The wild transformation of Eagles training camp

Nearly seven hours.

The difference between the Eagles’ 2023 training camp and this year’s camp was nearly seven hours on the practice field.

Seven more hours of plays, seven more hours of snaps, seven more hours of work, seven more hours to exorcise the nightmare of last December.

With the training camp portion of the preseason now in the books, it’s fascinating to compare last year’s camp with this year’s.

The differences are huge.

First of all, these are not exact figures because one full practice this summer was closed to the media after originally being scheduled as a walkthrough, and we don’t know how long it was, although we can make an educated guess. And there was one practice last year whose length is unknown. Although we can again make an educated guess.

So we know enough to draw some definite conclusions.

First of all, the Eagles had 17 full practices this year from the start of training camp through the third preseason game, the Vikings on Saturday afternoon.

Last year, they had 15 practices before camp broke.

The average practice this year based on all known information was an hour and 39½ minutes. Last year’s practices averaged 1:25.

So the Eagles had two more practices and averaged nearly 15 minutes more per practice this year. That equals 416½ more minutes on the practice field — 1,275 minutes last year, 1,691½ minutes this year.

An increase of 25 percent.

And the practices weren’t just longer, they were more physical and at a faster tempo.

Some of this no doubt is the Vic Fangio Effect.

When Fangio first met with the media in May, he made it clear he wanted longer practices than what Nick Sirianni ran in his first three years with the Eagles.

“You've got to make due with what you got,” he said. “But I keep pushing for more.”

A few minutes later, when asked about the challenge of installing a new defense, he said, “Hopefully, we'll get enough work between the offseason and training camp to get through that.”

Fangio didn’t hide his feelings. He wanted longer practices, and he got them.

The Eagles’ longest practice last summer was an hour and 41 minutes on the sixth day of camp.

They had seven practices over 1:41 this year, including each of the last five. Starting with the joint practice with the Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the Eagles’ last five practices averaged one hour, 53½ minutes — 12½ minutes longer on average than the longest practice in 2023.

Just as revealing is that last year’s 15 training camp practices were held over 28 days, and this year’s 17 practices were held over 29 days. So last year they had two fewer practices in one fewer day.

One of the reasons Sirianni resisted long practices and tough training camps in past years was the fear of injuries. Getting to opening day healthy was paramount for him, and the Eagles the last two years did that, getting off to hot starts in both 2022 (13-1) and last year (10-1).

But it’s important to note that the Eagles got through this longer, more physical camp very healthy. Tyler Steen’s ankle was their most serious injury and has sidelined him for over three weeks now. Some other guys missed some time — Parris Campbell, Oren Burks, C.J. Gardner-Johnson — but other than Steen, the only serious injuries they’re dealing with at the moment are players who were injured before camp began — Sydney Brown and Caden Sterns.

With two new coordinators and several other new coaches, numerous new starters and a brain trust committed to erasing the taste of last year’s 1-6 finish, the Eagles’ 2024 training camp looked drastically different than all of Sirianni’s previous training camps.

It looked like football.

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