Philadelphia Eagles

Ten takeaways from day thirteen of Eagles Training camp

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The second week of Training camp is in the books for the Philadelphia Eagles and it ended with a few surprises. The pads were back on to close the second week of practice..and once again it was the Defense who dominated. Here are ten takaeaways from today’s practice:

Injuries:
There were a few notable absentees from today’s practice, including Malcolm Jenkins, Wendell Smallwood and Jason Peters. Wendell Smallwood is still battling a quad injury while Jordan Matthews  is recovering from the knee injury sustained a couple of days ago. UDFA receivers Hunter Sharp and Marcus Johnson also missed todays action, as did cornerback JaCorey Shepherd. Marcus Smith will remained sidelined until he passes through the NFL’s concussion protocol.

Rodney McLeod returned to camp today after missing the last few days with a family issue.

 

Cornerback competition is vicious: 
We know by now just how intense the cornerback competition is shaping up to be..but today, the bar was raised even higher.

With the team’s first pre-season game just days away, the pressure is really on as the guys competing for those depth roster spots are being pushed harder and harder by their peers. From former CFL star Aaron Grymes, to last year’s undrafted sleeper Denzel Rice..there’s a lot of potential trying to separate itself from the crowd. The Bucs game is going to be fun to watch for so many reasons, but watching these corners leave it all out on the field in a bid to secure a roster spot is easily one of the more exciting ones.

 

Jalen Mills gets work with the first team..and shines:
This shouldn’t come as a surprise by now, but Jalen Mills had another big day. After getting work with the first team at cornerback, the LSU product did exactly what many have come to expect..impress.

Another day and another interception for Jalen Mills. The Eagles 7th round pick has gone from being a wildcard to asserting himself among the starting cornerbacks during Training camp. The future is definitely bright.

 

Kicking the competition:
Caleb Sturgis has had a leg up on Cody Parkey since the beginning of Minicamp..and it doesn’t look like Parkey is doing enough to be able to sway the battle in his favor.

 

Parkey underwent an injury in 2015 that opened the door for Sturgis. There’s still plenty of time for things to change, including four pre-season games..but it appears to be advantage Sturgis heading into week three.

 

Dominant Defense:
When the pads go on, the Eagles Defense appears to go full “beast mode”..and today was no exception.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that the Defense simply dominates in team drills and it’s probably not going to be the last either. It’s impressive to hear just how ruthless Schwartz’s unit is becoming.

 

Offensive slump:
The Eagles Offense didn’t exactly set the world on fire today and that probably contributed to the dominance that the Defense displayed.

 

A few miscommunications, jumped snaps, drops and inconsistencies highlighted what was a particularly poor showing from the Eagles Offense. They’ll look to get things rectified and back to firing on all cylinders when they begin week 3 of Training camp tomorrow.

 

A weak Wide receiver showing:
The Offense may have been inconsistent overall, but a lot of the problems tended to stem from the same place..the receivers.

To summarize, the receivers struggled today..a lot.

 

Stealing the “Gause”:
Hard hitting undrafted rookie LB Quentin Gause had an impressive practice today, making a few big plays.

The Eagles are light on depth at the LB position..and with the Stephen Tulloch negotiations reportedly underway, the Eagles rookies need to work harder than ever if they’re to prove themselves worthy of a roster spot. Gause has made a big step in doing that ahead of the showdown with Tampa Bay on Thursday.

 

A tale of two halves:
Carson Wentz reportedly had an interesting practice today. A few big plays were overshadowed by accuracy problems, which is to be expected from the rookie.

It was always going to be a big learning curve for Wentz and the development is evident..but there’s still a long way to go.

 

Daily Burton dose:
Trey Burton’s fantastic camp continues with another big day at the NovaCare Complex, which at this stage should not come as a surprise.

Regular readers of the site will know how long I’ve been backing a Burton breakout..to see the former Florida Gator having such a strong Camp is just great. Burton has not only proved his value to this Offense over the last few weeks, but has been carving out a pivotal role for the season to come. Stop sleeping.

 

Photo credit: Bill Streicher/ USA Today Sports

About the Author

Liam Jenkins

Liam is a 29-year old sports journalist from the UK and founder of the Philly Sports Network. Having now ran PSN for a decade, Liam’s focus remains on building a platform containing the most complete coverage of ALL of Philadelphia’s sports teams.

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