Eagles training camp notes: Mekhi Becton's versatility, TE2, a contract year

Mekhi Becton has really come around in a year.

It was last May when Becton, then still with the New York Jets, infamously sent out the message: “I. AM. A. LEFT. TACKLE!!!” in a since-deleted tweet.

A little over a year later, Becton isn’t a one-position guy anymore. In fact, he’s embracing his versatility with the Eagles.

And it might help him earn a starting gig.

Tyler Steen entered training camp as the favorite to win the starting right guard job. But after Steen suffered a minor ankle injury, Becton has replaced him the last two days. There have been some ups and downs in those two days but, overall, the transition to guard is going well for the 6-foot-7, 363-pound Becton.

“It’s going great. Having fun,” he said earlier in camp about learning guard. “I don’t know what I’m going to be when I come in here, so I just know when I step on the field, I gotta be ready for whatever.”

Even if Becton can’t wrestle the starting right guard job away from Steen, he still figures to be an important piece of the Eagles’ offensive line. There’s a legitimate chance that Becton could be the top backup at four of the five offensive line positions.

Perhaps circumstances have factored into Becton’s mindset change but he really does seem to be embracing the idea of playing both positions and on both sides of the line. Heck, he’s already played at few different spots through five days of training camp.

“It’s an adjustment but it’s not a hard adjustment,” Becton said of playing both this summer. “I can do it. It’s fun actually because I can look at Lane (Johnson), see what he doing. Then I can look at Landon (Dickerson), see what he doing. Then I look at Jordan (Mailata), see what he doing. I just learn from everybody, all day, every day. It’s a fun thing to do.”

A good start for Calcaterra

Another position battle on offense is the for the No. 2 tight end position and there’s already a clear frontrunner. In his third NFL season, Grant Calcaterra is clearly the No. 2 guy right now behind Dallas Goedert.

“Grant has really done an excellent job to be the second tight end currently,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said last week. “His consistency throughout OTAs, early in training camp. He has a great awareness and understanding of the game. He teams up with Dallas really, really well, and so we're excited about that and hopefully continues to build.”

The Eagles let Jack Stoll walk in free agency and he signed with the Giants. So that opened up this TE2 gig.

Calcaterra on Tuesday acknowledged the opportunity in front of him. While he’s battling a nine-year veteran in C.J. Uzomah, it certainly seems like Calcaterra is ahead in the race. Of course, the pads just came on and Calcaterra — who is known as more of a pass catcher — will need to prove his blocking has improved.

That’s the first thing he mentioned when asked where he’s seen the most improvement in himself.

“It’s just our first day of pads but definitely my blocking, getting stronger at the point of attack and using my body in a more efficient way,” he said.

A contract year

Milton Williams is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and confirmed that the Eagles and his agent were in contact about an extension at some point, although Williams said he didn’t have too many details.

But he was really honest about his contract year too.

“Oh definitely,” Williams said. “You know what time it is. I’m going to go out there and show what I can do.”

Sometimes players will pretend that they’re not thinking about entering the final year of their deal, which seems pretty hard to believe, especially when they’re nearing free agency for the first time. Williams acknowledged that the contract year is on his mind and that’s somewhat refreshing. He just can’t let it affect his play.

While Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis get most of the attention in the interior defensive line, Williams is a really big part of the puzzle too after the retirement of Fletcher Cox.

Without Cox, the Eagles are going to rely on those three to play a ton of snaps under new DC Vic Fangio in 2024. Williams says he’s in good shape this summer after an intense offseason workout program. He has an added appreciation for boxers after using the sport to train during the offseason. He said it helped his conditioning most but also increased his hand and foot speed.

No defined receiver positions

Through five practices in camp, we’ve seen plenty of DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown taking snaps in the slot and that’s no accident. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore wants all three receivers in 11 personnel to be somewhat interchangeable.

“I think by rule you have to have a starting point and so we do have a starting point,” Moore said. “But I think it's not going to be a very strong starting point. Those guys are going to move throughout the game and throughout each and every week.

“That's [their strength]. The ability to handle all that and that goes into that third receiver having the ability to line up in a few different spots based off where those guys line up.”

Last season, Smith played 24.8% of his snaps in the slot and Brown played 25.4%. So there’s a chance one or both of them will see more action inside in 2024.

So as the Eagles figure out their WR3 battle, keep that in mind. If these guys are going to be interchangeable, then that third receiver will need to be able to go outside too.

A role reversal

When Reed Blankenship joined the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2022, one of the veterans he leaned on most was James Bradberry.

And now as Bradberry makes the transition to safety this training camp, those roles have reversed a bit.

“When I came here in ’22, he was one of those dudes that took me under his wing and he taught me the way,” Blankenship said. “Now, he’s back there with me and we’re kind of working off each other. He’ll ask me questions now. I’m like, ‘Oh, wow’ it’s flipped. But at the end of the day, I love JB and I love what he brings to the table.”

We’ll see if Bradberry’s future is at safety or if he has a future in Philadelphia; that seems very up-in-the-air. But for now, Bradberry is getting second-team safety reps and doesn’t look out of place.

And Blankenship sees the instincts of a nine-year vet kicking in at a new position.

“You don’t lose those instincts,” Blankenship said. “For him to be, I guess this will be his 8th, 9th year in the league, you don’t lose that. Especially if you just move positions. There’s a lot more stuff you have to learn, you’ve got to be more vocal at safety. But he does a really good job at it.”

Adding some muscle

Second-year edge player Nolan Smith said he put on about 7 pounds this offseason.

And he did it the right way.

“I’d say about 7 pounds of muscle,” Smith said this week. “A lot of people don’t know the difference between muscle and fat. You still gotta eat right and just put it on slowly.”

Smith this offseason worked out in Southern California with Proactive Sports Performance and got to spend some time with other pro athletes, including Aaron Rodgers.

Why did Smith go to Southern California? Aside from the obvious (that’s where his trainer was), Smith said he liked feeling like he was in isolation in a place that felt foreign to him. Smith is a Southern guy from Savannah, Georgia, and feels out of place in and near Los Angeles.

“I go out to LA because I don’t fit in and I don’t want to fit in,” he said. “I can just go work out and go back to the hotel and learn the playbook.”

Keeping some secrets

One of the most interesting wrinkles coming to the NFL in 2024 is a new kickoff rule with the aim to revive a play that was going the way of the dodo bird.

And no one really knows what to expect.

All 32 teams have been using this offseason to study and strategize on every minute detail of the play from personnel, angle of kicks and blocking schemes. And even though the special teams community is close around the league, strategy is proprietary.

“You got guys that you are super trustworthy with, guys you've worked for, for years on end that you may talk about it a little bit,” Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “But everyone is so busy with these schedules, it's hard to actually get in a phone call.

“Your off day may be one of their busier days or vice versa. Their off day is one of our busier days. A lot of phone tag may happen, but with guys that you do trust and have the same kind of philosophy, you may ask, ‘Hey, what did you see on here?’ Especially for teams that you don't play in the regular season or you won't play until hopefully the last game of the year. It's just one of those things where you can lean on some people, but you also don't want to give out too much information.”

Nick Sirianni really cares about competitive advantage so publicly the Eagles are going to play this close to the vest. Don’t expect them to be practicing the play willy-nilly or showing much in the preseason. We’ll find out their full plan in Brazil.

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