Wednesday marked the 13th Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The Birds squared off against the Cleveland Browns in the first of two joint training camp sessions between the two teams leading up to a Saturday afternoon preseason game. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.
EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
One would’ve expected the Eagles to look like the superior team in this practice. That wasn’t really the case. The Browns put forth a really good effort to give the reigning Super Bowl champions a run for their money. The result of this practice was much closer to being a tie than it was a decisive “win” for either side. Neither offense really got going in a major way, though the Eagles’ offense was more inspiring than the Browns’ offense in part due to Cleveland’s seemingly unlimited number of quarterbacks regularly misfiring throws.
JALEN HURTS UPDATE
After coming out red hot in practice on Tuesday, Hurts took a step back on Wednesday. He was intercepted three different times:
- The first pick occurred in wide receiver versus defensive back 1-on-1s. Hurts’ throw to Ainias Smith on a crossing pattern was undercut by backup nickel cornerback Myles Harden. I wonder if Smith may have rounded his route too much but, still, not a good result
- The second pick occurred in 7-on-7s. Starting linebacker Devin Bush contested a short throw to Dallas Goedert and came up with the ball.
- The third pick occurred in 11-on-11s. The rep was arguably over with Hurts being “sacked” but Hurts still tried to force a ball over the middle to Jahan Dotson. Starting safety Ronnie Hickman came flying in to make the grab in stride.
In addition to these plays, Hurts had a fade pass to DeVonta Smith knocked down by Denzel Ward in 1-on-1s. Facing goal-to-go late in practice, a Hurts pass intended for AJ Dillon was deflected up into the air where it was in jeopardy of being caught but fortunately wasn’t. Another goal-to-go pass meant for Dotson on a quick slant was knocked down by depth cornerback Dom Jones.
It wasn’t all bad for Hurts. He did have some good short touchdown passes to DeVonta and Dillon. He made a good anticipation throw to a crossing Dallas Goedert for a first down and then some. Hurts lofted a ball down the left sideline to Johnny Wilson, who was able to make the leaping contested catch against Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell.
All told, the Eagles would probably like to see a stronger performance against Jim Scwhartz’s defense on Thursday.
EAGLES INJURY REPORT
DID NOT PRACTICE
WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
WR Elijah Cooks (shoulder)
OG Landon Dickerson (knee)
OL Kenyon Green (shoulder)
Brown was downgraded to DNP on Wednesday after previously returning to practice in a limited capacity. Jeff McLane reports Brown did NOT experience a setback; the receiver’s absence was due to the Eagles being especially cautious with his hamstring injury.
Cooks and Green have missed four straight practices. Green is reportedly expected to miss the rest of the preseason.
Dickerson is “week-to-week” due to the knee injury he suffered on August 10. Dickerson underwent a “minor procedure” on Wednesday and will aim to return in Week 1 (September 4), though Week 2 (September 14) might a more realistic goal.
Hall got banged up on Sunday night. In related news, the Eagles signed a free agent defensive tackle.
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
LB Zack Baun (back contusion)
DT Gabe Hall (shoulder)
OT Myles Hinton (ankle)
RB Montrell Johnson Jr. (hamstring)
DT Byron Young (groin)
Baun returned to team drills on Wednesday but only for one 7-on-7 series. He’s still not back in 11-on-11. Still, progress.
Hall returned in a limited capacity after getting banged up on Sunday night and missing the Eagles’ Tuesday practice. Good to see the injury isn’t more serious.
Hinton is newly dealing with an ankle injury.
Johnson and Young were listed as limited for the second day in a row. It’s unclear if they’ll be able to play on Saturday.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK
Kelee Ringo was first up with the first-team defense in 11-on-11 on Wednesday. That makes eight days Adoree’ Jackson has been up first and six days for Ringo. Jackson, Ringo, and new guy Jakorian Bennett were all rotating with the starters at cornerback, though.
Jackson did a nice job of battling projected Browns starting wide receiver Cedric Tillman to break up as pass as him and his assignment went to the ground during 1-on-1s. Jackson broke up another pass to Tillman in this setting. Didn’t notice him as much in team drills.
Ringo allowed multiple catches in 1-on-1s, including a stutter comeback to Diontae Johnson. Ringo JUST missed a pass breakup to Jerry Jeudy in 11-on-11s. He continues to be so close to making big plays without actually being able to finish. This miss from Ringo would’ve set up Jeudy for a potential big catch after the catch.
Bennett got off to a positive start by knocking down a short pass over the middle to Jeudy. He struggled after that. Bennett trailed well behind a crossing Gage Larvadain — who is an undrafted rookie — to allow a touchdown during red zone drills. He allowed a completion over the middle to Jeudy on a really nice anticipation throw from Joe Flacco. Later, Bennett got his hands on a pass but he was flagged for defensive pass interference on the play.
In fairness to Bennett, he’s still learning a new defense. And some of his struggles came while playing left cornerback, which isn’t where he mostly played for the Las Vegas Raiders. But it’s probably safe to say Bennett isn’t a slam dunk starting option.
JOHNNY WILSON’S BOUNCE-BACK CONTINUES
Wilson continues to make plays after a rough start to camp. The second-year wide receiver was responsible for two noteworthy grabs on Tuesday:
- Wilson made a leaping catch along the left sideline against backup safety Damontae Kazee in 7-on-7s on a pass from Tanner McKee. Good job of using his 6’6” frame to beat the 5’11” defender.
- Wilson made another contested catch along the left sideline on a throw from Hurts to beat Cameron Mitchell (as previously mentioned).
Wilson using his size to his advantage is encouraging after seeing him struggle to do so earlier in camp.
MISCELLANEOUS
- The Eagles’ passing offense minus A.J. Brown wasn’t super effective. But their running game sure did look good. Saquon Barkley seemingly had multiple big gains, though hard to totally tell when the defense isn’t tackling him.
- Zack Baun broke up a Kenny Pickett pass thrown over the middle in 7-on-7. That was his first rep back in team drills. Baun was notably lined up next to Jeremiah Trotter Jr., not Jihaad Campbell.
- Trot Jr. must led the Eagles in run stops this summer. He’s just always in the right place against them.
- Quinyon Mitchell seemingly got his hand in at the catch point at the last second to prevent a downfield touchdown to Jeudy in 1-on-1s.
- Mitchell and Adoree’ Jackson were working against Jeudy and Dionate Johnson on their release techniques while the rest of the team was doing special teams drills. Ditto for DeVonta Smith going up against Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II.
- Brett Toth was still working at first-team left guard.
- Sydney Brown was mostly the first-team safety, though Andrew Mukuba rotated in.
- Jalyx Hunt pressured Joe Flacco into a rushed pass that was overthrown and incomplete.
- Josh Uche logged a would-be sack on Flacco.
- Campbell’s physicality was on display yet again. He contacted a Browns running back as the ball arrived to help prevent a dump off reception.
- Fan-favorite Darius Cooper caught a McKee pass on a slant to beat depth cornerback Keenan Isaac. Speaking of Coop, he was sought out by the legendary Merrill Reese prior to practice:
- Undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson (Bo Wulf of PHLY’s training camp crush) had a good day. He broke up a pass in 1-on-1s and another from Dillon Gabriel to Diontae Johnson in 11-on-11s. Practice squad candidate.
- Calling it a “fight” is a bit much but there was a big scrum related to a special teams skirmish. Some tension on a hot summer morning.
- There were a number Eagles alumni at practice today. Not included below: Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. And Dick Vermeil.
- A lot of Browns players were happy to see their old teammate Ogbo Okoronkwo. Being well-liked isn’t everything but it probably can’t hurt his chances to stick around in Philly. Especially since he’s actually played well this summer.
- No Shedeur Sanders today. He reportedly didn’t practice due to suffering an oblique injury in warmups. He did seem to be going pretty hard with his workout prior to practice. After practice, Hurts and Sanders were seen having a long conversation.
UP NEXT
Schedule for the next several days:
- Thursday, August 14 — Joint training camp practice against Cleveland Browns starting at 10:00 AM Eastern (NovaCare Complex)
- Friday, August 15 — Walkthrough closed to media access
- Saturday, August 16 — Eagles vs. Browns preseason game starting at 1:00 PM Eastern (Lincoln Financial Field)
- Sunday, August 17 — Off day
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