Eagles training camp observations: A deep ball to A.J. Brown

The Eagles held a practice that lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes on an absolutely perfect morning with temperatures barely hitting 70 degrees.

This was a practice in shorts and shells before what should be a more intense, fully-padded practice on Wednesday morning. This practice saw a lot of 2-minute and 4-minute situations.

Let’s get to the notes:

1. As always, we start with housekeeping:

Did not practice: Matt Hennessy (back), Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen), John Ross (concussion), Tyler Steen (ankle), Caden Sterns (knee), Johnny Wilson (concussion)

Returned to practice: Gabe Hall (hamstring), E.J. Jenkins (knee), Joseph Ngata (ankle), Moro Ojomo (hip); Mekhi Becton also practiced after leaving Sunday’s practice early with an undisclosed injury.

Other notes: Rookie guard Trevor Keegan left practice early with a trainer. Saquon Barkley was getting stretched out by a trainer and then didn’t do any more team drills. Dallas Goedert didn’t participate in team drills on Tuesday and it looked like Josh Sweat didn’t either.

2. Some depth chart notes:

• The Eagles began the day again with Devin White and Zack Baun at linebacker but mixed in Nakobe Dean and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. after that. Oren Burks, who missed most of camp with a knee injury, got some second-team LB reps.

• The top cornerbacks to start Tuesday were Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell. The rookie bumped inside on nickel downs and was replaced by Isaiah Rodgers. Kelee Ringo got some first-team reps later in the practice.

• Cooper DeJean got more second-team work in the nickel and also outside.

• Parris Campbell and Britain Covey continue to split the WR3 reps. Remember, Johnny Wilson and John Ross are both out with concussions.

• During team periods, the Eagles pulled Lane Johnson and Becton out after about half the reps. They were replaced by Fred Johnson at right tackle and Brett Toth/Nick Gates at right guard.

• Without Goedert in team drills, Grant Calcaterra and C.J. Uzomah were the tight ends in 12 personnel. E.J. Jenkins joined them in 13.

3. The highlight of the day was a 45-yard deep ball from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown down the left sideline. Brown got a step on the rookie Quinyon Mitchell and Hurts delivered a perfect ball in stride for a long touchdown. After the play, Brown punted the ball in celebration. Earlier in practice, Hurts missed Brown on a deep pass against Eli Ricks, so he made up for it here.

Hurts, by the way, has now gone 15 full practices this summer without throwing an interception.

4. C.J. Gardner-Johnson was taking the “thud” element of practice seriously today. During a two-minute drill, CJGJ popped Grant Calcaterra in the middle of the field and then danced his way back to his position in the deep post. Gardner-Johnson definitely plays with an edge.

5. Some notes from 1-on-1s:

• Lane Johnson shut down Nolan Smith. No surprise there.

• Another strong rep from Mekhi Becton working against Jalen Carter. He’s done well against the Eagles’ stud DT.

• The 1-on-1s are tough for Cam Jurgens going against Jordan Davis every day but he at least slowed him down and that’s all you can ask for.

• Trevor Keegan had a strong rep to get Milton Williams wide of the QB.

• Jordan Mailata got his hands a little high on Bryce Huff, which was probably a penalty. Give a W to Huff there.

• A bunch of the defensive line reserves really took it to the offensive linemen. Wins from Moro Ojomo, Julian Okwara, Gabe Hall, Terrell Lewis, Thomas Booker IV. But give credit to rookie Dylan McMahon who got a big stop against big P.J. Mustipher; that’s a nice win for a rookie going against a much larger player.

• On the other fields, the WRs faced off against the DBs and the RBs faced off against the LBs. So I didn’t see everything. But Ainias Smith had a nice route against Avonte Maddox to create some separation. Kendall Milton and Will Shipley got open on routes against Nakobe Dean and Ben VanSumeren, respectively, and dropped passes.

6. Jalen Carter had another run stuff at or behind the line of scrimmage today on Saquon Barkley. For how much Carter’s pass-rush ability gets talked about, he’s equally as disruptive agains the run. I expect a lot of TFLs this year.

A couple other notable defensive plays: Sack from Patrick Johnson beating tight end C.J. Uzomah. Jalyx Hunt had a sack working against the second-team offensive line. Brandon Graham had a sack too. Jordan Davis had pressure to force Hurts to escape the pocket. A lot of pressure on the QBs, which is good for one line and bad for the other.

7. DeVonta Smith had a couple highlight reel catches on Tuesday. One came on a deep ball from Hurts against the coverage of Kelee Ringo. Ringo was flagged for DPI but Smith fought through the contact to catch the 35-yarder in the end zone.

Smith also had a nice play against Quinyon Mitchell a couple plays earlier. Smith was able to get Mitchell leaning outside and broke free across the middle for a big gain.

8. Backup tackle Fred Johnson (6-7, 326) is a big guy but he looks good getting to the second level and he was flattening defenders once he got there. There might still be an imprint of Eli Ricks body at the 40-yard line.

9. Rookie fifth-round pick Ainias Smith is starting to turn a corner. After a really rough start to camp, I have noticed Smith looking more comfortable in recent days. Maybe getting him in the end zone for that 2-point conversion in the second preseason game boosted his confidence. It’s not like he did anything spectacular on Tuesday but Smith made the plays you want him to make. On one in particular, he caught a pass and was immediately popped by Cooper DeJean. It feels like earlier in camp, he drops that ball.

10. Rookie running back Will Shipley found some room to run today behind the second-team offensive line and made the most of it. While Shipley’s strength might still be catching passes out of the backfield, he has more burst through the hole than I was expecting.

Stupid Observation of the Day: For the first 13 practices at the NovaCare Complex this summer, the offense has been in green and the defense in white. That flipped on Tuesday, presumably because the Eagles will wear white in the preseason finale Saturday. (The offense during the season typically wears the color the Eagles will wear in the upcoming game.)

No big deal, right? Wrong. It screwed up my attendance taking this morning. I saw 47 in white walk out and I crossed off linebacker Brandon Smith. Nope. It was actually tight end Armani Rogers, who also wears 47.

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