weren’t notable surprises with the first unit offense.

» READ MORE: Change of the right guard: Eagles’ Isaac Seumalo expected to compete for starting role

With Harris out, K’Von Wallace ran with the ones opposite fellow safety Marcus Epps. T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White were the top two inside linebackers. Nakobe Dean and Davion Taylor ran with the twos. Top draft pick Jordan Davis wasn’t with the starters at nose tackle. Second-year defensive lineman Marlon Tuipulotu took most of those repetitions in base personnel, but that’s sure to change. Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick were the starting outside linebackers, while Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett were mostly with the second unit.

All eyes on Hurts. Jalen Hurts entered camp as the unquestioned No. 1 quarterback, much like last year, but his long-term future remains cloudy. He practiced much like he did last summer and in the spring. There was good, bad, and a little ugly, although not all of it his fault. First, the good: He hooked up for an early touchdown with prized acquisition A.J. Brown to the delight of many fans in attendance. During red zone seven-on-seven drills, Hurts tossed a fine back shoulder pass that receiver Quez Watkins pulled in vs. slot cornerback Avonte Maddox. A few plays later, he found tight end Dallas Goedert on a short crosser well ahead of corner James Bradberry. Later in team drills, Hurts looked off his first reads on a sprint out and threw across his body to Watkins in the back of the end zone.

And then the bad: He appeared to miss a wide-open Watkins on a blown coverage. He tried for DeVonta Smith on a fade when it appeared the receiver had some space vs. corner Zech McPhearson, but his pass was a touch inside and Smith couldn’t pull in the one-hander. And later, Goedert had the corner on an out route, but Hurts was late and Epps recovered and made a splendid diving interception.

And finally the ugly: Hurts had the ball pop out of his hand as he cocked to throw and Graham was nearly gifted an interception. Hurts said afterward that running back Miles Sanders grazed his arm as he ran by him.

Sloppy go droppy. It was the first practice, and the offense almost always needs time to jell, but there were other moments that were sure to bother Sirianni. Brown pulled in a short crosser, but Edwards yanked the ball out for what appeared to be a forced fumble. Smith dropped a short pass over the middle and got up patting his chest as if to say, “My fault.” I think it’s safe to say that both receivers will catch more than they don’t this camp. Let’s just chalk up the mistakes to the small sample and some early jitters.

Sanders, however, doesn’t have a great record in terms of recent ball catching and on his first attempt bobbled a short Hurts toss a few times before he secured it. The fourth-year tailback enters the ever-important last year of his rookie contract.

Easy Edwards. Some have penciled Dean in as the starting middle linebacker, but Edwards helped with last season’s defensive turnaround and almost always seems to be in the right spot. Aside from the Brown strip, he shot into the backfield to stop a screen pass to running back Kenneth Gainwell.

Dean, despite the concerns about his shoulder and pec and other such former injuries, was a full participant. He did wear a sleeve on his right calf. The rookie could be mistaken for a bigger-bodied safety. The Eagles list him at 5-foot-11, 231 pounds. Driscoll effectively bottled up Dean on an outside zone run.

Busting through? We haven’t heard much from three recent high draft picks who enter this season with much to prove. Jalen Reagor has obviously been demoted to the second team with Brown’s arrival. He had a solid first day catching a pair of scores in various drills. He beat McPhearson on a corner on the first. JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s attempt to make the squad as a converted tight end continued. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew went his way once, but he wasn’t open and the pass was uncatchable. Andre Dillard was noticeably more buff than in seasons past. He’s stuck firmly behind Jordan Mailata at left tackle, but could have some trade value if another team were to suffer an injury this summer.

MIA Wallace. The third-year safety got the nod with the first unit ahead of the recently acquired Jaquiski Tartt, but it could be only a matter of time before he leaps ahead of Wallace. He was seemingly caught out of position on a few plays, once vacating the spot where running back Boston Scott waltzed into the end zone. On another play, he was admonished by a coach for revealing his coverage pre-snap after Hurts’ hard count. Wallace was also victimized by Watkins on his second score when he got too shallow.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jalen Hurts heads into Year 2 as the starter with A.J. Brown by his side declaring it’s ‘Hurts SZN’

Grant’s trail. Rookie Grant Calcaterra had the grab of the day on a post route into the end zone. Minshew’s pass and the tight end’s route were near-perfect. Calcaterra, selected in the sixth round, retired from football for a period after suffering a few concussions. It may have impacted his draft stock. His early route running is far from being compared to that of Zach Ertz, but he made a good first impression and later added another grab just short of the pylon.

Camp readiness. I can’t recall a camp practice in my 14 seasons covering the Eagles when there wasn’t a single player sidelined or limited by a soft tissue injury, even on Day 1. The team has proactively reduced the number and intensity of workouts since Sirianni became head coach and they believe that their fewer number of muscle injuries are the result. They held only five practices in the spring and have reduced the number from 14 to 10 before the first preseason game. Sirianni has substituted walk-throughs on those four days. He has said that the simulations are as effective in helping players learn plays, but there’s a concern that moving at a slower speed won’t have them game ready.

» READ MORE: The Eagles believe holding fewer practices leads to fewer injuries. Enter abbreviated OTAs.

There’s also a belief from some in the sports conditioning field that football players need to be trained like boxers and that their bodies need to be pushed so that injury isn’t more likely. Sirianni said he didn’t know how many practices the Eagles will have in full pads over the next two weeks. They will have two days of joint practices with the Browns and Dolphins in back-to-back weeks in the second half of August. Those workouts are designed mostly for the starters, who are unlikely to play in the preseason.

Today’s practice lasted just 58 minutes. It would have been unwise to come in guns blazing. Thursday’s walk-through also offers a reprieve. While some old-timers like to glorify two-a-days and three-hour practices, the advances in sports science and medicine suggest that it was overkill. Have the Eagles swung too far in the opposite direction? Perhaps. They won last season’s opener, but then lost five of their next six. Was conditioning a factor? It’s almost impossible to say. But they were certainly healthier last season than in the three previous seasons and enter this camp in tip-top shape.

And a few leftovers … The Eagles announced several roster moves: they signed tight end Jaeden Graham, center Cameron Tom, and receiver Lance Lenoir, and they released tackle Jarrid Williams. … The following, in order, fielded punts: Reagor, Greg Ward, Watkins, Britain Covey, and new guy Lenoir.