Head Coach Nick Sirianni saved the longest practice of Training Camp (105 minutes) thus far for the most humid day. Temperatures reached the mid-90s on Thursday in South Philadelphia, but according to NBC Philadelphia's weather team, it felt like it was over 100 degrees at the NovaCare Complex. Sirianni wanted to see his players battle through the adversity as there will be the potential for hot and humid games early in the regular season. Who stepped up? Fran Duffy and Ben Fennell offer the following 10 takeaways.
1. With DeVonta Smith (groin) sitting out of practice on Thursday, Jalen Reagor got a lot of first-team reps. After a standout performance on Tuesday, Reagor got practice started with a flashy one-handed grab in the "routes on air" segment that drew some applause from the crowd in attendance. Reagor also had a nice catch in one-on-ones, pulling in a fade over the top. Head Coach Nick Sirianni praised Reagor for his improved consistency in this year's Training Camp. – Fran Duffy
2. The first big drill of the day featured the pass catchers against the defensive backs in one-on-one drills down in the red zone, and my big standout from this drill was cornerback Avonte Maddox, who netted a pair of pass breakups. First, the savvy slot corner had a great rep on a whip route, jumping the throw and getting the ball on the ground. A few minutes later, he jammed up the receiver in coverage and got a diving pass breakup near the goal line. In later drills, Maddox also sniffed out a couple of screens and was very active in the run game. – Ben Fennell
3. The best route of the drill, in my opinion, belonged to Dallas Goedert, who did a great job on an in-cut of creating separation from the slot corner. Goedert snapped the route off at the top and was wide open for the completion in the end zone. Defensively, aside from Maddox, my favorite rep may have come from cornerback Tay Gowan, who swallowed up a double move toward the back of the end zone and forced an incompletion. – Fran
4. As the first team period gets underway, I find myself thinking about the evolution of the defensive scheme. This is a team that evolved as the season went on last year, and we saw a lot more blitzing on the back end of the 2021 campaign. In camp, we've seen some creative pressures from the second level, and Maddox has been a big part of that. Here in this drill, he had a couple of run stuffs as a blitzer off the edge. Jimmy Moreland has been active in that role as well. – Ben
5. With Jordan Mailata (concussion) and Andre Dillard (concussion) both out of the lineup on Thursday, there was a lot of early pressure off the offensive left side. Josh Sweat and Derek Barnett were the beneficiaries early in this first team session. – Fran
6. 7-on-7 drills begin, and the two big completions for Jalen Hurts went in the direction of A.J. Brown. On the first play, Hurts made an impressive throw over the middle of the field for 10-plus yards against what looked like zone coverage. Later, Hurts stepped up and slid to his right to find Brown in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. In between those two completions, the defense really clamped down on the coverage, forcing Hurts to hold the ball and scramble. – Ben
7. The offensive and defensive lines got together on the second field for one-on-one drills. Jordan Davis had his best rep against Jason Kelce on a bull rush. Kelce has mostly stifled those reps through camp so far, but on this one, Davis was able to get inside the veteran and get some pushback. Brandon Graham had an impressive bull rush off the edge on his first rep of the day. Other defensive tackles were able to get some wins in this period with their quickness, as Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Milton Williams all crossed the face of the lineman across from them to get rushes on the quarterback. – Fran
8. I'm going to sound like a broken record at this point, but linebacker T.J. Edwards continues to blow me away in coverage. The young veteran had a handful of pass breakups this morning, diving for a couple of them to knock the ball away. In the following period, he got one of those PBUs, executing great in zone coverage with good eyes on the quarterback. Edwards had a nice stick on tight end Noah Togiai as well on a quick game route toward the end of the session. He also displayed leadership, injecting energy into the steamy practice. He sprinted toward cornerback Mario Goodrich after the rookie quickly read and broke on a quick pass to the flat to make a stop after a short gain. – Ben
9. The two sides convened down inside the 20-yard line for some red zone work next. A.J. Brown caught a quick slant for a touchdown on the first play. Haason Reddick ran into the backfield for a tackle for loss against running back Miles Sanders on a perimeter play. Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott both reached the end zone in this period, one in the run game and one in the pass game. With the backups, Noah Togiai scored twice in this period, once on a screen and another on a corner route in the back of the end zone. – Fran
10. One guy who has, maybe sneakily, had an outstanding start to camp? Right tackle Lane Johnson. I feel like Johnson is shutting down the guy across from him every time I watch him this summer. That continued in this final period of practice. – Ben
Injury Report
Did Not Practice
TE Grant Calcaterra – Hamstring
T Andre Dillard – Concussion
T Jordan Mailata – Concussion
CB Mac McCain – Knee
WR DeVonta Smith – Groin
WR Greg Ward – Toe
Limited
WR Zach Pascal – Illness
