The Eagles were back on the practice fields at the NovaCare Complex on Sunday for practice No. 11 of training camp.
It was a cool morning but tempers flared.
The Eagles have one more practice in Philly (on Tuesday) and will be in Berea, Ohio, for joint practices against the Browns on Thursday and Friday before Sunday’s preseason game.
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To the observations:
1. As always, housekeeping:
• The Eagles got a few players back at practice on Sunday, including DeVonta Smith and Kenny Gainwell. Smith hadn’t practiced since Aug. 2 and was very active in his return.
• Jimmy Moreland (ankle) and John Hightower (groin) also returned after missing some practice time. And Britain Covey (thumb) has a sprain he suffered in the game on Friday. All three were limited participants. Covey was able to field punts and kicks.
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• Not practicing on Sunday: Miles Sanders (leg soreness), J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (not injury related), Grant Calcaterra (hamstring), Le’Raven Clark (hamstring), Christian Ellis (hamstring), Javon Hargrave (toe), Jason Kelce (elbow), Jarred Mayden (ankle), Boston Scott (concussion), Greg Ward (toe).
• The Eagles before practice cut OL William Dunkle and LB Ali Fayad. They must cut three more players before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. That’s when all teams must be down to 85. (The Eagles will be down to 86 because Matt Leo still has an international exemption.)
2. Let’s get to the biggest story of Sunday’s session: The fight(s)!
A few years ago, when he was just a rookie, Andre Dillard got into a few scuffles in training camp, most notably with Derek Barnett, who’s always a good candidate for a training camp kerfuffle. Back then, as a rookie, Dillard was visibly emotional after that practice in 2019. Remember this?
On Sunday, Dillard got in a few separate scuffles. He wanted all the smoke. The first big one came in 1-on-1 drills, when he again got into it with Barnett. Dillard handled a bullrush from Barnett and it looked like Barnett gave him a little extra after the play. They then wrestled each other to the ground but were separated before things got too intense.
Later in an 11-on-11 drill, Dillard anchored on a bull rush from second-year SAM linebacker Patrick Johnson. The two of them had already tussled earlier in practice without too much commotion. This time, Johnson gave Dillard a little extra after the play was mostly over and another scuffle broke out. This time is was bigger and more dangerous. Dillard’s helmet ended up off his head before they were separated. (Remember, Dillard was in concussion protocol not that long ago.) After getting checked out by a trainer, Dillard left practice early.
After practice, head coach Nick Sirianni had some words to the entire team about the incidents:
“The one thing that coach emphasized after practice was making sure that we don’t take that aggression out on each other,” linebacker Davion Taylor said. “So if we do anything, just go to the next play. Take that aggression out on the field and don’t throw hands with your teammates.”
The takeaway from this — other than fights sometimes happen in training camp and you have to be careful — is that Dillard isn’t the same rookie who was pushed around back in 2019. He’s rebuilt his body and it might not be a bad thing to see some fight out of him. As far as his play, Dillard has been solid this camp.
3. The Eagles’ linebackers continue to make plays. They’ve done it all summer and it continued on Sunday. Kyzir White stripped the football from Gainwell in an 11-on-11 session. The ref in the area ruled it an incompletion, but it was close. I thought it was a fumble. Taylor came up with the ball in 7-on-7s and ran the other way. And T.J. Edwards closed really quickly and absolutely decked Smith in the middle of the field. Luckily, Smith popped up with the help of Edwards, who meant no harm.
But the play of the linebackers in training camp might be the biggest change on that side of the ball.
4. The fight between Dillard and Barnett was the highlight but there were some other notable reps in OL vs. DL 1-on-1s:
• When Johnson wasn’t tussling with Dillard, he was winning reps on Sunday. He had one really impressive one against rookie Jarrid Williams.
• Tarron Jackson has been flashing for about a week now. He had a strong power move on Kayode Awosika that sent the offensive lineman to the seat of his pants.
• A little later, Awosika got a rep inside and was bested by Jordan Davis. Davis also had a nice win against Jack Anderson.
• Good rep from Landon Dickerson, who returned from a sore foot, against Milton Williams inside.
• Jack Driscoll really struggles with Brandon Graham in these drills and did again on Sunday. But Driscoll held his own on a rep against rookie Kyron Johnson.
5. The Eagles ran a backed up period of practice with the offense working from their own 1-yard line. The thing that stood out was just how imposing the Eagles’ defensive line can be. Graham had a play that should have been a sack/safety and a little later Patrick Johnson had one too. Earlier in practice, Josh Sweat had a “sack.”
The Eagles have a lot of options on their line even without Hargrave, who is expected to miss some time with a toe sprain.
6. While there were a couple underthrown balls from Jalen Hurts on Sunday, there were a few pretty deep balls too. On one, Quez Watkins beat Zech McPhearson and Hurts dropped it in over the safety. Impressive drop in the bucket.
Smith caught a deep ball after McPhearson and Avonte Maddox collided in coverage. Luckily both defensive backs returned to practice.
Hurts had a chance to hit Watkins for a big play deep in the first team period, but he slightly underthrew it and Darius Slay made up a lot of ground to get a big PBU.
7. A.J. Brown is very impressive at the catch point. He leaped on the right sideline to haul in an early pass against James Bradberry. Brown hasn’t lost many 50-50 balls all summer and has a great understanding of how to box out.
8. A few notes on the safety position:
• Anthony Harris hasn’t made many plays in training camp but he timed a pass to Jalen Reagor perfectly to break it up. The referee in the area threw a flag, but I’m overruling that in these observations. It was a bad call. After practice, Harris agreed that he wasn’t early.
• Keep an eye on Josiah Scott. The 5-foot-9 defensive back began the summer as the Eagles’ backup nickel cornerback but has been playing safety the last couple weeks. On Sunday, he even took some first-team reps with Harris as Marcus Epps watched. I don’t think Scott is going to crack the starting lineup but he offers some versatility and looks pretty natural at his new position.
• Jaquiski Tartt returned after missing a few practices and the preseason game because of a personal reason. Tartt is a veteran but has been quiet all summer. He’ll need to play well the next few weeks to make the team.
9. The Eagles sent Maddox on a nickel blitz during 11-on-11 drills that gave big Jordan Mailata fits. Obviously, if a tackle like Mailata gets their hands on Maddox, the blitz is foiled. But Maddox has some good speed off the edge and I like the occasional blitz from No. 29.
10. A few special guests in attendance for Sunday’s session, among them Darren Sproles, Brandon Brooks and 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey.
Stupid Observation of the Day: After Dillard’s fight against Barnett in 1-on-1s, the field was pretty silent except for one voice. All anyone could hear was the signature laugh from 13-year veteran Brandon Graham. BG is the best.
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