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The DiCecco Daily: Intel, Notes From Day 9 of Eagles Training Camp · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome into another episode of the check Odaly.
0:11
Speaker 1: It's Andrew Decheco, Eagles beat reporter for insidethe birds dot Com,
0:15
Speaker 1: and we just wrapped Day nine of Eagles training camp.
0:18
Speaker 1: It was another scorcher out there, and on this day
0:22
Speaker 1: it featured a variety of things, including a second year
0:26
Speaker 1: wide receiver continuing to impress, and there was even a
0:29
Speaker 1: little bit of a skirmish early in practice. A lot
0:32
Speaker 1: to get to here, including some transactions that were announced
0:36
Speaker 1: by the team before practice. But before we do that,
0:39
Speaker 1: let's first get to today's practice report. Not practicing for
0:44
Speaker 1: the Eagles wide receiver Danny Gray concussion, cornerback Jonathan Jones shoulder,
0:49
Speaker 1: wide receiver mackay Lemon hamstring, outside linebacker Keyshawn James Newby ankle,
0:55
Speaker 1: running back Damian Pierce hamstring, wide receiver DeVante Smith hamstring,
1:01
Speaker 1: wide receiver Johnny Wilson knee, and safety.
1:05
Speaker 2: Cole was Nesky hamstring.
1:07
Speaker 1: Limited for the Eagles were linebacker Chance Campbell with a groin,
1:11
Speaker 1: and wide receiver Britain Covey hamstring. Britain Covey returned to
1:16
Speaker 1: practice for the first time in a couple of days.
1:22
Speaker 1: That was now seventh practices that was Nesky has not
1:26
Speaker 1: been out there, and five for Mackay Lemon and DeVante Smith.
1:31
Speaker 2: For those keeping track.
1:33
Speaker 1: Now, the Eagles are a little light on running backs,
1:35
Speaker 1: and so the transactions that were announced.
1:38
Speaker 2: That I alluded to sort of reflect that.
1:41
Speaker 1: The Eagles announced the signing of defensive tackle David Blay,
1:45
Speaker 1: running back Jaquindon Jackson, and linebacker tarn Jackson, waived reguard
1:52
Speaker 1: Jaden Roberts and tight end day Quon Wright, and placed
1:56
Speaker 1: on injured reserve was running back Elijah Mitchell, who in
2:00
Speaker 1: himself I think it was on Saturday's practice that he
2:04
Speaker 1: walked into the medical tent and then went inside. So
2:07
Speaker 1: let's break things down here. Because Tehran Jackson was a
2:10
Speaker 1: six round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in twenty twenty one.
2:13
Speaker 1: He was most recently with the forty nine ers. He
2:15
Speaker 1: went to Coastal Carolina, played in some games earlier in
2:18
Speaker 1: his career with Philadelphia, was on the practice squad briefly
2:21
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, and he gives the Eagles another
2:25
Speaker 1: body where they're at a position in which they're kind
2:28
Speaker 1: of light and another opportunity for him to get into
2:32
Speaker 1: the preseason and do some things there. Jaquindin Jackson has
2:35
Speaker 1: really good size at six foot two, two.
2:37
Speaker 2: Hundred and thirty three pounds.
2:38
Speaker 1: Attended Texas Utah and finished his career at Arkansas. He
2:42
Speaker 1: was a twenty twenty five undrafted free agent signing of
2:45
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville Jaguars. He didn't make the team, but he
2:48
Speaker 1: did spend the season on the practice squad and he
2:51
Speaker 1: was waived in May. I mentioned Damian Pierce not practicing
2:56
Speaker 1: and Elijah Mitchell being placed on ir so. Jaquindon Jackson
3:01
Speaker 1: already got some touches during the developmental period later in
3:05
Speaker 1: practice and then David Blay at six foot two, two
3:08
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety two pounds, is a defensive lineman. He
3:12
Speaker 1: was an undrafted free agent signing of the New England Patriots.
3:15
Speaker 1: He was waived on August seventh, so pretty recently, and
3:18
Speaker 1: he has local ties.
3:19
Speaker 2: He attended Harry S.
3:21
Speaker 1: Truman High School in Levittown and then he committed to
3:23
Speaker 1: Westchester University, where he spent the twenty twenty one and
3:26
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season seasons, and then he went to
3:30
Speaker 1: Louisiana Tech before finally landing at the University of Miami
3:33
Speaker 1: where he finished out his career. And this is a
3:36
Speaker 1: player that when you look at reps in the preseason game,
3:41
Speaker 1: they were light and they are light at defensive tackle.
3:45
Speaker 1: Taekwon Graham was released earlier in camp and apart from
3:52
Speaker 1: Zion Wilson and Gabe Hall, javu Ar Bernard, but I'm
3:57
Speaker 1: not quite sure how much the Eagles.
3:59
Speaker 2: Are going to put him out there in the first game.
4:01
Speaker 1: You need some bodies to absorb some of those snaps,
4:04
Speaker 1: and David Blay has a good opportunity here in Philadelphia
4:06
Speaker 1: to at least put some quality things on tape. And
4:09
Speaker 1: the local connection there is kind of interesting as well.
4:13
Speaker 2: But let's get to the practice notes.
4:17
Speaker 1: Before practice, the Eagles were doing some special teams drills
4:20
Speaker 1: and back returning punts were Cooper Dejen, Qus Watkins, Elijah Moore,
4:25
Speaker 1: Brandon Hayes, and Britton Covey. And this is interesting because
4:30
Speaker 1: the Eagles continue to use Elijah Moore there. And look,
4:33
Speaker 1: I think Elijah Moore's had a decent camp, catching a
4:37
Speaker 1: lot of underneath passes and seems to be sort of really.
4:42
Speaker 2: Grasping this offense to stick on the fifty three.
4:47
Speaker 1: One would imagine that He's going to have to offer
4:49
Speaker 1: something a little bit more than simply being a depth receiver,
4:53
Speaker 1: especially when you look at how you have to whittle
4:56
Speaker 1: down the game day roster, right, So Elijah, if he's
5:00
Speaker 1: able to take to the punt return role, maybe that
5:03
Speaker 1: makes things a little bit interesting when you're putting together
5:06
Speaker 1: your fifty three man rosters or when you're trying to
5:08
Speaker 1: figure it out and see where he might fit. And
5:12
Speaker 1: speaking of fifty three man rosters, after eight practices, not
5:15
Speaker 1: including today, this morning, I put out my updated fifty
5:19
Speaker 1: three and I did not have Elijah Moore on it.
5:22
Speaker 1: I had Johnny Wilson as the sixth receiver because he
5:26
Speaker 1: just gives you something different a six foot six frame.
5:29
Speaker 1: Seems like the Eagles like him a little bit. They
5:31
Speaker 1: sorely missed his blocking prowess last year, and really dating
5:35
Speaker 1: back to last summer, it seems like he's growing into
5:38
Speaker 1: his role and becoming more comfortable as a receiver. And
5:42
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts and Johnny Wilson seem to have a nice
5:44
Speaker 1: little rapport and that really stems from reps, but also
5:49
Speaker 1: going back to last summer as well. So Elijah Moore,
5:54
Speaker 1: I'm going to be really looking to see how he
5:57
Speaker 1: takes to the punt return role. Hopefully he gets some
5:59
Speaker 1: opportunities where it can be evaluated and it gives you
6:02
Speaker 1: a clearer picture. And I don't know which direction the Eagles.
6:07
Speaker 2: Will go there.
6:08
Speaker 1: They could always go the route of putting a Britain
6:10
Speaker 1: Covey on the practice squad and then you elevate him
6:13
Speaker 1: for a few weeks before bringing him on.
6:15
Speaker 2: To the roster.
6:18
Speaker 1: Maybe there's a player on the roster currently or someone
6:20
Speaker 1: who makes the fifty three who they view as someone
6:23
Speaker 1: that can do that. I don't think it's going to
6:25
Speaker 1: be Cooper Degen, certainly not at vic Fanchot has anything
6:28
Speaker 1: to do with it, but it is something that I've
6:29
Speaker 1: been monitoring throughout the summer to see if the Eagles
6:32
Speaker 1: are leaning one way or another. And certainly Britain Covey
6:35
Speaker 1: missing some time doesn't bode well for his roster chances.
6:39
Speaker 1: But the Eagles opened up with the first team offense
6:42
Speaker 1: going against the second team defense, and at safety they
6:46
Speaker 1: had Maximus Pulley and Andre sam working there and some
6:54
Speaker 1: of the other players that they had they worked in.
6:55
Speaker 1: Ty Robinson or Bernard got some early reps there with
6:59
Speaker 1: the reserve unit it but some highlights in the early
7:03
Speaker 1: session there. Jalen Hurts hits tight end Grant Ka Kata,
7:06
Speaker 1: and that's the name. You probably haven't heard all that
7:08
Speaker 1: much this summer. Sometimes you forget the grants there. But
7:12
Speaker 1: I mentioned this before and I still believe this. He
7:15
Speaker 1: has some of the best pair of hands on the
7:17
Speaker 1: Eagles roster. He caught an inbreaker with in front of
7:20
Speaker 1: Ambry Thomas and then Tank Bigsby followed that up with
7:24
Speaker 1: a tough run up the gut. Another Tank Bigsby highlight
7:27
Speaker 1: later in practice that I found to be fascinating and
7:29
Speaker 1: really fun to watch.
7:30
Speaker 2: But then Jalen.
7:32
Speaker 1: Hurts hits Hollywood Brown on sort of a corner route
7:35
Speaker 1: there with Keeley Ringo and coverage. Then the Eagles broke
7:38
Speaker 1: into seven on sevens. They're on a far field, mind you,
7:42
Speaker 1: So I found a really good spot where I am
7:45
Speaker 1: on the corner, so I'm kind of between the two
7:47
Speaker 1: fields and I'm watching what's going on on both. But
7:53
Speaker 1: Darius Cooper had a really strong practice, continues to have
7:57
Speaker 1: a really strong training camp. Had some catches in that session,
8:01
Speaker 1: and then on the other field where the offensive line
8:04
Speaker 1: and defensive line, that were kind of going through the
8:07
Speaker 1: one on ones, but before that, there was.
8:10
Speaker 2: A little bit of a little bit of a dust
8:12
Speaker 2: up there.
8:13
Speaker 1: And I saw the play itself, but I didn't see
8:16
Speaker 1: which players got tangled up. And I talked to a
8:20
Speaker 1: couple people after practice to try and get some clarity
8:22
Speaker 1: on that, and it turns out that it was Tyler
8:25
Speaker 1: Steen ty Robinson, and think I believe Cam Jurgens maybe
8:29
Speaker 1: got in into it as well. But what happened was
8:32
Speaker 1: Tyler Steen delivered a really strong block and drove ty
8:36
Speaker 1: Robinson into the ground. And those are the kind of
8:39
Speaker 1: things that happened. When it's hot, you got a couple
8:43
Speaker 1: offensive linemen and defensive linemen that are just going at it,
8:46
Speaker 1: and it's been you know, these matchups and these things
8:50
Speaker 1: have been brewing throughout the summer.
8:52
Speaker 2: The Eagles have done a really good job of sort
8:55
Speaker 2: of avoiding these training camp skirmishes.
8:58
Speaker 1: When you look across the league, you often see that
9:00
Speaker 1: they have a really good feel for it. Seems like
9:02
Speaker 1: they have a really good feel for knowing when they're
9:07
Speaker 1: reaching that certain breaking point or when the tempers temper
9:11
Speaker 1: tempers are flaring and the.
9:13
Speaker 2: Intensity is starting to amplify.
9:15
Speaker 1: They find different ways to break up practice, whether they'll
9:18
Speaker 1: throw a special teams drill in there, or they'll do
9:21
Speaker 1: something on another field and get back into it.
9:23
Speaker 2: And when they do have.
9:24
Speaker 1: These little things, they quickly get separated. But other than
9:28
Speaker 1: a lot of jawing and maybe just some pushing and
9:30
Speaker 1: shoving at different points in camp, there hasn't been in
9:33
Speaker 1: really anything of note to mention there.
9:37
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Speaker 1: So I'm watching some seven on sevens and then I'm
13:49
Speaker 1: watching the offensive line and defensive line, and in one
13:53
Speaker 1: of the seven on sevens, Jalen Hurts hits Terius Cooper
13:56
Speaker 1: over the middle, just finds the soft spot in the zone.
13:59
Speaker 2: Cooper ran a variety of routes today. There are out routes.
14:03
Speaker 2: There was a go ball on one occasion.
14:07
Speaker 1: And I note this because Darius Cooper is not an
14:10
Speaker 1: explosive type of receiver. He's not overly fast or twitchy.
14:15
Speaker 1: And so when you think of Cooper, maybe you think
14:18
Speaker 1: of underneath stuff, the shorts, intermediate levels.
14:20
Speaker 2: But the Eagles have really mixed up.
14:22
Speaker 1: The routes that he's been running, and I think that
14:25
Speaker 1: that really underscores his place on the roster. I don't
14:30
Speaker 1: think that it's someone who's on the roster bubble. I actually,
14:34
Speaker 1: I mean I do believe that he's going to be
14:35
Speaker 1: on the team. And I try to always avoid these proclamations,
14:41
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't be surprised that if the Eagles deem
14:45
Speaker 1: Makay Lemon would be a little bit behind. And maybe
14:48
Speaker 1: they don't feel overly confident in putting him out there
14:51
Speaker 1: as the third receiver week one. Remember, he's missed a
14:54
Speaker 1: lot of times, so that wouldn't be out of the
14:56
Speaker 1: realm of possibility. It wouldn't surprise me if they look
14:59
Speaker 1: to Darius Cooper as the third receiver to start the
15:03
Speaker 1: season until mackay Lemon gets his sea legs under him
15:06
Speaker 1: and grasp the offense maybe a little bit better. They're
15:09
Speaker 1: certainly not going to rush him back from this hamstring injury.
15:11
Speaker 1: But needless to say, I understand that you can get
15:14
Speaker 1: mental reps and you could do different things and walk
15:16
Speaker 1: throughs and in meetings, but it's really hard to replace
15:20
Speaker 1: the value of the on field reps and he's not
15:22
Speaker 1: getting those right now. And with those soft tissue injuries,
15:26
Speaker 1: that's something that you would expect. Well, they can linger,
15:30
Speaker 1: but the Eagles certainly aren't going to force him to
15:33
Speaker 1: push through it or anything like that. That's not something
15:36
Speaker 1: they're going to fool around with. So he'll be back
15:38
Speaker 1: when he when they deem him to be ready. But
15:41
Speaker 1: Darius Cooper has been this story of training camp, one
15:44
Speaker 1: of the stories I would say, and he caught I
15:47
Speaker 1: don't know, six seven passes, a lot of them from
15:50
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, many of which were timing based, which I
15:54
Speaker 1: think really speaks to the on field chemistry between the
15:57
Speaker 1: quarterback and the wide receiver.
15:59
Speaker 2: I mentioned that play, but there were others.
16:02
Speaker 1: There was one that he had where he was sort
16:04
Speaker 1: of sliding in front of Cooper Degene along the sideline.
16:07
Speaker 1: There looked like it was an out route. There was
16:10
Speaker 1: another one where Jalen Hurts hit Darius Cooper. It was
16:14
Speaker 1: a tight throw along the right sideline with Rieg Wohen
16:17
Speaker 1: in coverage. There was another moment where they wanted a
16:22
Speaker 1: deep shot to him. I think it might have been
16:25
Speaker 1: Michael Carter in coverage, and there was another.
16:28
Speaker 2: Player as well.
16:29
Speaker 1: I apologize because I don't have that in front of
16:31
Speaker 1: me at the moment. There was another play where Jalen
16:34
Speaker 1: Hurts was lofting one into the corner, a deep corner route.
16:39
Speaker 1: There was Darius Cooper end Dallas Goddard there. It looked
16:44
Speaker 1: like it was maybe a broken play where Jayalen was
16:46
Speaker 1: trying to make something happen.
16:47
Speaker 2: Quenya Mitchell was there in the vicinity.
16:50
Speaker 1: The pass was incomplete, but yeah, I mean in seven
16:54
Speaker 1: on sevens he caught a fluri of passes, and then
16:56
Speaker 1: during the team period is where when it seemed like
17:00
Speaker 1: when the offense needed a jolt, when they needed someone
17:02
Speaker 1: to make a play, they dialed up Darius Cooper. And
17:06
Speaker 1: I know that you could look at last summer and
17:08
Speaker 1: wonder if that was a mirage, because sometimes you know,
17:12
Speaker 1: when you have someone who has an emergence like that
17:15
Speaker 1: and you don't see it manifest in the regular season,
17:18
Speaker 1: you wonder if that was for real.
17:21
Speaker 2: It was for real.
17:21
Speaker 1: But also keep in mind that Darius Cooper was further
17:24
Speaker 1: down in the pecking order, and the Eagles had enough
17:26
Speaker 1: trouble getting the ball to Johan Dotson, who was the
17:29
Speaker 1: third receiver, let alone someone who was a little bit
17:31
Speaker 1: further down the depth chart.
17:33
Speaker 2: And I also think that's important to keep in mind
17:35
Speaker 2: as well.
17:36
Speaker 1: When you see and you hear and you read all
17:41
Speaker 1: of the plays that Darius Cooper is making, and he's
17:43
Speaker 1: having an outstanding training camp, it's easy to lose sight
17:47
Speaker 1: of the fact that the Eagles have DeVante Smith, Dallas Goddard,
17:51
Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley, you know, Hollywood Brown, Dontavian Wicks.
17:56
Speaker 2: So I mean, there's only.
17:58
Speaker 1: One football It's not I mean I'm not sitting here
18:02
Speaker 1: suggesting that he's going to have thirty five for what
18:04
Speaker 1: he catches in the season. That's just not the offense
18:06
Speaker 1: the Eagles run, and based on opportunities, it's not really realistic.
18:11
Speaker 1: But I can tell you that he can absolutely play,
18:14
Speaker 1: and he's done nothing but deliver every time the Eagles
18:17
Speaker 1: have dialed up his number.
18:18
Speaker 2: I think he deserves a lot of credit, and he's certainly.
18:20
Speaker 1: Someone that you should be keeping an eye on in
18:22
Speaker 1: the preseason because he just continues to get better. Rig
18:25
Speaker 1: Wallan spoke highly of him after practice. Hollywood Brown spoke
18:29
Speaker 1: about him after practice, and yeah, I mean, Darius Cooper's
18:34
Speaker 1: absolutely for real. There was a moment where the offense
18:39
Speaker 1: was down by four. It was a situational period here
18:43
Speaker 1: and Jalen Hurts looks to get the ball to Hollywood Brown.
18:46
Speaker 1: It was a good read there by Quinyon Mitchell, who
18:49
Speaker 1: sort of jumps it. At least that's what it looked
18:51
Speaker 1: like from my vantage point, and Quinyon punts the ball
18:55
Speaker 1: across the field on the opposite sideline. Nice play there
18:58
Speaker 1: by Quinnon Mitchell. And then there was another play later
19:03
Speaker 1: in practice where well, let me put this into context here,
19:09
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts is buying himself some time. He's done this
19:13
Speaker 1: a few times in training camp.
19:14
Speaker 2: But he threw across his body.
19:16
Speaker 1: To Elijah Moore and Cooper de Gene was in coverage,
19:20
Speaker 1: but it looked like he wanted Darius Cooper. Darius Cooper,
19:25
Speaker 1: who was running the route closest to where I was standing,
19:28
Speaker 1: he slipped. Initially, he got back up, he sort of
19:32
Speaker 1: dragged across the middle of the end zone. Then he
19:34
Speaker 1: pivoted and went back the other way. He couldn't shake free.
19:37
Speaker 1: But Jalen Hurts is buying time and he hits Elijah Moore,
19:40
Speaker 1: who high points the football in a nice play. And
19:43
Speaker 1: then on the two point play they went to Hollywood
19:46
Speaker 1: Brown and that was no good. And then after practice,
19:49
Speaker 1: Hollywood Brown mentioned that his feet got crossed up. He's
19:52
Speaker 1: got to stay on his feet and make that happen.
19:54
Speaker 1: But Jalen Hurts has had a nice rhythm with a
19:58
Speaker 1: lot of his receivers, especially today where I noticed that
20:02
Speaker 1: a big run from Tank Bigsby down the he was
20:06
Speaker 1: running down the left sideline. He broke through the line
20:08
Speaker 1: and he finishes every play, so he's taking it.
20:11
Speaker 2: To the end zone. And pursuing him is QUINNYA. Mitchell.
20:14
Speaker 1: He's not letting up on the play and Tank reads it.
20:18
Speaker 1: He sort of gives him this euro step gets around
20:22
Speaker 1: quinnyon Mitchell and into the end zone. That just sort
20:24
Speaker 1: of embodies Tank Bigsby and what he's all about. He
20:27
Speaker 1: doesn't quit on a play. He goes one hundred miles
20:30
Speaker 1: an hour quinnyon Mitchell, same thing. He's going to play
20:33
Speaker 1: to the whistle. He's going to chase down a ball carrier.
20:37
Speaker 1: And I think that that was just a rep that
20:40
Speaker 1: perfectly encapsulates what both players are all about in that situation.
20:47
Speaker 1: But back to some of the one on ones that
20:50
Speaker 1: I saw Zion Wilson put Miles hinting on his back
20:54
Speaker 1: and that I mean, that was just a good strong
20:57
Speaker 1: rep there. And again I'm pivoting from field to field.
21:00
Speaker 1: My eyes are darting back and forth. I thought John A.
21:02
Speaker 1: Juquo had a nice set of one on ones. Largely
21:07
Speaker 1: he held his own. There were moments where Ty Robinson
21:10
Speaker 1: got around him on multiple occasions, but I thought he
21:14
Speaker 1: shows a pretty strong and sturdy base and good hand usage.
21:18
Speaker 2: That's a player to.
21:19
Speaker 1: Keep an eye on in in preseason because I think
21:22
Speaker 1: he's had quietly a nice training camp. I mentioned before
21:26
Speaker 1: that he has sixteen games of NFL experience, he has
21:30
Speaker 1: nine starts under his belt, and when you look at
21:32
Speaker 1: the youth movement in terms of the depth along the
21:36
Speaker 1: offensive line, someone like John at Juquo would would make
21:39
Speaker 1: some sense. He's somebody that'll be keeping an eye on.
21:41
Speaker 1: It's not going to be easy for him to make it,
21:43
Speaker 1: and I think he's kind of flying under the radar
21:45
Speaker 1: a little bit, and he's someone that is on my
21:49
Speaker 1: radar very much so. Willie Lampkin had another strong set.
21:53
Speaker 2: Of one on ones. Again, this is someone.
21:56
Speaker 1: Who is so technically sound, has a powerful base and
22:00
Speaker 1: strong hands, very good technique. Drew Kendall talked about that
22:05
Speaker 1: he just has the natural leverage and he said Willie's
22:09
Speaker 1: been awesome and that that really carried over into today's practice. Unfortunately,
22:14
Speaker 1: Willie Lampkin got banged up towards the end of the
22:18
Speaker 1: session and he was one of the players that we
22:22
Speaker 1: were slated to talk to after practice, but needless to say.
22:25
Speaker 2: That didn't happen. We'll have to wait and see what
22:29
Speaker 2: happened and if what the timeline might be.
22:32
Speaker 1: He could very well be out there tomorrow, but we
22:34
Speaker 1: have to wait for more information. During eleven on eleven's
22:39
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts did a nice job of finding Johnny Munt
22:43
Speaker 1: over the middle. Johan Campbell was in coverage, had really
22:46
Speaker 1: tight coverage on the play, but the pass was right
22:48
Speaker 1: where it needed to be. Marcus Epps got a lot
22:51
Speaker 1: of reps as the nickel safety opposite Drew mccouba. That's
22:55
Speaker 1: been a prevailing theme throughout the summer. Michael Carter has mixed.
22:59
Speaker 2: In throughout camp.
23:02
Speaker 1: I think Michael Carter, for what it's worth, has made
23:05
Speaker 1: more plays. He stood out to me a little bit more,
23:07
Speaker 1: whereas Marcus EPs is so steady and consistent and always
23:10
Speaker 1: finds himself in the right place. But if you're looking
23:12
Speaker 1: for someone who's going to make some more plays on
23:14
Speaker 1: the football, Michael Carter would be that player. He's wearing
23:18
Speaker 1: three different hats in camp and he always seems to
23:21
Speaker 1: find the football and make plays on it. There was
23:24
Speaker 1: one play that he made that was a good veteran
23:27
Speaker 1: play against the rookie where I think it was Andy
23:32
Speaker 1: Dalton who tried to fit one in to tight end
23:35
Speaker 1: Eli Stowers. Eli Stowers kind of sat down, Michael Carter
23:39
Speaker 1: comes in from behind and is able to break up
23:42
Speaker 1: the pass. He's had some pass breakups in camp, the
23:45
Speaker 1: interception he had last week.
23:46
Speaker 2: I believe he's someone that I don't think you can
23:50
Speaker 2: count out in this safety race. He's had a good.
23:53
Speaker 1: Training camp, and I think to a larger point here,
23:56
Speaker 1: you look at the safety position and I know that
23:58
Speaker 1: there was a lot of angst surround it going into
24:00
Speaker 1: training camp for some For me, I kind of wanted
24:03
Speaker 1: to see it play out first before I reached any
24:08
Speaker 1: determinations one way or another.
24:10
Speaker 2: And right now I can see.
24:12
Speaker 1: I can tell you that Drew mccooba has had a
24:14
Speaker 1: nice start to training camp. He is playing faster, with
24:18
Speaker 1: more confidence. He has a good understanding of the defense.
24:21
Speaker 1: His play speed is noticeably ramped up relative to last summer,
24:26
Speaker 1: and he often seems to be in the right place
24:28
Speaker 1: at the right time. He's very active in practice. I
24:32
Speaker 1: think he's ready to take the next step in year two.
24:35
Speaker 1: You mentioned Marcus Apps, Marcus Apps or I mentioned Marcus Apps.
24:38
Speaker 1: Marcus Epps is a player that is so steady and
24:42
Speaker 1: consistent and has really good football intelligence. He's not going
24:46
Speaker 1: to often make the splash play, but he is someone
24:49
Speaker 1: that is fundamentally sound, and I think that because of that,
24:53
Speaker 1: there's going to be a lot of inherent trust there
24:55
Speaker 1: when it comes to Vic Fangio.
24:56
Speaker 2: And then Michael Carter.
24:58
Speaker 1: You like the position role, versatility that he has, the
25:01
Speaker 1: shuer area, quickness, the eye discipline, a lot of his
25:04
Speaker 1: qualities from being a high impact nickelback from his time
25:08
Speaker 1: with the Jets, I think is translated over and you
25:11
Speaker 1: could see some of that as he's taken to this
25:14
Speaker 1: safety position. And you can look at the fourth safety
25:18
Speaker 1: spot and maybe that's a question because no one's really emerged,
25:22
Speaker 1: but for the top three spots, and keep in mind
25:24
Speaker 1: that Cooper Degen is going to be safety playing safety
25:28
Speaker 1: when the Eagles are in base defense, and I think
25:30
Speaker 1: the Eagles will might live in base a little bit
25:33
Speaker 1: more than they have previously.
25:35
Speaker 2: So I think they have enough there.
25:37
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see if the Eagles feel the same way,
25:40
Speaker 1: but based off of what I seen through nine practices
25:43
Speaker 1: from the safety position, I think they have enough there.
25:48
Speaker 1: And then just some thoughts on the tight end position,
25:50
Speaker 1: because I'm sure you've heard a lot about Eli Stowers
25:54
Speaker 1: and for some maybe you have some reservations maybe you're
25:58
Speaker 1: a little concerned because he hasn't been lighting the world
26:01
Speaker 1: on fire this summer. There's been, you know, some drops,
26:05
Speaker 1: there's been I mentioned players being able to jar the
26:08
Speaker 1: ball loose. Michael Carter did it today. Earlier in camp,
26:11
Speaker 1: Mac McWilliams was able to do it. This is all
26:14
Speaker 1: part of the growing process. Progress is not linear. I
26:18
Speaker 1: often say that, but it feels that it needs to
26:21
Speaker 1: be reiterated. You shouldn't be panicking because Eli Stowers has
26:27
Speaker 1: been relatively quiet or hasn't made the humongous leap forward
26:32
Speaker 1: through nine practices. He's more of a developmental prospect. They're
26:36
Speaker 1: going to have to be patient or I would say that,
26:38
Speaker 1: I would, you know, kind of my message would be
26:41
Speaker 1: to be patient with him. And he's still a work
26:44
Speaker 1: in progress as a blocker as well. But certainly, you know,
26:49
Speaker 1: a career is not made in August after a small
26:53
Speaker 1: sample size. There's a long way to go here, and
26:56
Speaker 1: I think he's only going to improve and take steps
26:59
Speaker 1: in the right direction, but.
27:00
Speaker 2: It's not going to be instantaneous. It's not going to
27:02
Speaker 2: happen overnight.
27:03
Speaker 1: And so you look at that position and you wonder
27:07
Speaker 1: how that might shake out when you're looking at the
27:09
Speaker 1: game day activations and things like that. And I think
27:13
Speaker 1: the Eagles keep four tight ends, meaning Dallas Godder, Johnny Munt,
27:18
Speaker 1: Eli Stowers, and I put Cameron Latsu on there. And
27:22
Speaker 1: if to start the season the Eagles for some reason
27:25
Speaker 1: don't feel that Eli Stowers is ready to help even
27:30
Speaker 1: you know, minimally in certain packages.
27:35
Speaker 2: I think they have enough.
27:36
Speaker 1: They're a tight end anyway, because mont is a very physical,
27:40
Speaker 1: imposing inline blocker. He's a capable pass catcher. He's only
27:44
Speaker 1: caught seventy four passes in his career. That's not his forte.
27:47
Speaker 1: But then they also have Cameron Latsu, who I think
27:49
Speaker 1: has a little bit more to offer as a pass
27:51
Speaker 1: catcher than some may even realize. So I do believe
27:56
Speaker 1: it they have enough there to get them rolling to
27:58
Speaker 1: start the season, if in fact, they don't feel that
28:02
Speaker 1: Stours is.
28:02
Speaker 2: Ready to help them right away.
28:04
Speaker 1: But understand that this is a process. It's again, it's
28:08
Speaker 1: not going to happen overnight. You have to understand that
28:11
Speaker 1: there are steps that every young player takes. Some for
28:14
Speaker 1: some the light comes on very quickly, like Quenya Mitchell,
28:17
Speaker 1: and for others it takes a little bit of time.
28:20
Speaker 2: It's a it's a big jump from college to the NFL.
28:22
Speaker 1: You're bringing it being asked to do some different things schematically, verbiage,
28:27
Speaker 1: and Eli Stowers not long ago, let's not forget, was
28:31
Speaker 1: a quarterback. So you won't hear you won't You certainly
28:36
Speaker 1: won't hear me questioning or sounding any sort of alarms
28:41
Speaker 1: on August tenth. Here with regards to the second round
28:46
Speaker 1: draft pick at the tight end position.
28:50
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Speaker 2: Tanner McKee.
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Speaker 1: I thought that there were some moments He hits Brandon
29:54
Speaker 1: Hayes on a nice throw with JT. Gray and coverage,
29:57
Speaker 1: And there was another one and that he threw to
30:02
Speaker 1: Quez Watkins. It looked like it was maybe a corner route.
30:05
Speaker 1: It was sort of blocked off to the.
30:07
Speaker 2: Side there, but Ques made a nice play.
30:09
Speaker 1: He was able to rise up and snatch it out
30:12
Speaker 1: of the air. But then there was another play where
30:15
Speaker 1: I didn't think Ques.
30:16
Speaker 2: Did a really good job of tracking this Andy Dalton
30:20
Speaker 2: deep pass.
30:20
Speaker 1: He got behind cornerback to Rie Castro Fields and I
30:26
Speaker 1: forget who the other player was.
30:27
Speaker 2: It was Andre sam and it was a deep shot.
30:30
Speaker 2: It fell just dropped just right in front of Quez Watkins.
30:33
Speaker 1: It didn't look like he tracked the ball well, because
30:35
Speaker 1: if he did, I thought it was catchable.
30:38
Speaker 2: He probably could have dove for it. It wasn't out
30:40
Speaker 2: of reach at least on the first view that I had.
30:45
Speaker 1: Oh, the leaping catch that I was talking about was
30:48
Speaker 1: with tree castro fields and coverage there, and so yeah,
30:52
Speaker 1: I thought that apart from that, Quees had a decent practice.
30:57
Speaker 1: You only get so many targets thrown your way. Have
31:00
Speaker 1: to make the most of them, especially when you're a
31:03
Speaker 1: little bit further down on the depth chart. And the
31:06
Speaker 1: one play that he could have had that would have
31:08
Speaker 1: been something that would have you know, it would have
31:13
Speaker 1: been classified as an explosive or certainly a firework that
31:17
Speaker 1: was not to be. But you gotta you gotta find
31:19
Speaker 1: a way to come down with that one for sure.
31:22
Speaker 1: There were some throws there late in the session from
31:24
Speaker 1: Cole Peyton where Cole Payton threw one to Samari Torre.
31:30
Speaker 1: It was right off his fingertips. He should have caught it.
31:32
Speaker 1: It was a drop. He had a nice pass to
31:35
Speaker 1: Stone Smart and he was who was thudded there by
31:38
Speaker 1: safety Maximus Pulley. Yeah, I mean, look, it was a
31:44
Speaker 1: it was a pretty active session. And yeah, I mean
31:49
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts also had a nice completion to Grant Cokatara
31:53
Speaker 1: over the middle in front of Drew mccuba. There was
31:57
Speaker 1: the pass that was well schemed opeen for Elijah Moore
32:01
Speaker 1: that was along the far sideline there. Saquon Barkley, we
32:07
Speaker 1: probably don't talk enough about him because training camp is
32:11
Speaker 1: tends to be about a lot of the roster battles,
32:14
Speaker 1: the seating in the on the depth charts and things
32:16
Speaker 1: like that. But man, does he bring a lot of
32:18
Speaker 1: jews to practice, even at this stage of his career.
32:21
Speaker 1: You can see that he goes pedal to the medal.
32:24
Speaker 1: He'll he'll fight for yardage, he'll you know, get it.
32:29
Speaker 1: You know, I think it's all all in good nature.
32:32
Speaker 1: But he'll also you know, get into the grill of
32:35
Speaker 1: some of these defensive backs. And he's not afraid to
32:39
Speaker 1: exchange some words. He just he brings a lot of
32:42
Speaker 1: energy to practice.
32:43
Speaker 2: And I think both.
32:44
Speaker 1: Saquon and Tank Bigsby are two players that must watch
32:48
Speaker 1: whenever they get their opportunities. But one other thing, and
32:52
Speaker 1: this is just a very minor note, and it's an
32:55
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent that stood out to me, and it
33:00
Speaker 1: was Kapina Gushigin. Kapina Gushikin at of Ole miss He's undersized,
33:06
Speaker 1: he's pretty explosive and twitched up and I think what
33:09
Speaker 1: really stands out to me about him is that he
33:11
Speaker 1: charges on the football. He's springy, and it seems to
33:15
Speaker 1: me like he's playing a.
33:16
Speaker 2: Little bit faster at this stage.
33:18
Speaker 1: That really jumps out when you watch him on the
33:20
Speaker 1: back end. We'll see what that means, but I just
33:22
Speaker 1: wanted to mention him as a player to watch for
33:24
Speaker 1: the preseason. And then I guess we'll close things out
33:27
Speaker 1: by going through the two players who were waived, and
33:31
Speaker 1: then I have a note here on Rocco Underwood because
33:33
Speaker 1: I haven't talked a lot about him. We had a
33:35
Speaker 1: chance to speak to him after practice and then he
33:38
Speaker 1: gave some background there that I think you'll all appreciate.
33:41
Speaker 1: But sometimes the flashy name that signs as an undrafted
33:47
Speaker 1: free agent isn't always the player that makes it, even
33:51
Speaker 1: sometimes through training camp.
33:52
Speaker 2: And in the case.
33:53
Speaker 1: Of de Kwon Wright, that was a player who was
33:58
Speaker 1: sort of buried there on the depth chart.
33:59
Speaker 2: The Eagles have eight tight ends in camp.
34:01
Speaker 1: You look at the college resume and the explosive qualities
34:04
Speaker 1: that he has, and it's easy to be enamored with that,
34:08
Speaker 1: but sometimes training camp has a way of separating players.
34:12
Speaker 2: He didn't get a lot of reps and he didn't
34:14
Speaker 2: make it to the preseason game. But that's just some
34:17
Speaker 2: clarity there.
34:18
Speaker 1: They have a number of tight ends already on the
34:20
Speaker 1: roster and that kind of shows you where he sat
34:23
Speaker 1: in terms of the seeding there when you have other
34:27
Speaker 1: players like Stone Smart and EJ. Jenkins and some of
34:31
Speaker 1: those other players that he was sort of vying for
34:33
Speaker 1: reps with. I do want to get to Rock and
34:35
Speaker 1: Wonderwood very quickly because the Eagles signed him as an
34:38
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent at a University of Florida. He's the
34:41
Speaker 1: only long snapper in camp and he was one of
34:43
Speaker 1: the players who was available after practice. He talked about
34:46
Speaker 1: moving in and that he drove up from Florida. He's
34:50
Speaker 1: from Orlando originally, but he drove up from Gainesville. It
34:52
Speaker 1: was a seventeen hour drive and they just kind of
34:56
Speaker 1: booked it all the.
34:56
Speaker 2: Way up in one day and made it.
34:59
Speaker 1: They left it six sam and got there at about
35:01
Speaker 1: eleven or twelve.
35:03
Speaker 2: He said something like that. They made it safely.
35:05
Speaker 1: In terms of the Eagles interest during the draft process,
35:08
Speaker 1: he said that Tyler Tyler Brown came down to his
35:10
Speaker 1: pro day and he was the one who was actually
35:12
Speaker 1: rushing him.
35:14
Speaker 2: During the Pro day, so he said that that was
35:16
Speaker 2: kind of fun.
35:17
Speaker 1: But he also noted that the Eagles were kind of
35:20
Speaker 1: the main team that was looking for a long snapper,
35:23
Speaker 1: so if you're a long snapper, that's where he wanted
35:25
Speaker 1: to go.
35:26
Speaker 2: It seemed like that was pretty evident.
35:28
Speaker 1: He also mentioned that for those who don't know, his
35:31
Speaker 1: cousins are Tommy and Johnny Townsend, and Tommy is the
35:35
Speaker 1: punter for the Tennessee Titans right now, and he said
35:39
Speaker 1: that's how he actually got into snapping, when he was
35:42
Speaker 1: in seventh or eighth grade and they were ranked and
35:46
Speaker 1: doing all the punting things. He mentioned that they went
35:49
Speaker 1: to Boone High School he was in Lake Mary and
35:53
Speaker 1: he would just drive down there and snapped to them
35:55
Speaker 1: every once in a while and they were just they
35:59
Speaker 1: told him that he's you know, he needed to get
36:01
Speaker 1: into a few camps and kind of get that thing rolling.
36:03
Speaker 1: But it turns out that the Special Team's bloodlines they
36:07
Speaker 1: run strong there and with Rocco Underwood and he started,
36:12
Speaker 1: they got him into the whole Special Teams thing. So
36:16
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure that I kind of gave
36:17
Speaker 1: you some background on Roco. Keep an eye on him.
36:20
Speaker 1: In the preseason. I didn't have him on my fifty three.
36:24
Speaker 1: I had the Eagles going with no long snapper, but
36:26
Speaker 1: of course they would find a way to get one
36:28
Speaker 1: onto the roster leading up to the opener in this scenario.
36:32
Speaker 2: They did that last year with Charlie Hewlett. We'll see where.
36:35
Speaker 1: It all goes, but for now, that's going to do
36:37
Speaker 1: it for this episode of The Checko Daily. I'm Andrew
36:40
Speaker 1: de Checo, and I'll catch you all on the next one.