Candis R. McLean
The second week of Eagles’ voluntary organized team activities is complete. The week of practice included three days: [May 28, May 30, and May 31] of intense install sessions, one-on-one work, drills, and more. Here’s the best news, highlights, and buzz coming out of practice this week.
• Jordan Howard, Malik Jackson, DeSean Jackson, and several others showed off their skills in the live and open portion of practice.
• Listen as DeSean Jackson talks about what it’s like to be back in Philly, Nelson Agholor dives into what makes Jackson and Jeffery “big brothers” to him, and Zach Ertz talks about how the offense will be wide open for him.
• Jim Schwartz spoke on the new additions to the team, cross-training the defensive backs, and the pass rush rotation. Mike Groh highlighted the new WR coach, utilizing throwing to the running backs more, and the evolution of the offense.
• The consensus from this week’s practice was that Carson Wentz looked great. He had great touch on his passes and was phenomenal in his decision making. He hit Jackson on several medium in-breaking and out-breaking routes routinely. One long attempt to Jackson was halted by good coverage by Rasul Douglas. Eventually, he found him deeper down the field for a TD and again in the red zone. The duo already has a handshake.
• Wentz hit a perfect ball-placement and timing pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Whiteside ripped the back shoulder fade out of the sky over Sidney Jones for a TD. Wentz also hit Zach Ertz over L.J. Fort on a beautiful fade.
.@cj_wentz droppin’ dimes#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/CwTgeX7n0J
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 28, 2019
• DeSean Jackson practiced returning punts for the first time in the open session. Boston Scott, Donnel Pumphrey, and DeAndre Thompkins also took reps there.
• 6’6″ wide receiver Carlton Agudosi out-jumped Avonte Maddox and Rasul Douglas on a deep ball down the field.
• Kamu Grugier-Hill and LJ Fort are were the starting linebackers with Zach Brown and Nigel Bradham sidelined. Grugier-Hill picked off Clayton Thorson in 7-on-7s. He also knocked down a pass in front of Dallas Goedert in the end zone and began taunting the second-year player.
• Jordan Howard caught a few swing passes, which is key, because that’s not an element of his game we’ve seen often. Boston Scott got first-team reps in group install. He took a wheel route deep and was a part of a flea flicker play from Wentz to Agholor.
• Avonte Maddox lined up outside and Sidney Jones lined up in the slot in the first-team defense. This is a swap from last week.
• Nigel Bradham, Brandon Brooks, Corey Clement, Ronald Darby, Mack Hollins, Rodney McLeod, and Jalen Mills were all out. Miles Sanders has a slight hamstring strain. The coaches said it’s not serious. Linebackers Nathan Gerry and Paul Worrilow are also still out. They were doing sideline rehab work. Zach Brown was on the sidelines with Jim Schwartz.
• Malcolm Jenkins, Alshon Jeffery, Lane Johnson, and Jason Peters still aren’t at OTAs.
• Carson Wentz for MVP: Louis Riddick boldly stated that Carson Wentz will be the 2019 MVP.
QB Carson Wentz will be the #nfl #mvp for the 2019 season. Just wanted to put that out there on this spectacular holiday. You’re welcome. #eagles
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) May 27, 2019
• Joe Douglas: He will be interviewing this weekend with the Jets. There is a recent report from Michael Lombardi that implies Douglas wants out of Philly.
• Jason Kelce on Brandon Brooks: Kelce thinks Brandon Brooks will be back soon. “I think he’ll be back, not for training camp or preseason but for Week 1 or if not for Week 1 not long after…His rehab is going well if that counts for anything.”
• Jeffrey Lurie regrets Chip Kelly: The owner sat down with The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia this week. He touched on several things, including his regrets with Chip Kelly.
Asked for his biggest regret as owner, Lurie says there are many, but he has trouble identifying just one. He admits that stripping Roseman of his power and giving Kelly full control is one of them. At the time, Kelly was coming off of back-to-back 10-win seasons. As Lurie has explained in the past, he felt like expanding Kelly’s reach was a necessary step to see what he had in the coach.
“‘I don’t regret the hiring of him because it was done with a really good thought process,’ Lurie says.
“‘But, yes, I would say I regret giving him the kind of authority I gave him, yeah. That’s an easy one.'”
• Agholor on the off-season: The wide receiver spoke on his offense of speculation. He’s here and loves being an Eagle. “You gotta think about it, though. What am I worried about? Am I worried that I’m going to have a job in this league? If not, not at all. I want to be an Eagle and I’m here.”
• Roster moves: The team signed Devin Ross and waived Johnny Gibson.
• Under Armour was in town to paint a mural of the current ‘Philly Sports Mt. Rushmore.’ Joel Embiid, Malcolm Jenkins, Bryce Harper, and DeSean Jackson are all on the artistic spread.
• Jenkins also posted a video of him working out and a DB room hangout from last year.
• Stefen Wisniewski posted a hype video for the AO1 Softball game this Friday. The defending team home run champion looks dialed in.
So I’m pretty hyped for tomorrow’s @cj_wentz AO1 Softball game….
Hope you guys are too, tickets are still available, come on out!!! @jake_elliott22 @k_grugierhill pic.twitter.com/H6lQ1nDAZs
— Stefen Wisniewski (@stefenwiz61) May 31, 2019
• The Eagles participated in the 23rd Annual Playground Build this Wednesday.
“It’s so overwhelming in such a positive way.”
Our 23rd annual Playground Build was one for the books!#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/8FMK41bOB3
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 30, 2019
• The players were asked LeBron or KD, Giannis or Kawhi, Steph or Russ, Davis or Embiid, and Harden or Kyrie?
LeBron or KD?
Paul George or Jimmy Buckets?
Who ya got? 🤔#NBAFinals | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/P2zMoQSsaU— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 30, 2019
You can follow Candis McLean on Twitter (@CandisRMcLean) and e-mail her at [email protected].
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