Eagles training camp 2020 observations Day 7: Jalen Reagor vs. Darius Slay

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The Eagles had their longest practice (so far) of training camp on Monday, lasting a full two hours under the sun. 

Toward the end of practice, when it looked like things were wrapping up, Doug Pederson had the players shed their shoulder pads and had two more periods, one of 7-on-7s and then finished with full team drills. 

I cruised through the temp check with a 98.2 today. Running a tad warmer than usual. 

Let’s get to it: 

1. Rookie Jalen Reagor had a great rep against Darius Slay during 1-on-1 drills. In fairness, those 1-on-1s are much easier for receivers, but let’s not take anything away from the rookie who beat Slay on a go route. 

After practice, Slay said he thought he heard someone say it was going back shoulder, so he looked there, but Reagor then ran past him and made a great grab. 

“That was a terrific catch, by the way,” Slay said, “he caught it with his fingertips.”

A few times during practice over the last couple weeks we’ve seen Slay go against Reagor and then talk with him after the rep. Slay said he sees the potential in Reagor and, as one of the top corners in the league, wants to help Reagor become great.  

2. Another thing the Eagles have been doing with Reagor, we saw again today. A quick pass to get the ball in his hands. Reagor has the ability to take short passes for big gains and I suspect that will be in their offense this year. 

3. Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Duke Riley both had interceptions on Monday after the pads came off. That probably helped, not having pads, but they were good interceptions. Edwards’ pick came in the end zone; he showed off his ups, skying to pick off a pass. Edwards also had a nice TFL earlier in the day. 

And Riley’s pick came a little later, on one of the final reps of practice. He also reached up to grab a pass from Nate Sudfeld and took it the other way. Riley is clearly a favorite of his teammates. The entire defense went nuts to celebrate with him. 

4. The only injury updates from today: 

• Andre Dillard (upper body) is day to day. He didn’t practice on Monday. 

• Genard Avery left practice early with an undisclosed injury. He went to the medical tent with a trainer and then went into the building. 

• Still no Sidney Jones, Lane Johnson, Rob Davis, Josh Perkins and Marcus Epps. 

• Three of the players with “illness” designations — Vinny Curry, Corey Clement, Hassan Ridgeway — returned to practice on Monday. Two did not: John Hightower, Anthony Rush. While we don’t know their situations for sure, the Eagles do use the New Jersey lab responsible for many COVID-19 false positives. 

5. Jalen Mills made a tremendous interception late in practice in a red zone period. Wentz tried to thread the needle with a pass into the end zone but Mills knocked the ball to himself with one hand and then picked it off and ran the other way. He celebrated with somersaults. 

6. Because he has a hairline fracture, Dallas Goedert is wearing a cast on his left thumb. Monday was the second day with the cast and he’s already figuring out how to play with it. Goedert made an exceptional catch on a pass that was tipped by Edwards. Goedert turned and came back to the ball to catch it over a defender. 

Goedert, by the way, hopes the thumb will be healed by the start of the season. 

7. The Eagles’ top two gunners on the punt team right now are Craig James and Rudy Ford. While those guys haven’t been projected by many to make the 53-man roster, but their ability on special teams gives them a shot. 

8. The Eagles worked a ton of situation stuff today. They had periods where the offense was trying to run out the clock with under 3 minutes and the defense had to stop them to force a punt to get the ball back. 

9. Overall, the defense had good pressure again today, especially from the interior. Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson look very good. Vinny Curry also got a “sack” today. 

10. Without Johnson and Dillard, there were some changes for the Eagles’ offensive lines. 

First team: Jordan Mailata, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Jason Peters, Matt Pryor 

Second team: Prince Tega Wanogho, Sua Opeta, Nate Herbig, Julian Good-Jones, Jack Driscoll

11. The Eagles have been using Herbig as an extra tight end/tackle. It’s an interesting role for a guy who is an interior lineman, who came in as a guard and has learned center. It looks like he’s handling it well though. 

12. We saw some good battles during those WR-DB 1-on-1s aside from the Reagor vs. Slay rep. 

The best of the rest came from rookie Quez Watkins, who beat Nickell Robey-Coleman with a little double move. After Monday’s practice, Robey-Coleman said Watkins has impressed him. 

“He beat me on a rep today and he surprised me the way I did it,” Robey-Coleman said. 

Stupid Observation of the Day: I’d like some banana pudding. 

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