Saturday marked the annual Military Day at Eagles Training Camp as part of the NFL's Back Together Weekend. Servicemen and women from all branches of the Armed Forces were in attendance thanks to the USO, including families from the Travis Manion Foundation and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
"The men and women here put their lives on the line for us, for our country. It's awesome to show our thanks to them, to be able to spend time with them and give our jerseys away, this is my third year doing this, but the Eagles have been doing it for how long? It's cool to be a part of this tradition. It shows you what this organization is about. I'm super appreciative of all of the men and women who showed up today, even the ones who are not here, for the things that they do to make sure that we are safe."
Injury Update: Second-year tackle Cameron Williams (knee contusion) and rookie safety Cole Wisniewski (hamstring) did not practice due to injury.
Four Eagles were excused from practice Saturday for non-injury reasons: linebacker Jihaad Campbell, defensive end Ta'Quon Graham, tackle Lane Johnson, and wide receiver Elijah Moore. Campbell returned to the University of Alabama to receive his degree.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. took the first-team linebacker reps in Campbell's absence. Fred Johnson played right tackle in place of Lane Johnson, which allowed rookie third-round pick Markel Bell to move to Fred Johnson's spot as the second-team left tackle.
Who's the Mann?
The Eagles worked on their punt formation to open practice as Braden Mann boomed punts to returners Britain Covey, Cooper DeJean, Makai Lemon, and Quez Watkins.
Mann signed a four-year contract with the Eagles in March. In his three seasons with the team, Mann owns the three best single-season performances in terms of gross punting average and the two best in terms of net average. He set the Eagles' single-season franchise record for gross punting average (49.9 yards per punt) last season. He also serves as the holder for Jake Elliott.
15 years later ...
During the wide receiver individual drills at practice, Jerrod Johnson was the person delivering the ball to the pass catchers. Fitting as the team's new senior offensive analyst/special projects for the head coach was throwing passes to Eagles wide receivers at Training Camp 15 years ago as a player.
One of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Texas A&M history, Johnson finished as the school's all-time leader in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. He was signed by the Eagles as a rookie free agent and participated in Training Camp at Lehigh University. He spent time with five other NFL teams and was also the No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 UFL Draft before making the transition to coaching.
New drills
The Eagles had a tackling circuit period on Saturday where a linebacker or a defensive back would line up one-on-one on the shoulder of the pass catcher. The pass catcher would run out 3 yards, catch a pass, pivot, turn up the field before another defensive player would get in position to make a tackle. The initial defensive player works on staying in-phase and making a play on the ball.
Block party
The opening team period featured back-to-back bats at the line of scrimmage, first by linebacker Zack Baun who came on a blitz and the second by defensive tackle Jalen Carter. The newly extended All-Pro has a knack for batting down balls at the line of scrimmage, which was on display last season in the wins over the Rams and Bills.
From Hollywood to Philly
Hollywood Brown, signed by the Eagles this offseason to bolster the depth in the wide receiver room, created room on a 15-yard crossing route to bring in the ball from Jalen Hurts. He followed that up by using a 15-yard out route to provide a window for Andy Dalton, who roped a throw for Brown, who comfortably brought in the ball along the sideline.
"Timing is key. Whenever you come into a new offense, you gotta get the timing down," Brown said. "I feel like we were working hard at it (during the offseason) and we've been putting it together a little bit these first few days."
Smothering defense
The defense held its own against the offense during the 7-on-7 period with tight coverage, forcing either contested catch opportunities or the quarterback settling for a checkdown. On the final play, even a well-thrown ball by Andy Dalton on an in-breaker to Johnny Wilson was broken up as cornerback Jakorian Bennett got his hands in force the incompletion.
Red zone comes into focus
The practice, which lasted over an hour and a half, incorporated red zone and third-down situations.
• Jeremiah Trotter Jr., in for Jihaad Campbell, sniffed out a pass in the flat to Saquon Barkley and made the breakup.
• Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion was asked on Saturday about Jalen Hurts' ability as a runner in the new-look offense.
"He's very uniquely talented in terms of his athletic ability," Mannion said. "It's something he's been effective with throughout his career. That's part of what makes him such a special talent, but he does a lot of things well. I think he's really operated through all facets of the offense comfortably, but the piece of him as an athlete in the running game is something unique. Those are elements we can lean into a little bit as well."
That came into play in this red zone team period as Hurts faked a handoff to Tank Bigsby, kept the ball, and darted left to the end zone thanks to blocks by Dallas Goedert and Dontayvion Wicks on the 5-yard run.
Defense beats offense in competitive period
The offense went against the defense in a competitive period at the end of practice focused on third-down situations. The defense won out on eight of the 12 plays as Jalen Carter and Jalyx Hunt each had a "sack" (no touching the quarterbacks in the red jerseys) and second-year cornerback Mac McWilliams had a near interception on one pass attempt.
