Eagles OTA Practice Notes: Position battle updates, play of the day, and more

Observations from the team’s second media-attended spring practice.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles held the second of two OTA practices open to media access on Tuesday afternoon and I was there at the NovaCare Complex to watch the action unfold. Let’s get to the observations!

• ATTENDANCE UPDATES:

Returned after missing last week’s media-attended practice: Landon Dickerson, Reed Blankenship, Ben VanSumeren.

Not seen at practice: DeVonta Smith, Nakobe Dean, Johnny Wilson, E.J. Jenkins.

At practice but not practicing: Jihaad Campbell, Cam Jurgens, Avery Williams, Elijah Cooks, Cameron Latu, Marcus Tate.

• INJURY UPDATES: Prior to Tuesday’s practice, Vic Fangio was available for his first press conference since leading up to Super Bowl LIX. Among the many noteworthy things he had to say, Fangio revealed that Campbell might not be on the practice field until August and Dean “won’t be back for a while.”
• JALEN HURTS UPDATE: The reigning Super Bowl MVP continues to look sharp; the ball has barely hit the ground during his two media-attended OTA practices. The vast majority of his passing attempts have been short throws where the ball is coming out quick. But Hurts did notably push the ball downfield to Dallas Goedert, who was able to make an over-the-shoulder catch in stride (with Zach Baun trailing close behind) for a big gain down the left sideline. That was the play of the day.

• Tanner McKee has looked pretty good as QB2. It’s been nice to see him get extended reps after he barely got much practice action as QB3 over the past two years. McKee’s standout play was a strike over the middle to Danny Gray.
• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK: Cooper DeJean was once again the starting right cornerback in the Eagles’ base defense. He remains their starting slot cornerback. Prior to practice, Fangio talked about figuring out if they want DeJean to play outside CB or safety (!) when they’re in base (which he also mentioned they played just 160 base snaps in 21 total games last year). DeJean has yet to rep at safety in team drills during a media-attended practice, however. When the Eagles were in nickel, Kelee Ringo was first up at RCB in the Eagles’ first first-team 11-on-11 series. Adoree’ Jackson then came in at RCB during a first-team 7-on-7 period. We’ll likely continue to see Ringo and Jackson rotate throughout the summer as they battle for the RCB job in the Eagles’ nickel defense.
• Based on his post-practice press conference, Jackson seems like a fun personality who doesn’t always take things too seriously. Adding a veteran who’s able to provide some levity to the locker room could be good now that Darius Slay is gone.
• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — SAFETY: Blankenship and Sydney Brown were the first-team safeties in the first 7-on-7 series and the first 11-on-11 series. Drew Mukuba later rotated in for Brown, however, in 11-on-11. Mukuba was also up with Blankenship as the first-team safeties in the second 7-onn-7 period. Andre’ Sam was also paired with Blankenship at one point in 7-on-7. Fangio talked about the safety battle prior to practice. A little interesting that he made an unprompted mention of Tristin McCollum.

• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — RIGHT GUARD: Tyler Steen was the first-team right guard once again. There’s currently no rotation going on there. If there was, Matt Pryor is probably the top contender for that spot since he’s the second-team right guard. Kenyon Green has been repping at left guard, where he’s exclusively played in the NFL. Green rotated in for Trevor Keegan on the second-team offensive line, which also featured veteran Kendall Lamm at left tackle, rookie Drew Kendall at center, and Darian Kinnard at right tackle.
• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — LINEBACKER: There doesn’t actually appear to be one here. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is consistently lining up next to Zack Baun on the first-team defense. Maybe Smael Mondon Jr. can make some noise in training camp. And we’ll see how things go when Campbell and Dean are eventually ready to return. Until they’re healthy, though, Trot Jr. appears to be the guy.
• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — QB3: Dorian Thompson-Robinson got the first set of third-team reps in 7-on-7. There was no fourth team. Later on, Kyle McCord was the third quarterback. The rookie made a couple nice throws! He had a tight window completion to Nick Muse, who was running an out route to the left sideline. McCord then got the ball to Granson over the middle in traffic. Incredibly small sample size thus far but McCord seems to be clearing the very low bar previously set by Clayton Thorson/Carson Strong, who basically looked hopeless from the jump.
• POSITION BATTLE — BACKUP TIGHT ENDS: Kylen Granson made a toe-tapping sideline catch. Harrison Bryant seemingly had a miscommunication with McKee at one point. Bryant also lost a contested catch battle to rookie Mac McWilliams.
• AJ Dillon doesn’t profile as a pass-catching running back but he had a couple grabs in the flat. He doesn’t look unnatural doing it.

• For what it’s worth, the first-team kickoff coverage unit: Kelee Ringo, Ainias Smith, Patrick Johnson, Kylen Granson, Drew Mukuba, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Sydney Brown, Jalyx Hunt, Cooper DeJean (and then later Parry Nickerson in place of DeJean).
• Speaking of Nickerson, he rotated in with the first-team defense at nickel cornerback when DeJean came out. Fangio seems to like him. Not sure the journeyman veteran needs to be kept on the roster but he could be a good experienced depth option on the practice squad.
• Kick returners: Undrafted rookie running back ShunDerrick Powell, undrafted rookie wide receiver Giles Jackson, and Danny Gray.
• Gray has been a popular target on the second-team offense. I had him on my 53-man roster projection I put out prior to OTAs. Name to keep an eye on this summer.
• Avery Williams was previously listed at “RS” (return specialist) on the Eagles’ roster. He’s now listed as a wide receiver. We’ve yet to see him practice, though.

UP NEXT: The Eagles’ remaining OTA practice schedule: June 5. The Eagles will then hold a single day of mandatory minicamp on June 10. After that, coaches and players will be off until training camp begins in mid-to-late July.