Eagles practice observations: Nakobe Dean the man in the middle; rookies Nolan Smith and Sydney Brown compete

The Eagles held their second organized team activity — otherwise known as OTAs — Thursday at the NovaCare Complex and opened the workout to reporters. Here were my observations:

The schedule. The Eagles scheduled only six out of a maximum allowance of 10 OTAs this spring. They also opted not to hold a minicamp, making them the only NFL team to skip a mandatory three days of practice. The team took a similar approach last season — mostly to avoid unnecessary injury — and despite criticism from some corners, it didn’t appear to affect them during the season.

Thursday’s session was OTA No. 2. They have workouts planned for Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and next Thursday, which is also slated to be open to the media. Coach Nick Sirianni, to no surprise, took it easy on his team Thursday. Players wore only shells — full pads are forbidden by the league at this stage — and practice lasted about an hour.

Roll call. OTAs are voluntary, but the Eagles had close to perfect attendance from their roster, which is officially one short of the allotted 90 players. Tackle Josh Sills is currently on the commissioner’s exempt list after being indicted on rape and kidnapping charges. The following players, for whatever reason, were absent: wide receiver DeVonta Smith, tackle Lane Johnson, linebacker Haason Reddick, defensive end Brandon Graham, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, defensive end Josh Sweat, defensive end Derek Barnett (likely because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL), cornerback Josiah Scott, receiver Devon Allen (track related), and undrafted rookie receiver Jadon Haselwood.

The following players, for whatever injury, were present but didn’t participate: cornerback Avonte Maddox, defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu (likely the knee injury that ended his 2022 season prematurely), and receiver Tyrie Cleveland.

The rookies. The Eagles allowed limited access to rookie minicamp last month, but Thursday’s full-team workout offered the first opportunity to see the rookies in competitive periods. Unfortunately, there weren’t team drills. Sirianni had only seven-on-seven drills. That said, top pick Jalen Carter certainly looked the part during individual drills for defensive linemen. The same could also be said of third-round offensive lineman Tyler Steen. They’re big boys who can motor when necessary.

The rookie I was most curious to see in person — first-round outside linebacker Nolan Smith — did engage in seven-on-sevens. Smith’s relative lack of size probably played some role in why he was drafted later than some had predicted. The Eagles list him at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds. For comparison, Reddick, who is one of the smaller edge rushers in the NFL, is listed at 6-1, 240. Some teams fib a little on the numbers, but Smith’s looked legit and he actually looked longer than I was expecting.

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I’ve seen knocks on third-round safety Sydney Brown because some think he’s too slight, but he’s listed at 5-11, 211 and didn’t seem out of place in the defensive secondary. He moved well, too. Fourth-round cornerback Kelee Ringo wasn’t involved in many plays, so it was tough to gauge his immediate transition. Sixth-rounder Tanner McKee (6-6) stood above Jalen Hurts and the other quarterbacks, but not yet for his arm.

No sweat. There aren’t many positions up for grabs, but right guard is among the few spots without a bona fide starter. Cam Jurgens will get the first look-see at Isaac Seumalo’s old spot. He said after practice that he’s trying to increase his weight to 310-315 pounds to account for the move from center to guard. He said he’s currently at around 305 pounds. Steen would be his most obvious competition, but Jack Driscoll and Sua Opeta are still hanging around and have played plenty of guard.

Safety valve. Reed Blankenship and free-agent addition Terrell Edmunds were the first-team safeties on defense during the first seven-on-seven drill. K’Von Wallace jumped in for Edmunds later on. He was initially with the second unit alongside free agent Justin Evans. Brown and Tristin McCollum were paired on the third team, although the former got some later repetitions with the second team. While Blankenship and Wallace are the only returning safeties — after starters C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps left in free agency — all the safeties are essentially starting from scratch with a new defensive coordinator (Sean Desai) and a new defensive backs coach (D.K. McDonald).

Middle earth. Nakobe Dean was the man in the middle and wore the green dot as the play-caller on defense. The second-year linebacker is stepping into T.J. Edwards’ vacancy at middle linebacker and was partnered with free agent Nicholas Morrow with the first unit.

Circle change. The Eagles always want versatile players, especially among their reserves. Spring is the perfect opportunity to try guys at new spots and a few changes stood out: Zech McPhearson at slot cornerback and Kyron Johnson at off-ball linebacker. McPhearson had been almost exclusively on the outside in his first two seasons. Maddox returns as the starting slot, but with newcomers Greedy Williams and Ringo, and Josh Jobe returning for his second season, it only makes sense to expand McPhearson’s palate.

Johnson didn’t see much action on the edge as a rookie. He’s even smaller (6-0, 235) than Reddick and Smith. With depth at inside linebacker a concern, it makes sense to see if he can handle another role.

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Punt away. I forgot to mention perhaps the best competition of the summer at punter. The Eagles finally brought in someone to push and possibly replace Arryn Siposs: rookie Ty Zentner. The Eagles allowed each to boot about a dozen times and Siposs’ punts were higher and longer. Punter evaluator extraordinaire Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice clocked him with several hang times over five seconds, including one boomer that lasted 5.18 seconds in the air. Zentner, who will likely need time to adjust to the new NFL ball, hit five seconds even just once. It’s early in that race.

Highlights. In case you think I forgot about the franchise quarterback, Hurts came out firing on the first seven-on-seven drill and hit a crossing Quez Watkins through a tight window. He failed to hook up with tight end Dallas Goedert and receiver A.J. Brown on a couple of back-shoulder tosses — cornerback Darius Slay had tight coverage on both — but he later found Goedert over the middle on a pass the tight end pulled in by the fingertips.

Linebacker Christian Elliss had the play of the day when he read backup quarterback Marcus Mariota’s eyes and intercepted a pass to tight end Grant Calcaterra. Undrafted rookie receiver Joseph Ngata bobbled a throw that Mariota slipped through a hole, but he hung on. Ngata drew a scolding from Sirianni on the last play of practice when he — despite still catching the ball — ran a route incorrectly.

Extras points. New faces D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny weren’t involved much in the passing game, but the two oft-injured running backs were full participants. One observation from watching individual drills: Swift has soft hands. … The one second-year player who caught my eye the most in terms of adding bulk this offseason was Calcaterra. He looks more like a tight end who can handle the rigors of blocking, rather than a receiver masquerading as one.