Eagles practice observations: Vic Fangio’s defensive victory; Mekhi Becton injured; Tanner McKee setback

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

Nick Sirianni has increased the intensity of practices in his fourth camp. The coach is, in part, responding to how the Eagles finished last season. But with only one joint practice and most starters unlikely to play in the preseason, he has used more intraquad workouts as preparation for the season. Sunday’s session was the longest non-joint practice at nearly two hours, and it was humid.

The practice was designed to simulate a game in a controlled environment. That meant defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and other assistants were up high — outside the second-floor offices at the facility — as they would be in a stadium box. The plays weren’t exactly scripted, either, as safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson made clear when he taunted the offensive sideline. Fangio and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had the freedom to adjust and call plays as they would in a game.

And in the early going, that dynamic seemed to benefit Fangio’s defense vs. the first offense, especially when the second units matched up. The Eagles have six new starters on defense. There’s some question as to how much of an upgrade there will be, considering two of the best players on that side of the ball — Haason Reddick and Fletcher Cox — no longer are on the team.

But there is little dispute that Fangio should be an improvement over Sean Desai/Matt Patricia. That will come in the form of his scheme, instruction, and game planning, but also in terms of play calling. The 65-year-old has called NFL games for almost three decades. He knows what he’s doing as was patently clear on Sunday.

» READ MORE: Eagles DC Vic Fangio on dialing up blitzes, Cooper DeJean’s return, linebacker rotations, and more

Offensive lineman Mekhi Becton left practice early with an apparent right leg injury. It was unclear how he got hurt and where exactly on his leg. He has a long history of right knee injuries and still wears a brace. But after testing, the injury wasn’t considered serious, according to NFL sources.

Becton has all but won the right guard competition. Tyler Steen, his primary competitor, also is out with an ankle injury. Brett Toth, who opened practice at second-team center and left tackle, took Becton’s spot at right guard. With right tackle Lane Johnson given a veteran day off, the O-line was down two starters, which could explain some of the offensive inefficiency.

Landon Dickerson got dinged up at one point and hobbled off the field. He returned, although there were other moments when it seemed best to just sit the Pro Bowl left guard. He slammed his helmet into the ground after taking on a Nakobe Dean blitz. Impressively, it bounced right back up into his arms. But Dickerson soldiered on.

Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (hip), who has had a strong summer, was the only new addition to the injury list. He was held out of practice along with wide receiver Johnny Wilson (concussion), tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), receiver John Ross (concussion), guard Matt Hennessy (back), tight end E.J. Jenkins (knee), receiver Joe Ngata (ankle), safety Caden Sterns (knee), defensive tackle Gabe Hall (hamstring), and Steen.

The following injured players were limited: defensive back Cooper DeJean (hamstring), tight end Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), linebacker Oren Burks (knee), and Gardner-Johnson (shoulder).

With the Eagles working so much on the blitz, I asked Fangio before practice if it was part of his normal camp installation or because Hurts and the offense needed the work after their struggles late last season. “There was no consideration for the offense,” Fangio said. He added: “Kellen did tell me afterward that it was good for them to see that.”

Offensive-minded head coaches have been known to run practices that benefit their area of expertise. That may have been former Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s fatal flaw. His scheme revolved so much on playing up-tempo that the defense didn’t get to see enough of the traditional NFL offenses they would face throughout the season in camp.

Sirianni is an offensive guy. But he’s taking a step back on that side of the ball and becoming more of a CEO-type coach, which could give him another perspective on giving the defense all that it needs.

I’m not much of a practice stats guy because so much context is missing, but the offensive passing numbers told the story of this day. Hurts completed just four of nine passes and was sacked twice during the first two periods. But in the final three periods, he completed 10 of 15 passes with three scrambles. Hurts was sacked an additional three times — partly because Lane Johnson’s replacement, Fred Johnson, struggled against defensive end Josh Sweat — but the offense was more productive.

Hurts did sprinkle in some impressive early throws, once hitting tight end Dallas Goedert downfield on a busted coverage. But the first offense started off shaky. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a menace up front. On one Saquon Barkley rush, he angled inside a trap block and picked up a would-be tackle for loss. Barkley had a few plus runs, once giving inside linebacker Devin White a little shake.

In the passing game, Goedert couldn’t pull in an over-the-shoulder pass. Hurts had to throw the ball away a few times. And an over-the-middle pass to A.J. Brown would have resulted in either a decapitated receiver or an interception had Brown not knocked the ball down.

Hurts and the offense rebounded — for the most part. He completed his first five passes during the “backed up” period, although cornerback Darius Slay broke up a pass to receiver DeVonta Smith on a slant, and pressure from outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt forced Hurts to throw at a covered Goedert’s feet on his next two throws.

In the red zone, Barkley found space. Slay touched him down short of the goal line, but would he be able to stop the running back in the open field? Fangio sent a zero blitz a couple of plays later. Hurts threw to Brown on a corner fade into the end zone, but Slay was tight and the ball hit him in the back. Hurts did finish the period with a scrambling score.

Sweat opened the “end of game” period with another sack. But Hurts hit Smith underneath, and Smith juked cornerback Quinyon Mitchell before picking up a bunch of yards after the catch. A play later, Hurts found Brown in a Cover 2 “turkey hole” down the sideline beyond corner Isaiah Rodgers and ahead of safety Avonte Maddox.

He went to Barkley in the flat and then scrambled short of the goal line on the next two plays. But he threw wide of a covered Brown and was sacked by defensive tackle Jordan Davis on the final two plays.

Kenny Pickett and the second-unit offense got off to a rough start. The backup quarterback completed just one of his first five attempts and was sacked once during the first period. Linebacker Brandon Smith dropped and read his eyes and broke up a pass. Defensive tackle Milton Williams bull rushed left guard Trevor Keegan into Pickett for a would-be sack. And edge Terrell Lewis batted a pass to the ground after beating tackle Darian Kinnard.

But Pickett had one of his better stretches of camp and completed 11 of his final 15 throws without a sack or turnover. Receiver Jacob Harris plucked a couple passes out of the air for decent pickups. And in the final period, Pickett hooked up with receiver Britain Covey underneath a few times. He threw one to double-covered receiver Ainias Smith, who came back for the ball and made of his best grabs of camp.

But two of Pickett’s throws were broken up by linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. — the last one in the end zone with safety Andre’ Sam nearly catching the deflection for an interception.

Tanner McKee’s chances of unseating Pickett as the No. 2 quarterback were dealt a setback. He had two periods with the second-unit offense and completed just two of eight passes and tossed two interceptions. Protection issues up front didn’t help matters. Trotter broke up his first toss and batted another to the ground. Defensive end Brandon Graham and Lewis had back-to-back pressures that led to an incompletion and sack.

Outside linebacker Julian Okwara tipped a pass that landed in the arms of linebacker Ben VanSumeren for a pick. In the red zone, McKee checked down a few times to running backs Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley. But he threw an ill-advised pass to Covey on an out route that cornerback Parry Nickerson jumped for 95-plus-yard pick-six. He pointed to the sky as he ran the other way and was met in the end zone by most of the defense.

McKee can throw that out ball, but his timing has to be perfect as he doesn’t have plus arm strength.

Carter, Sweat, Davis, and Williams were monsters up front for the first-unit defense. Defensive end Bryce Huff has had a quiet camp, but partly because he has often had to line up opposite Lane Johnson. But on Johnson’s day off, Huff didn’t get much of a chance to take advantage of his replacement. He flipped sides with Sweat and had to contend with left tackle Jordan Mailata.

» READ MORE: Bryce Huff’s surprise inclusion in Eagles’ preseason game vs. Patriots leads to encouraging showing

But the defensive star of the day may have been Dean, who has had far many more good days than bad ones. He may not end up supplanting White as the mike, but he’s definitely in the conversation. Fangio said he’s open to rotating at off-ball linebacker, but that “you’re better off with a set group.”

Dean broke up a pass to Smith on a late throw by Hurts. He got to Shipley in the backfield and did a little victory dance. A play later, Shipley caught a dump pass, but Dean ran him down in space. He also did some under-the-radar things, like fill his gaps against the run.

Sirianni stepped in for Braden Mann and acted as the punter during rush drills. … Rodgers wasn’t first up with Gainwell on kick return, which could suggest he’s that much closer to securing the right cornerback spot. Shipley took his spot. … Kicker Jake Elliott connected on all four of his field-goal tries from 33, 37, 44, and 50 yards. … The Eagles have a closed walkthrough on Monday and then return for three straight days to end the open portion of camp.