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8 Things We Learned From the Eagles Open Practice on Sunday

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By and Dylan MacKinnon
Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates a two point conversation during the fourth quarter in the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 18, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.

Football is so close. The Open Practice over the weekend is a true sign of that. This week the Eagles will play their first Pre-Season game. Then in just a few weeks, we will have real Football. And there is good reason to be excited for the Eagles this year. This team made it all the way to the Super Bowl last year, and at least the offense looks very similar. Jalen Hurts is back, with a new contract. Both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith are back. And The Eagle’s offensive line, apart from Isaac Seumalo, are all back. The only major change is swapping out Miles Sanders for D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny.

But the defense may look very different. Both starting Safeties and Linebackers left in free agency. Javon Hargrave left too. Not to mention there is a new Defensive Coordinator in Sean Desai. There are a of new faces to fill in those holes though. Like rookies Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Sydney Brown. Plus they expect second-year guys like Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean to step into much larger roles.

On Sunday, Eagles fans got their first look at the new look Eagles, albeit not a complete one. Teams never show everything in these open practices. It is a show for fans more than it is a real chance for the Eagles to try things. They tend to be a bit secretive and hold things back. But that does not mean there is nothing to learn from them.

So what did we learn on Sunday? Did we get some insight into who might win the various camp battles? Were there any players who stood out for what they did on the field?

Here are 8 of the biggest takeaways from Sundays Open Practice for the Eagles:

 

  • The Fans Are Ready For Some Eagles Football

    The first takeaway is from something that happened before the players even took the field. Eagles fans showed up. To watch practice. Not the game. Practice. Over 50,000 fans showed up just to see the team run some drills. Eagles fans have always been a bit on the crazy side. But after getting a taste of the Super Bowl last year, fans seem to be more ready than ever to watch this team play. They even gave Jalen Hurts a massive ovation as he walked onto the field.

  • AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts Connection IS Still Very Strong

    We saw all last season that the Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown connection is very strong. They became adept at connecting on long passes in traffic, including 3 times in one game vs the Steelers. And one of the plays of the night in Open Practice came when they did just that. Brown rose high over Josh Jobe, who actually covered Brown fairly well. It just didn’t matter. Hurts made the perfect pass, and Brown the perfect play on the ball. They already had a strong connection last year in their first year playing together. That may get even better, as shown last night.

  • Josh Jobe Getting First-Team Reps

    Speaking of Jobe, the fact he is getting reps against AJ Brown is very notable. James Bradberry missed practice while he was nursing a minor injury. So who did they turn to take his first-team repos on the outside? Not Greedy Williams or Kelee Ringo, who many would have pegged for that role. No, it was the second-year UDFA Jobe getting the bulk of those snaps. And as we mentioned, not looking too bad in that role.

    Covering AJ Brown is a tough task even for James Bradberry. But Jobe held his own. Sure he gave up the TD. But he was right there, Brown just made the play.

    Despite being a UDFA, there was a lot of positive talk about Jobe coming out of Bama. His production there was good, and he played while enough last year inc amp to earn a job. But now he may be playing well enough to earn a role. The Eagles are very deep at corner with two All-Pro caliber starters, plus Avonte Maddox in the slot. They also drafted Kelee Ringo and signed former 2nd round pick Greedy Williams. But despite all of that, it looks like it could be Jobe filling in if Slay or Bradberry ever miss time.

  • Mariota May Not Be The Perfect Answer to Backup QB We Thought He Was

    Marcus Mariota wearing an Eagles jersey has been a long time coming. He has been connected to the Eagles going all the way back to when he was coming out of college and Chip Kelly desperately wanted a reunion with his former College QB. That never happened, and not a year later Chip Kelly was fired anyway. But when the Eagles needed a backup this offseason, and Mariota needed a job, it seemed like a perfect fit.

    It has not gone so well in camp for him though. And those struggles continued into the Open Practice. Fans saw a litany of bad throws by the Eagles’ backup. It is just camp, and there is plenty of time for Mariota to find his rhythm. But at least so far, things have not gone well for Marcus Mariota with the Eagles.

  • Christian Elliss Could Be Earning Himself A Big Role

    Going into camp, not many outside the team were talking about Christian Elliss. Now a few weeks into it, we are hearing his name more than almost anybody. He has been making plays all camp long. The Open Practice was no different. He made a few nice plays in the Open Practice. Including a tackle for a loss against D’Andre Swift.

    Perhaps more notably, is that with Nakobe Dean, it was Elliss wearing the green dot. The green dot signifies which player has the radio in his helmet, so he can hear the play calls, and then call them out on the field. basically the QB of the defense. And the Eagles giving Elliss that responsibility shows how much they trust him.

  • Sydney Brown Living Up To Hype So Far

    For a 3rd round pick, there was significant hype around Sydney Brown coming into camp. Eagles fans love great Safety play. A side effect of watching one of the best Safeties to ever do it for so long. And at Illinois Brown was exactly the type of Safety Eagles fans love. Someone who always seems to be involved in every play. And Eagles fans got a taste of that in Open Practice.

    Brown was all over the field. And as Tim McManus pointed out below, his closing speed is something that is immediately evident watching him play.

  • Nolan Smith Continues To Stand Out

    Every practice we have heard about all the great things Nolan Smith was doing. And fans finally got to see it for themselves. Not only did he get some reps vs Lane Johnson, and not get completely overwhelmed. Going up against the best tackles in the league is certainly going to help him grow. But when he got a chance to rush against people who are not multi-time All-Pros who have not given up a sack in 2 seasons, he was productive. In open practice, he racked up 1.5 sacks.

    It’s scary to think that an edge rush group that already included 3 double-digit sacks guys may be even better. Well scary for other teams. For us, it is just fun.

  • Cam Jurgens Still Getting First-Team Reps

    Something we all thought would be a camp battle is looking like less of one now. We assumed Jurgens and Tyler Steen would battle for the RG job. But thus far it has pretty much been Cam Jurgesn getting all the first-team reps. And to his credit, he is looking good in that role. Lane Johnson had high praise for him before Open Practice, calling him one of the strongest guys on the team.

    That said, there was one rep where Jordan Davis bull-rushed him straight backward. But in terms of the battle it looks like Cam Jurgens is running away with it.

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