Eagles training camp observations: The pads are finally popping

And on the fifth day, there were pads.

The Eagles’ ramp up period is over and on Tuesday they had their first fully padded practice of the summer. It was also their longest practice so far in training camp, lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes.

This practice started the way the first in pads should: With a run up the gut. Saquon Barkley took the first handoff from Jalen Hurts and was met by Zack Baun for a short gain.

While the Eagles didn’t have any live (tackle to the ground) periods, we still heard the sounds of pads popping on a steamy Tuesday morning in a practice that included a bunch of red zone work.

Let’s get to the observations:

1. As always, we start with housekeeping: 

• Did not practice: Oren Burks (knee), Tyler Steen (ankle)

• Limited: Trevor Keegan (shoulder)

• Landon Dickerson, who missed the beginning of training camp with a toe laceration, had to come out of this practice with what appeared to be a leg injury. He returned to the sideline but didn’t go back in.

• Lane Johnson (toe) and Barkley (personal reasons) were back at practice on Tuesday after missing Monday’s session.

2. Depth chart notes:

• Isaiah Rodgers got the first snaps as a starting CB opposite Darius Slay but Kelee Ringo worked in there later. Quinyon Mitchell was the first-team nickel to start the day and got a lot of work in 7-on-7s.

• As they have every day so far, Devin White and Baun were the first two linebackers on the field but Nakobe Dean quickly worked in as the mix and match.

• John Ross got a bunch of work as WR3 today. If you thought Parris Campbell was going to just run away with that job, that hasn’t happened. I still think this is a spot where the Eagles could look to add.

• When Dickerson had to leave practice, rookie Trevor Keegan took his place at left guard. Keegan might have the ability to play on both sides of the center but left guard is where he played at Michigan and it’s where he’s played during training camp. Mekhi Becton continued to fill in for Steen at right guard.

Without Dickerson and Steen, the Eagles’ interior defensive line began to take over the practice.

3. C.J. Gardner-Johnson had an active day and kicked it off when he met Will Shipley in the backfield for a TFL in the first period of practice. We mention it a lot but it’s hard to overstate just how much juice CJGJ brings to the defense. He’s constantly yelling and talking and providing energy to his teammates but he’s playing well too.

4. The rep after that CJGJ play in the backfield, big Fred Johnson (who spelled Lane Johnson after a handful of plays) absolutely decked Baun as Hurts threw a slant to A.J. Brown. Pancaked him. Baun took exception to the hit and got up angry. He chased down Johnson but then maybe thought better of it and half-heartedly shoved Big Fred in the back. Johnson walked back to the huddle laughing loudly.

But it was our first near-skirmish of the summer and a reminder that sometimes tempers do flare as we get deeper into training camp. Although, without Derek Barnett on the team, the chances for a fight have dropped significantly.

5. Hurts’ best play of the day came in a red zone period when he successfully navigated a crowded pocket, stepped up and delivered a bullet on the move to Kenny Gainwell in the end zone for a touchdown. Hurts has grown a ton from his rookie season and this is one of the biggest areas of that growth. The Hurts of a few years ago probably tucks the ball and tries to run toward the goal line. But today, Hurts remained calm with bodies all around him, kept his eyes downfield and found Gainwell for a score.

6. It certainly wasn’t a perfect day for the offense, though. The defensive line kept some constant pressure and there were some miscues from Hurts and Co.

One in particular happened in the red zone when Hurts’ pass for Barkley fell incomplete. Barkley’s route wasn’t exactly what Hurts was expecting. After the ball hit the ground, Hurts and Barkley chatted about it and then Hurts actually ran the route to show Barkley what he wanted on the play. Even though the Eagles have looked pretty sharp on offense so far this summer, there are still kinks to work out.

7. One of the most exciting things about training camp when the pads come on is offensive line vs. defensive line 1-on-1s. Here were some of the highlights:

• The most impressive rep came from Jalen Carter, who tossed big Becton out of the way with force. Becton is listed as 363 pounds and it looked easy for Carter to toss him. Incredible strength from the second-year defensive tackle who has been flashing every day in team drills too.

• Really good rep from Marlon Tuipulotu who bull-rushed through Brett Toth at center. But credit Toth; he rebounded on his next rep against rookie Gabe Hall.

• We saw that signature dip from Nolan Smith, getting under rookie Anim Dankwah on the edge. Smith flashed like this in last year’s camp as well.

• Rough back-to-back reps for Darian Kinnard at left tackle. He got beat cleanly by Patrick Johnson around the edge and then again by Terrell Lewis.

• Cam Jurgens used his leverage to successfully reroute Jordan Davis from the inside, around the QB. Jurgens isn’t the biggest guy but the key for undersized centers to win against bigger nose tackles is to use their leverage and Jurgens did that. They did split their reps though as the first one went to Davis. Looking forward to watching this battle all summer.

• It’s worth noting that Brandon Graham took an inside rep in 1-on-1s. We’ve seen Graham rush from the inside before in his career (strip sack in Super Bowl LII) and that might be part of his role in 2024 if the other edge players are able to eat more of those snaps.

• During an earlier period, the Eagles worked on some stunts and rookie Jalyx Hunt was able to catch Dankwah leaning and beat him with a bullrush. Dankwah was ready for a stunt and cheated a bit and it hurt him.

8. A few defensive plays that deserve a shout-out:

• Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is obviously a bit undersized but he met Tyrion Davis-Price (6-1, 219) in the hole during a red zone period and halted his forward progress. It was an encouraging rep.

• For the second straight day, Rodgers made a play on the ball, batting away a pass to A.J. Brown during 11-on-11s. The pass didn’t appear to be perfect but Rodgers has a knack for getting his hand on the football.

• We don’t see Darius Slay get thrown at very often. Hurts finally tossed a pass his way in 11-on-11s and Slay jumped it to get a PBU. Still no interceptions in five days.

• A couple balls were batted at the line of scrimmage on Tuesday. One by Milton Williams and one by Davis. It’s always good recognition by a defensive lineman to throw up a paw if he realizes he can’t get to the QB.

9. While it’s probably fair to say the defense got the better of the offense on Tuesday, the first-team offense finished up the final red zone period with a strong performance. The Eagles used some pre-snap motion (!) to shift the defensive line and then Hurts kept the ball on a keeper and sprinted through a gaping hole for a big gain.

On the very next play, Barkley followed a great lead block from Jordan Mailata into the end zone for a touchdown.

10. Veteran tight end C.J. Uzomah had a bad drop in the left flat on Tuesday and hasn’t looked very smooth catching the football so far this summer. Davis-Price had drops on back-to-back plays and now has several this summer.

Stupid Observation of the Day: About halfway through this long practice, Jurgens called over an equipment staffer to cut away the bottom half of the black shirt he was wearing under his shoulder pads. The result was his belly poking out from under his jersey — a classic Jason Kelce staple. Those comparisons aren’t going away anytime soon.

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