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On Camp, Vets Arriving And A Look Ahead

Three days of Training Camp are in the books, and by all accounts good progress was made for young players who took a lot of repetitions, who are now up to speed in the verbiage of the schemes and who knocked the rust off from six weeks away from football. We've got a lot to talk about as the Eagles speed into the meat of camp.

"It was super beneficial for me and for everybody to get so much time on the field and get as many reps as we can. It's the only way I can improve," said third-round draft pick Isaac Seumalo, who played both center and left guard during the three days after missing most of the spring practices as he waited for his Oregon State class to graduate. "I'm cool with where I'm at, but I know I'm behind. I missed the spring, and now the veterans are coming and they've been in the NFL for years. I will never be where I want to be, but I'm going to continue to work hard and play as well as I can."

That's the idea of the three days. Nobody won a job and the depth chart, imaginary as it may be, was not rejiggered in the least. Once the pads go on Saturday morning, the level of scrutiny and evaluation intensifies.

"The pads go on and that's football. That's what it's all about," cornerback Jalen Mills said. "Everything changes when the pads go on."

Bottom line: The Eagles had a positive three days of work on the field. Now, the entire team is at the NovaCare Complex two weeks before, gulp, the first preseason game. The clock is ticking …

  • Linebacker Travis Long was released as the roster now sits at 89 players and the Eagles are keeping their eyes open as they look to upgrade the roster. Offensive line? Possibly. Linebacker? There are questions about depth there. Another pass rusher? You can never have enough, although the Eagles feel good about their situation. Running back? Doubtful, as the Eagles want to give long looks to Kenjon Barner and Wendell Smallwood. The roster is going to be a fluid situation.
  • Head coach Doug Pederson spoke with linebacker Nigel Bradham after Bradham was arrested over the weekend in Miami. Pederson said that he did not anticipate that Bradham would be released. Pederson and the Eagles continue to monitor the situation and gather more information about the incident.
  • Who stood out at the pre-veteran portion of camp? It's hard to say without pads, but Mills was extremely active and around the football at the cornerback position. He is clearly one of the young players who has attracted a lot of attention. Let's see if he can keep it going.
  • Pederson will continue to give quarterbacks Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel and Carson Wentz a fair share of the reps in practice. How about the preseason games? We don't quite know, but it's very possible that Wentz will see more reps than a third-string quarterback usually receives. In any event, all three have looked good to date. Bradford and Daniel, along with the other veterans, had Wednesday off from practice.
  • The fourth quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson is on board to do anything the coaching staff asks him to do, including taking reps at tight end and at linebacker just to fill out the lineup. "I just want to show that I'm a team guy and that I can help the team in a lot of ways," Bethel-Thompson said. "It's fun for me."
  • Defensive back Blake Countess wore a helmet cam during practice, part of the ever-changing technology to give coaches a better idea of where players are looking, how their eyes are tracking. "It's a coaching device to see how I use my eyes and what I'm seeing," Countess said. "It's different. If it helps, I'm all for it."
  • The schedule for the team: The veterans reported on Wednesday to the NovaCare Complex for meetings and then must pass a conditioning test on Thursday morning before they are permitted to practice on Thursday afternoon. The practice on Thursday and on Friday morning won't include pads or contact, but the pads go on and the team will hit on Saturday morning at the NovaCare Complex. Fans can check out the team in action at Sunday's Open Practice.
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