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The DiCecco Daily: Intel From Eagles Practice Ahead Of Joint Sessions Vs. Browns · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another edition of did Checko Daily. It's Andrew
• 0:14
  Dichecko and the Eagles had a practice on Tuesday, so
• 0:18
  you know, we have to talk about it a lot
• 0:19
  of observations despite it being just a fifty seven minute practice,
• 0:24
  which is expected. The Cleveland Browns are coming into town
• 0:27
  Wednesday and Thursday for joint practices, and those are practice
• 0:32
  where the intensity is palpable. Everything gets ratcheted up a
• 0:36
  little bit and it's going to be a demanding session sessions.
• 0:40
  So it wasn't really a surprise to see the Eagles
• 0:42
  kind of lighten the load, so to speak, on Tuesday,
• 0:46
  kind of getting them ready for the Browns coming into town.
• 0:51
  So AJ Brown and Zach Vaughan were limited participants again,
• 0:56
  which is always encouraging. They participated in the visual drills
• 1:00
  but not the team period, which is normal, and also
• 1:04
  returning to practice defensive tackle Byron Young, who's missed some
• 1:08
  time with the groin injury, and running back Montreal Johnson Junior,
• 1:13
  a rookie free agent who looked good in the early
• 1:15
  part of camp and then was sidelined for a while
• 1:18
  with a hamstring injury. The Eagles also parted ways with
• 1:23
  long snapper Christian Johnstone and signed defensive tackle Justin Rogers.
• 1:28
  That was before training camp, and Justin Rodgers is assigning
• 1:35
  presumably in light of the fact that the Eagles are
• 1:38
  now without Gabe Hall, who was sidelined today and we'll
• 1:42
  have to see what the extent of it is, but
• 1:44
  it was with a shoulder.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: He suffered that in the open practice.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: So Justin Rodgers, who was a twenty twenty four to
• 1:50
  seventh round pick of the Dallas Cowboys twenty three years old,
• 1:55
  he's wearing number seventy five, and he's going to presumably
• 1:58
  be there to take on some of those reps in
• 2:01
  the joint practice and give the Eagles a little bit
• 2:03
  more depth and optionality there until Gabe Hall is able
• 2:06
  to return. And the parting of the ways with Johnstone
• 2:13
  was good news for veteran long snapper Charlie Hewlett, who
• 2:16
  was full go today.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: He was not on the.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Injury report, and he missed the opener with a neck injury,
• 2:22
  so obviously that's something that is significant and the Eagles
• 2:25
  certainly weren't going to rush him back. The plan is
• 2:28
  always to get players to the regular season, and with
• 2:32
  the neck injury. You're not hasty in that return of
• 2:35
  The Eagles do a really good job of making sure
• 2:38
  that they're taking all the precautionary measures possible to ensure
• 2:42
  the health and safety of their players, and so Charlie
• 2:45
  Hewlett no longer on the injury report.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: That's good news as well.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay spoke before practice.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I always like hearing what Michael Clay has to say.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: He's a very insightful guy and does a really good
• 2:58
  job of breaking down a thing a phase of the
• 3:01
  game that I think often gets overlooked, not by me.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I talk about all three phases.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: But he mentioned some interesting things about Darius Cooper, the
• 3:09
  Eagles rookie wide receiver out of Tarleton State who the
• 3:12
  Eagles have now given some opportunities with gunner and kick
• 3:17
  return responsibilities. He repped a gunner during the open practice
• 3:21
  and as well as kick returner, but he also got
• 3:24
  some kick return reps today, I should say Tuesday, depending
• 3:29
  on when you're listening to this, so that goes a
• 3:31
  long way. I believe in giving him the best opportunity
• 3:35
  to showcase his value to make the roster.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Talked about Anias Smith again.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: I remember I asked him about Anya Smith last week,
• 3:42
  but someone asked him about ania Smith and he mentioned
• 3:44
  the improvement that he's seen in his footwork and racing
• 3:47
  to the football and getting vertical on those returns. Not
• 3:50
  a lot of wasted movement from Anius, and I think
• 3:52
  those are qualities and certain little subtleties that lend itself
• 3:58
  to a younger player developed more confidence, and that's something
• 4:01
  that I've seen not only from Anias and pump returns.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: But also as a wide receiver. So good stuff there
• 4:06
  from Michael Clay.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: There was an intriguing development early in practice when the
• 4:11
  Eagles went to eleven on eleven's. It was rookie second
• 4:15
  round pick Drew mccouba who got the first team safety
• 4:19
  opportunity with red Blanket Ship. That was the first time
• 4:22
  Drew mccooba had worked with the second team since day two. Remember,
• 4:26
  he missed a lot of time with the shoulder injury,
• 4:28
  and he's really just working his way back, not necessarily
• 4:32
  working his way back in the sense of the injury,
• 4:34
  but I should say getting back into the flow making
• 4:37
  up for lost time. I do believe that when the
• 4:39
  dust settles Drew mccooba will have a prominent role to start,
• 4:43
  and for Sidney Brown, he also got some first team
• 4:47
  work as well. He's taking the lion's share of those
• 4:49
  first team reps, but Sidney Brown's had had a quietly
• 4:52
  good training camp. Vic Vangio seems encouraged with what he's
• 4:56
  seen in terms of his developments, and Sidney just needs reps.
• 5:00
  He played seventy nine snaps last season. Remember he joined
• 5:03
  the Eagles in October recovering from that knee injury that
• 5:08
  he spent all off season recovering from. But interesting development
• 5:12
  for Drew mkooba, and that is somebody that I will
• 5:14
  be highlighting and keeping an eye on in these joint practices.
• 5:20
  The cornerback situation, that was a Dori Jackson who got
• 5:23
  the first team look to start practice opposite QUINNYA Mitchell.
• 5:27
  And if you're keeping track at home, that's now eight
• 5:29
  practices in which Dori Jackson has gotten to open practice
• 5:35
  with the first team and five for Kieley Ringo. I
• 5:39
  still don't make too much of that. They're still trying
• 5:41
  to assess what they have and give both players an
• 5:44
  equal opportunity. No first team reps for Jacorean Bennett, who
• 5:48
  the Eagles acquired in the trade with the Raiders. Jacorean
• 5:51
  Bennett got some first team rep Sunday and that was
• 5:55
  something that I found to be notable. Of course, that
• 5:57
  was very quick. That was just his second practice with
• 6:00
  the team. But I think when you look at everything,
• 6:05
  and this is going to be a really big two
• 6:08
  days of practice for all of those corners, going against
• 6:11
  another team and really showcasing your ability within the defense.
• 6:17
  So Jacoryan Bennett, Dori Jackson, and Keely Ringo are all
• 6:20
  players that I will be monitoring over the next two days.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Especially the left guard situation.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: So I don't believe that we've touched on the Landon
• 6:30
  Dickerson injury in podcast form. I've written about it on
• 6:33
  Inside the Birds dot com. But Landon Dickerson suffered the
• 6:36
  injury in the open practice and it looked like he
• 6:40
  got kind of rolled up on an innocent play where
• 6:44
  Jay when Hurts completed it past the Saquon Barkley and
• 6:48
  Landon Dickerson suffered a meniscus injury. That's what the prognosis
• 6:52
  was and it's supposed to be about week to week,
• 6:54
  but he is getting surgery on that. But the big
• 6:56
  question today was who was going to assume those left
• 7:00
  guard reps in the absence of Landon Dickers, and that
• 7:04
  was Brett Toath, the seventh year veteran offensive lineman. I
• 7:08
  wrote a story about Brett Toath and his contributions behind
• 7:11
  the scenes that often get overlooked. That's also on Inside
• 7:15
  the Birds dot Com. I encourage everybody to check that
• 7:17
  story out. Gives you a different perspective on what he's
• 7:19
  been able to do behind the scenes there and Brett
• 7:24
  Toath has appeared in twenty games in his career. Three
• 7:27
  of his seven seasons, he's appeared in a regular season game,
• 7:32
  started two of them. He can play tackle, he can
• 7:37
  play both guard spots, and he can.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Even snap if you need him to.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: But he also talked about the ancestry of the offensive
• 7:44
  line and ensuring that he upholds the standard that was
• 7:47
  set by Jason Peters and Jason Kelcey and Brandon Brooks
• 7:52
  and Isaac Sayamalu, all of those players that he came
• 7:55
  up through the ranks with over the years. Really refreshing
• 7:58
  interview he spoke to us on Saturday, and I was
• 8:02
  happy to write the story on him and really shed
• 8:06
  some light on what he really does, and sometimes I
• 8:10
  think those things are taken for granted a little bit.
• 8:12
  But he got the first team reps at left guard,
• 8:15
  and then the second team left guard was Darien Cannard,
• 8:17
  which is a little bit of a surprising development when
• 8:20
  you consider the fact that he's repped at right tackle
• 8:23
  and right guard this summer, so you already see the
• 8:26
  versatility there, and then they tried his hand at left guard.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: That's a name that you should be keeping an eye on.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Shouldn't be a name that is unbeknownst to listeners of
• 8:35
  this podcast or those who consume my work, because I've
• 8:39
  talked a lot about Darrin Cannard and that the Eagles
• 8:41
  like him. He has versatility. I think he showed notable
• 8:44
  signs of development, and it seems to me that Jeff
• 8:46
  Stoutlin really likes him.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: That's something that you.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Should be keeping an eye on because I think if
• 8:52
  the Eagles had to play a game, it's just this
• 8:53
  is just me guessing me assuming if you look for
• 8:56
  an in house option, I think that the best option
• 8:59
  may in fact be Darien Kinnard because of what he
• 9:02
  can do from an athletic standpoint.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: He has a little bit more size.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Than does Brett Toth, but there's something to be said
• 9:08
  for continuity, and that's something that Brett Toath provides. He's
• 9:12
  worked alongside Jordan Mylotta. You know what you're getting in him,
• 9:15
  and he's technically sound. Jeff Stoutlind trust him and so
• 9:19
  do his linemates. So that's a scenario, a situation that
• 9:23
  I'll be certainly monitoring over the next handful of days
• 9:26
  and including Saturday when the Eagles face the Browns in
• 9:29
  the preseason at home. But those are some of the
• 9:32
  news and nuggets from today's practice.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Not a ton of.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Observations. Those are on inside the birds dot com. But
• 9:40
  just wanted to update you guys on what I saw
• 9:42
  today and what that could mean and some of the
• 9:44
  things I'll be keeping an eye on. When the Eagles
• 9:46
  host the Browns Wednesday at ten am. Offensive coordinator at
• 9:50
  Kevin Patula will meet with the media at nine to ten,
• 9:53
  so make sure you stay tuned to hear what he
• 9:54
  has to say. That's going to do it for this
• 9:56
  edition of the Czech Odaily. Andrew Decheco signing off, and
• 9:59
  I will talk to everybody tomorrow. Catch you on the
• 10:01
  next one.