Eagles OTA practice notes ft. Saquon Barkley, Parris Campbell, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and others

23/05/2024

The Philadelphia Eagles held the first of two OTA practices open to media access on Wednesday afternoon and I was there at the NovaCare Complex to watch the action unfold. Let’s get to some observations!

ANNUAL DISCLAIMER: Before we get started, please remember that the Eagles don’t permit video recordings/photography after warmups and position drills. So, that’s why you’re not seeing any team drill highlights.
ATTENDANCE UPDATES: A number of notable players were missing from practice. It bears repeating that OTAs are voluntary, so it’s not the biggest deal that they weren’t there. Included in that group: James Bradberry, Kelee Ringo, Lane Johnson, DeVonta Smith, and Josh Sweat. Bradberry’s absence isn’t shocking from the perspective that the Eagles might be planning to cut him after June 1. Ringo not being at practice is curious considering he’s a second-year player who could benefit from more reps. Johnson and Smith were also absent from some OTA practices last year.

INJURY UPDATES: Sydney Brown is still recovering from the ACL injury he suffered in early January. Brown, wearing a sleeve on his leg, did do some sprinting on a side field away from the rest of the team. Nakobe Dean and Ainias Smith took part in position drills but were not involved in team drills. Eli Ricks reportedly got banged up at practice.
DEPTH CHART NOTES: The first-team offense wide receivers in 7-on-7: A.J. Brown and Joseph Ngata (remember, no DeVonta) on the outside with Parris Campbell lining up in the slot. The first-team off-ball linebackers: Zack Baun and Devin White. Isaiah Rodgers was the first-team cornerback on the outside across from Darius Slay with Avonte Maddox as the slot defender. Quinyon Mitchell was the second-team right outside cornerback. Cooper DeJean started out at second-team nickel cornerback but also saw some outside reps. Maddox saw some third-team safety reps in addition to his first-team nickel work.
NEW COORDINATOR NOTES: There wasn’t a ton of schematic stuff that stood out to me with the Eagles not even doing any 11-on-11 work. I did notice Kellen Moore wearing a kelly green shirt along with a midnight green hat, questionable combo.

JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts didn’t majorly stand out. He completed a number of short throws. His only downfield shot was a miss wide/low to Campbell on a post route along the right sideline with good coverage from Maddox. Hurts did have a throw into the end zone knocked down and he threw a tad behind A.J. Brown on a short slant, which prompted a drop.

Saquon Barkley looks different than any other Eagles running back I’ve previously watched in a practice uniform. In a good way. He has a thick, muscular build. We didn’t see a ton of Barkley in action since, ya know, they’re not running the ball in 7-on-7s. His most memorable target resulted in a pass breakup with Devin White having good coverage on a wheel route.

Parris Campbell saw a lot of targets from Hurts. His best grab was a leaping contested catch on a short-to-medium throw to beat Isaiah Rodgers. Campbell clearly seems to have already earned Hurts’ trust. That’s significant because we’ve seen that Hurts doesn’t automatically trust anybody they put out there with him.
Quinyon Mitchell was a bit too grabby while covering Jacob Harris on a couple deep routes. The rookie finished practice on a strong note by breaking on the ball and batting down a Kenny Pickett pass intended for Johnny Wilson.

Not the best day for the aforementioned Jacob Harris, who dropped multiple downfield targets.
Kenny Pickett had a solid Eagles practice debut. Good ball up the seam to Albert Okwuegbunam for about 15 yards to beat a trailing Mekhi Garner. He also had a very tight window completion between two defenders to Kenny Gainwell for a would-be touchdown had Gainwell not accidentally stepped out of bounds right before making the grab (illegal touching).
Isaiah Rodgers broke on the ball nicely to break up a short pass intended for Dallas Goedert.
Will Shipley tripped with no one near him after making a catch in the flat.
Tight end E.J. Jenkins made one of the more flashier plays in practice with Tanner McKee hitting him in stride over the middle for a significant catch-and-run gain.
Tyrion Davis-Price fumbled with either DeJean or Brandon Smith poking the ball out. Originally thought it was DeJean but I think I saw him point to Smith when Nick Sirianni asked who knocked it out. In any case, not good for TDP to be fumbling in a non-contact practice.
If you saw my “7 things we’ll be watching at Eagles OTA practices” post, I talked about “the unexpected long shot who pops.” I have my eye on Brandon Smith for that category. I thought he looked good on special teams in limited snaps last year. The Penn State alumnus is the biggest off-ball linebacker on the team at 6-3, 241 pounds. He was active around the ball in today’s practice.
Britain Covey and DeJean were the only two players practicing fielding punts but Ainias Smith was lined up near them, suggesting he could get future reps in that role. Covey was practicing fields punts while holding a football in one of his hands ... and then throwing that ball up into the air to catch the punted ball ... to then also try catching the one he was originally holding and threw upwards. He managed to successfully complete that challenge at least once.
Jersey number update: the Eagles’ roster page on their official website has both Johnny Wilson and Austin Watkins Jr. listed as No. 89. Watkins was wearing No. 41 today. Oof. Big downgrade for him.

UP NEXT: The Eagles’ remaining OTA practice schedule: May 23, May 28, May 30-31. Media is expected to be able to attend one of next week’s sessions. Then the Eagles will hold the first mandatory minicamp of the Nick Sirianni era from June 4-6.