15 Eagles to watch in preseason game vs. Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Eagles already got in their best work of the week.

On Tuesday, the Eagles joined the Patriots in New England for a joint practice next to Gillette Stadium. Nick Sirianni really values these joint sessions and actually puts more stock into them than preseason games.

So if you missed the observations from Tuesday, check them out here:

Eagles training camp observations: A spirited joint practice vs. the Patriots

Of course, there’s no tackling in practice and the quarterback can’t be touched. So the games are still worth watching.

Here are 15 Eagles I’ll have my eye on Thursday night in Foxborough:

LB Zack Baun

For most of training camp, Baun has been a starter to begin each day. Until Tuesday. Against the Patriots on Tuesday, Nakobe Dean was next to Devin White to start team drills. Dean has been coming on strong recently and Baun struggled some last week in the preseason opener in Baltimore; even Vic Fangio admitted as much. So this is a chance for Baun to save his starting gig. But if he plays poorly again and Dean looks good, it could begin to slip away.

RB Tyrion Davis-Price

Davis-Price hasn’t been great in training camp but he flashed a bit against the Ravens, going for 34 yards on 6 carries. He has struggled to catch the ball in practice but looks like a good between-the-tackles runner. If the Eagles keep four running backs, I think Lew Nichols has outperformed both Davis-Price and the rookie Kendall Milton. But that could change over the next few weeks.

LB Nakobe Dean

Like we mentioned, Dean got those first-team reps to start the day on Tuesday and has been stacking together some good days. I still have my concerns about Dean dropping in coverage and playing in space but he’s been fierce coming downhill. We saw that last week against Baltimore. In the joint practice, Dean also tipped away a ball in the end zone into the hands of Baun. It was a good play from both guys fighting for a starting spot.

OLB Jalyx Hunt

The third-round pick out of Houston Christian had a good first game against the Ravens and has been flashing some in training camp. Fangio said he was surprised just how well Hunt played against the Ravens. Can Hunt do it again? Can he actually carve out a role in the rotation as a rookie?

TE E.J. Jenkins

The Eagles are a bit banged up at tight end so Jenkins will likely play a lot in this game. In the Ravens game, he had just 1 catch for 4 yards and a drop. But in practices, he’s been really solid as a pass-catching threat. It’s quite obvious that Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra are the top two tight ends on the roster but that No. 3 spot is up for grabs. The veteran C.J. Uzomah has the experience but Jenkins deserves to be in the mix.

OL Darian Kinnard

Against the Ravens, Kinnard played all 83 snaps at right tackle. Kinnard has been the second-team right tackle and in that game the first-teamer Lane Johnson and third-teamer Anim Dankwah did not play. That meant that Kinnard didn’t leave the game and he played well. He gave up just one pressure in 41 pass blocking reps, per PFF, and looked good in the run game too. The Eagles signed Kinnard to a futures deal in February and he has been playing tackle and guard in camp. He was previously on the Chiefs’ practice squad as a 2022 fifth-round pick out of Kentucky.

S Tristin McCollum

We added McCollum to this list because of how well he played against the Ravens. McCollum had 4 combined tackles, a tackle for loss and a special teams tackle last Friday night. He has consistently been a second-team safety this training camp. While we’ve talked a bunch about James Bradberry potentially being a backup safety in 2024, McCollum is also in the mix and he offers something on special teams.

CB Quinyon Mitchell

I honestly saw enough in Mitchell’s debut last Friday. If they want to shut him down and get him ready for the season, fine by me. But Fangio might want to see more from Mitchell in the slot because it’s still a relatively new position for the first-round pick from Toledo. And if Mitchell is out there, you better believe I’m going to watch.

QB Kenny Pickett

The Eagles’ offense last Friday was tough to watch. They averaged just 3.4 yards per attempt. I thought Tanner McKee actually did some good things in the game but his receivers failed him. Pickett was not fun to watch. Even though McKee has been getting some second-team reps, the No. 2 job still appears to belong to Pickett, so it would be comforting to see him have some success this preseason.

CB Kelee Ringo

The battle for the CB2 job is ongoing. Isaiah Rodgers, Ringo and Mitchell have all looked good this summer. Fangio said sometimes these competitions end up being easy to call but this one hasn’t been yet. Ringo had a couple of big pass breakups against the Ravens and has been constantly making plays on the ball all summer.

WR John Ross

The veteran had perhaps his best day of practice on Tuesday in New England. Since no one has really grabbed ahold of the WR3 spot, Ross is still in the mix. We haven’t seen enough of his game-breaking speed in camp but all it would take is one deep ball to get his name back in the conversation.

OLB Nolan Smith

Smith had a sack in the preseason opener. Even though he was mostly unblocked on his way to the quarterback, he still finished the play, which is important. The Eagles are really hoping Smith takes a big jump in Year 2. We shouldn’t get too carried away in preseason but we’ll be watching closely.

OL Tyler Steen

It seems very obvious that Steen has lost his starting right guard job to Mekhi Becton, which is a shame for Steen. He suffered a minor ankle injury and now his starting spot is gone. Steen is still dealing with that ankle sprain and has been fighting through it. He played well last Friday despite the injury and will be out there again trying to win his job back.

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

The rookie from Clemson had a really promising preseason debut and kept the momentum going in the joint practice with an interception off Jacoby Brissett. It was a great play from Trotter because he anticipated, jumped the route, picked off the pass and started running the other way. The longer the linebacker position is unsettled the better Trotter’s chances are of getting in the mix.

WR Johnny Wilson

The 6-foot-6 Wilson has come back to Earth a bit over the last week. He didn’t have a great showing in the preseason opener (1 catch for 7 yards on 3 targets) and wasn’t able to bring in some chances for jump balls against the Patriots in 1-on-1s. With any rookie, it’s probably fair to expect some ups and downs. Now, I want to see how Wilson responds.

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