Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Rookie linebackers making plays

Observations from the NovaCare Complex.

Today marked the sixth Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The partially padded session lasted for about 80 minutes. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.

EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES

• JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts had a good start to practice. He made a nice layered throw to A.J. Brown over the middle. He hit Dallas Goedert on a curl route that the veteran tight end dropped (rare mistake by him this summer). Hurts made a nice one-handed grab on yet another errant Brett Toth shotgun snap to prevent the play from being ruined. Hurts threw a dump off to Saquon Barkley that looked more impressive than it sounds when you consider he has to get the ball over a tall offensive line. Hurts hit a crossing Jahan Dotson with an accurate pass to allow the receiver to get yards after the catch. After that, Hurts cooled off. He overthrew an open Dotson along the left sideline. He overthrow Dotson again deep when a better throw would’ve made for a touchdown. Hurts sailed a throw over the middle that ended up being picked off by Eli Ricks. That’s his second interception through six practices after having just one over 16 practices last summer, for whatever that’s worth. Hurts also took a couple sacks in situational drills towards the end of practice. Would be nice to see him look a bit sharper soon.
• EAGLES INJURY REPORT:

DID NOT PRACTICE

LB Zack Baun (back contusion)
TE E.J. Jenkins (hamstring)
WR Terrace Marshall Jr. (knee)
S Andrew Mukuba (shoulder)
WR DeVonta Smith (back tightness)
LB Nolan Smith (concussion)

Baun and Nolan have missed two straight practices.

Jenkins’ injury is new.

Marshall Jr. got banged up on Tuesday.

DeVonta and Mukuba have missed three straight practices.

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

LB Jihaad Campbell (shoulder)
DT Jalen Carter (shoulder)
RB AJ Dillon (back)
C Cam Jurgens (back)

Campbell doesn’t appear to be limited despite being listed as such.

Carter participated in team drills for the first time this summer.

Dillon’s injury is new. He didn’t take part in team drills.

Jurgens has been on a pitch count.

IN-PRACTICE INJURY

Ben VanSumeren got banged up early in practice. He limped off the field before eventually heading into the team facility. He didn’t return to practice.

Elijah Cooks got banged up late in practice.

• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK: Adoree’ Jackson was first up with the first-team defense on Thursday. That makes four days when he’s been up first and two for Kelee Ringo. Jackson didn’t stand out in a good way; I really only noticed him when he was trailing receivers that made a catch. Ringo was up and down. For the second practice in a row, Ringo had a rep where he ran the receiver’s route better than the receiver. This led to him knocking down a downfield pass to undrafted rookie Darius Cooper. Ringo had a chance to catch the ball for an intercept but he couldn’t make the grab. Ringo also broke up a jump ball thrown to Johnny Wilson. On the downside, Ringo allowed a catch to Wilson and a couple more to Cooper.
• POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — LINEBACKER: Jihaad Campbell took some reps as an edge rusher. He tried to bull rush fellow rookie Myles Hinton at one point but the Michigan alumnus stood his ground. Repping at off-ball linebacker, Campbell came down to meet fullback Ben VanSumeren in the hole and the rookie manhandled BVS to the ground (BVS got hurt on this play). Campbell is a very physical player. Smael Mondon Jr. had a standout performance on Thursday. I wrote his name down three different times for blowing up rushing attempts. Pretty wild that the Eagles have multiple off-ball linebackers playing well.
• Jordan Davis got to Hurts for a sack late in practice. He got by Jurgens at center and Brett Toth (filling in to give Landon Dickerson some rest) at left guard.
• Eli Ricks is having a better training camp than he did last year. Ricks had a pass breakup on a Tanner McKee throw and he later intercepted Hurts. Ricks also saw some first-time nickel action late in practice. If I’m the Eagles, I’d be reluctant to move DeJean out of the slot. But they sure seem to be experimenting with other slot options to free up DeJean to play safety.
• It’s been a quiet summer for Sydney Brown but he did a nice job of flying down to be in position for a tackle on a run to the outside. He continues to benefit from Mukuba missing practice time.
• Johnny Wilson has had a rough start to training camp. He failed to make a jump ball catch against Ringo. Later, he got his hands on a Hail Mary kinda throw into the end zone but didn’t ultimately make the catch. He might be able to block but he’s just not been a viable pass-catching option.
• A jet sweep to Ainias Smith didn’t result in much for the offense.
• Tanner McKee made some good throws. He fit a ball to a tightly covered Cooper for a completion along the left sideline. He hit Cameron Latu up the seam for a big gain. He had a beautiful ball to Elijah Cooks that was dropped right in the bucket … but not caught by the receiver as he went to the ground. That would’ve been Cooks’ fourth highlight grab in as many practices. Cooks was shaken up after the play.
• Patrick Johnson beat Kendall Lamm at left tackle for a “sack” on McKee.
• Drew Kendall mixed in for some first-team center reps.
• Undrafted rookie running back ShunDerrick Powell had a highlight run when he made a cut to get to the edge and into open field ahead of him. Saquon Barkley liked that play; he ran down to Powell to give him a high five.
• Avery Williams was first up among Eagles players practicing punt returns. Cooper DeJean and Ainias Smith also notably took PR reps.

UP NEXT: The Eagles are back at practice on Friday morning with a 10:00 AM start time. You can find more of the Eagles’ training camp schedule by clicking here.