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The DiCecco Daily: Notes, Intel From Eagles 11th Camp Practice · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:08
Speaker 2: Hey, what's happened? Everybody?
0:10
Speaker 1: Welcome into this edition of the Checko Daily. Andrew Decheco
0:14
here bringing you the news and notes from day eleven
0:17
of Eagles training camp. The Eagles had a scheduled day
0:20
off Friday, they returned to the practice field today. Eagles
0:25
defensive coordinator Fic Vangio spoke before practice and there were
0:29
some notable former Eagles who were in attendance, including former
0:33
defensive tackles Fletcher Cox and Damikin Sue and former Eagles
0:38
guard Brandon Brooks. So there's always interesting names and faces
0:43
that you see at practices.
0:44
Speaker 2: And I thought that they were pretty notable.
0:47
Speaker 1: I was a little bit surprised to see Indamikinsoue there,
0:50
but very cool.
0:51
Speaker 2: At one point there was.
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Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox and Domakin Sue, Harold Carmichael, and Mike Quick
0:57
all standing there in a group, and I thought that
1:00
that was a pretty cool site. Anyway, today's practice was
1:05
categorized let's try that again as yellow and covered just
1:10
over ninety minutes. And let's get to the injury report
1:13
here before we get into some of my observations.
1:16
Speaker 2: The status report for Saturday.
1:19
Speaker 1: Not practicing were wide receiver aj Brown with a hamstring,
1:24
wide receiver Elijah Cooks with the shoulder, Remember he got
1:26
hurt in the preseason game. Guard Kenyon Green shoulder. He
1:30
also got hurt in the preseason opener. Long snapper Charlie
1:34
Hewlett neck, running back Montreal Johnson junior hamstring, tight end
1:39
Cam Lattu knee, and defensive tackle Byron Young groin. All
1:45
of the aforementioned players did not practice limited for the Eagles.
1:49
Linebacker Zact Bonn with the back, guard Landon Dickerson knee,
1:54
and wide receiver Terrorist Marshall with the knee. Bond returned
1:59
to practice through missing six and he was withheld from
2:02
team drills, but he did participate, but it was solely
2:05
for individuals. Okay, let's get to some observations here. After
2:11
the stretch period, I being the type of special teams
2:15
fanatic that I am, well, really all three phases, you
2:18
guys know me, I like to focus in on all
2:20
of them, but I focus in on the details. And
2:24
the Eagles broke off and I was watching the punt
2:26
returners and in order they were Aniah Smith, Giles Jackson,
2:30
Avery Williams, Taylor Moran, and Johan Dotson.
2:34
Speaker 2: And one note on Annia Smith who.
2:36
Speaker 1: Had that forty six yard return, and I talked to
2:39
him after the game and he mentioned that he had
2:40
a couple of notable blocks, but he couldn't remember who
2:43
who really laid down those blocks because he said everything
2:46
was sort of a blur and he was just running.
2:48
But to me, it looked like it was rookie cornerback
2:51
Brandon Johnson who got blown up on the play, and
2:53
then I think it was aj Jenkins who sealed off
2:56
the edge there that allowed Smith to kind of spring
2:59
around this. But anyway, when I noticed Smith, whenever he
3:04
would feel the punts, he showcases burst when he's on
3:07
the move, and I'm looking to see if he can
3:09
build off of that that nice return. In my opinion,
3:12
he's the best punt returner on the team until Avery
3:14
Williams proves otherwise. And Avery Williams it was just one game, granted,
3:19
but he hasn't done a lot during training camp, and
3:21
he also hasn't done a lot in the preseason. I
3:24
thought in a couple of his opportunities, he kind of
3:26
underwhelmed there. Sometimes you're at the mercy of your blocking,
3:30
but then when you look at the training camp that
3:33
he's had it sort of is a little bit of
3:35
a trend, but he has some practices and some games
3:38
to kind.
3:38
Speaker 2: Of rewrite that narrative.
3:42
Speaker 1: After the punt returns drills, I pivoted to a neighboring
3:45
field where there were some offensive line and defensive line
3:48
one on ones.
3:48
Speaker 2: There would be some later which we'll get.
3:50
Speaker 1: To, but I thought some of the notable reps were
3:53
consecutive reps between left tackle Jordan Mailatta and outside linebacker
3:58
jay Loix Hunt. Now, Jalox Hunt won the first rep
4:02
and he beat my Lotta with speed and he turned
4:05
the corner for what would have been a sack. But
4:07
then Mylta responds with power and he re routes Hunt
4:11
wide on the very next rep. That's been kind of
4:14
a fun back and forth because Milotta speaks glowingly of
4:18
Jalox Hunt at every turn, and there's been times where
4:21
my Lotta has definitely imposed his will. And when Jalox
4:24
does win, for me, what I've noticed is it's largely
4:27
with speed, but he.
4:28
Speaker 2: Did add he clearly's.
4:30
Speaker 1: Added some more strength to his frame, and I think
4:33
that's a developing area of his game. In the one
4:38
of the ones I thought veteran offensive lineman Matt Pryor
4:41
showed well during this period, and specifically on a rep
4:44
against second year defensive tackle Gabe Hall, who was working
4:47
his moves throughout one of the sequences, but Pryor was
4:50
able to kind of erase him on that play, but
4:53
he was unable to contain fifth year pass rusher Patrick Johnson.
4:56
Patrick Johnson seems to have a good training camp every year,
5:00
and he also flashes in the preseason. I don't quite
5:03
know what everyone's missing here, but he's not obviously as
5:06
twitchy as some of the other players that had been
5:08
kept or play above him, I should say, because he's
5:12
been kept every summer, but he.
5:13
Speaker 2: Doesn't really factor in defensively.
5:15
Speaker 1: And it's kind of puzzling why because it seems to
5:18
my eye anyway that on the practice field he's pretty
5:21
consistent and then in game situation in the preseason he's
5:25
usually wrecking shop.
5:26
Speaker 2: But Patrick Johnson should be.
5:27
Speaker 1: A guy that you keep an eye on, and he
5:30
demonstrated active hands and he disengaged from Att Pryor and
5:33
he won that rep. Then there was another good one
5:36
from rookie offensive tackle Miles Hinton, who had another a
5:39
positive rep he got one of his hands on the
5:42
inside shoulder of veteran ogbo Okoronquo, and I'll have more
5:47
on him later and he kept the veteran at bay.
5:52
There's a note here that I wrote in my observations
5:54
about Jacob Sykes, and he's a little known defensive tackle.
5:58
Last season he played in the UFL with the San
6:00
Antonio Brahamas with Brahmas, and he was signed just before
6:05
the start of camp. Well, Jacob Sykes easily blue pass
6:08
rookie offensive lineman Holland Pierce of Rutgers, and then he
6:12
later flashed some quickness and he.
6:14
Speaker 2: Split a double team. He's further down the depth chart.
6:16
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm that's pretty clear. I'm not trying to
6:19
make this more than what it is, but he is
6:22
a player that is potentially worth keeping an eye on.
6:24
In the two remaining preseason games, Vick Vanjo was actually
6:27
asked about him and talked about his quickness more so
6:31
than his ability to kind of exert his power at
6:35
the line of scrimmage, and that really manifests when you
6:37
watch him. He does seem to have good short area
6:39
quickness and that seems to be his calling card. But
6:43
then the Eagles broke into eleven on eleven's and they
6:46
revealed a cornerback tandem of Quinna Mitchell.
6:49
Speaker 2: And Kiley Ringo. But I mean, while Kiley Ringo struggled
6:53
in the game.
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Speaker 1: I went into Saturday's practice with the expectation that the
6:56
Eagles were going to deploy Ringo again with the first team,
7:00
if not only for the reason of confidence, going back
7:03
to the well and trying to get him on some
7:06
sort of a consistent path. Here a Dori Jackson did
7:09
work in with the first team as well, So much
7:11
of the same. And if you're keeping score at home,
7:13
that's now six practices in which Dori Jackson has opened
7:17
with the first team and five for Ringo.
7:19
Speaker 2: Both players, of course, when they.
7:21
Speaker 1: Haven't opened with the first team, they've rotated in newly
7:25
acquired newly acquired cornerback Jacoryan Bennett in his first practice
7:29
with the team, logged reps with the second and third unit.
7:33
I always say, I mean, I've said this over the
7:35
past couple of days. That's always subject to change, especially
7:38
once fully onboarded from a defensive standpoint, So that's something
7:41
to keep an eye on. Up first at linebacker were
7:47
Jeremiah Trotter Junior and rookie Jahid Campbell. Remember in the game,
7:50
it was Jeremiah Trotter Junior and Smile Monden Junior who
7:55
opened at linebacker, and Fick Fangio said before practice that
7:59
it was a plan, you know, executed by the trainers
8:02
or conveyed by the trainers that they wanted to kind
8:07
of minimize Campbell's reps, and they went into a trying
8:11
to trying to give all three of the linebackers Campbell,
8:15
Monden junior, and Trotter Junior relatively.
8:17
Speaker 2: The same amount of snaps and that's kind of just.
8:19
Speaker 1: The way that it played out, and well traveled outside
8:24
linebacker Josh Uche opened with the first team because jaylox
8:27
Hunt actually left early into the session and he didn't return,
8:31
so we'll learn more about that on Sunday. Second year
8:34
defensive back Cooper Degen again moonlighted at safety when the
8:38
Eagles were in base before shifting down when the defense
8:40
went to its nickel look, and then when he went
8:42
to nickel that brought on Sydney Brown to team with
8:45
red blanket ship and rookie Drew mccooper repped with.
8:48
Speaker 2: The second team.
8:49
Speaker 1: As he continues to get up to speed. I am
8:51
curious to see if he starts mixing in with the
8:53
first unit soon, but he does have to make up
8:55
for lost time, so no cause for concern there. He
9:01
doesn't get mentioned much, but fourth year tight end grand
9:04
cal Kata has definitely seen a lot of targets this
9:06
summer and he quietly has put together a nice camp.
9:09
He had a nice camp last year as well, but
9:12
he seems to have rebounded nicely from the drop past
9:14
Thursday night by serving as an outlet of sorts on
9:18
several short completions Saturday morning, including one in the right
9:21
flat in front of Ringo. Darius Cooper's a name that
9:25
we've mentioned a lot, I've written about, I've talked about
9:27
a lot even before he had his impressive showing in
9:30
the preseason opener. But he mixed them with the first
9:34
unit today. And let's keep in mind no Aj Brown
9:38
and Elijah Cook's sidelined as well. But it is notable
9:42
and in the aftermath of snaring a low reception over
9:45
the middle during a seven on seven period from Jay
9:47
when Hurst, the franchise quarterback, was noticeably pleased with his
9:49
effort during a team period. However, not it wasn't all
9:53
perfect because Cooper was unable to bring in a Tanner
9:55
McKee pass along the right sideline. Adri Jackson had relatively
9:59
so I would coverage on the play, but the pass
10:01
probably should have been caught.
10:03
Speaker 2: It was catchable.
10:05
Speaker 1: I recently noted the positive developments from second year wide
10:08
receiver Johnny Wilson, who against the Bengals accounted for seventy
10:13
three yards on three catches. But he made the notebook
10:16
again on Saturday because he ruled in a well placed
10:19
mid range pass in traffic right there in the seam.
10:22
Really nice pass from Jayalen Hurts, and Johnny Wilson seems
10:26
to be playing with a lot more confidence compared to
10:29
earlier this summer. The Eagles also implemented a situational period
10:34
backed up at the goal line, with all three units
10:37
afforded one opportunity. So I will kind of outline each
10:42
unit right now, and it went as follows. The first team,
10:45
Jalen Hurts sailed to pass in the right flat to
10:48
running back Saquon Barkley. Saquon gave show good effort on
10:51
the play, but the pass grazed off of his outstretched
10:54
fingers and it fell in complete. Next up was the
10:57
second team, and this was probably the defensive play of
11:00
the day because it was a kind of nondescript practice.
11:02
If well, if we're being honest, but Tanner McKee, the
11:05
hero from Thursday Night, he stared down his intended receiver
11:09
in this case, it was wide receiver Terrorist Marshall, and
11:12
it was perfectly read by cornerback Eli Rix, who's had
11:14
a really good camp. He jumped the route, he snared
11:17
the interception for the pick six, and then following the play,
11:21
Rix punted the ball into the sky in celebration. That
11:25
kind of highlights the difference between Ringo and Rix in
11:28
terms of instincts and play recognition. That's probably a play
11:31
that Keeley maybe gets a hand in to break up,
11:34
or he's just a tick too late to get there.
11:37
Then the third team comes up and it's Dorian Thompson
11:39
Robinson and he tried to really fit a pass into
11:42
rookie wide receiver Taylor Moran, but cornerback terque Castro Fields,
11:46
who I thought had some positive moments against the Bengals,
11:49
got a hand in to break it up. That was
11:53
always a fun That's a fun session because it's urgent
11:55
and you're only afforded one opportunity. Next up, there was
11:59
seven on seven's that took place on that same field,
12:03
but I ended up going over to a neighboring field,
12:07
the second field, the middlefield if you've been to the
12:09
Novacare Complex, and there were more offensive line and defensive
12:13
line one on ones, and it's one of my favorite
12:16
drills of the summer. I feel like I always say that,
12:18
but those are certain things that I don't want to miss.
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And if you have to figure out a way to
12:23
divide your time, that's a drill that I don't want
12:25
to miss. So here are some highlights. Tyler Stein versus
12:29
Jalen Carter. That was a physical, wildly entertaining rep and
12:33
I think it this really underscores the growth and the
12:36
development and the advanced play strength from tyler Stein compared
12:40
to years past.
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Speaker 2: Neither gave an inch. It was close, but I'm giving
12:44
the edge to tyler Stein.
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Speaker 1: Then there was Brett Toth, who we had a chance
12:48
to speak to after practice. Had a lot of really
12:51
insightful things to say. I'm working on transcribing some of
12:54
those because it was really great stuff from Brett, who's
12:57
now in year seven if you can believe that. But
13:00
Morojoma uses his leverage and he beats Tooth, but then
13:04
he loses his footing, and then in turn Brett Toath
13:06
also loses his footing.
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Speaker 2: Then it was Rookie.
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Speaker 1: Holland Peers from Rutgers versus Ty Robinson, the Eagles fifth
13:12
round pick, fourth round pick. Robinson beats a Pierce soundly
13:16
with a nifty swin move, and then Robinson after that
13:20
also defeated Lake and Vakalahi and rookie Drew Kendall as well.
13:25
I thought Ty Robinson was a shining star in these drills,
13:29
and he won soundly in all three of the reps
13:30
that I was able to see. Darrin Canard versus Gabe Hall.
13:35
Both players have had good camps. There's a lot of
13:39
hype right now around Gabe Hall. You guys have all
13:42
you know who followed along with my coverage know that
13:44
I've mentioned Gabe Hall last year. I had a chance
13:46
to talk to him, so to see the growth, I
13:49
kind of have a different perspective to see the growth
13:52
and where he is now in terms of last year
13:54
having talked to him about his development. But Hall exploded
13:58
out of his stance and he converted speed to to
14:00
win the initial rep. And then Canard counters on the
14:03
next rep with impressive technique and he mirrors Gabe Hall
14:07
every move. You can see Hall kind of trying to
14:10
work his moves, but Darren Cannard shut him down on
14:13
that next rep. Then we had Kendall Lamb veteran Kendall
14:18
Lamb versus another veteran in Agbo Okoronkwo and Okaranquo is
14:24
an interesting player and I'm going to have a note
14:26
on him in a moment. But he won the first
14:28
rep with a nasty spin move, Lamb had no chance.
14:31
Then on the next rep, Okarankuo won with speed to
14:34
blow by Lamb for the would be sack. The veteran
14:38
pass rusher is an interesting player because he also had
14:41
a nice rush during an early team period where he
14:43
flushed jaywhen Hurts out of the pocket and then Jaywen
14:46
ultimately rolled right and checked it down to Grant kal Katara,
14:50
rounding things out in these notes. The final period of
14:54
practice was a developmental period where Dorian Thompson Robinson, who
14:59
I also spoke to today, and rookie Kyle mccorr traded reps
15:03
navigating the offense. Thompson Robinson, by the way, is clearly
15:07
ahead of McCord at this time. It makes it a
15:09
little bit interesting in terms of the number three quarterback position,
15:12
but we still have a few weeks here to make
15:15
that determination. Some of the highlights from this period included
15:19
a short reception to the left to tight end e
15:22
J Jenkins, and e J Jenkins was tightly guarded by
15:25
linebacker Lance Dixon, another player who I've mentioned in previous podcasts.
15:30
Speaker 2: And EJ had two catches.
15:31
Speaker 1: During this development developmental period and both were in tight coverage,
15:36
So you'd like to see that there from a player
15:38
who hasn't gotten an awful lot of targets this camp.
15:41
Rookie Giles Jackson also had a nice catch over the
15:44
middle with cornerback Brandon Johnson in coverage. But this was
15:48
the ultimate payoff because at the end of it, to
15:51
cap the drive on a situationally based first and ten
15:54
from the ten, Thompson Robinson fires a pass into the
15:57
back of the end zone to Taylor Morin, the rookie
16:00
wide receiver, and he managed to get both feet down
16:03
for the touchdown. It was close, but upon further review,
16:06
I do believe he got it in, especially after talking
16:09
to some others who also saw the play.
16:12
Speaker 2: That's the touchdown. Thompson.
16:14
Speaker 1: Robinson followed it up with another connection to morin which
16:18
Accory and Bennett defending on a slant for the two
16:20
point conversion. And that ended practice. That's the double horn sounded.
16:26
And we're now on to Sunday, which the Eagles will
16:29
hold their first and only open practice, this being at
16:32
Lincoln Financial Field and it's a sold out practice, which
16:37
is just incredible to think about. But I will be
16:40
there and I will have all the news and notes.
16:42
If you happen to be at practice tomorrow at the link,
16:46
those of us who cover the team will for individuals
16:49
and warm ups will be on the field.
16:51
Speaker 2: So if you happen to see me out there, give
16:54
me a shout.
16:55
Speaker 1: I would love to chat with you and say hello
16:58
if we happen to cross path. But for now, that's
17:01
going to do it for this edition of the Czechodily.
17:04
Andrew Decheco here is signing off, and I will catch
17:06
you on the next one.