Philadelphia Eagles News

Practice Blog: August 9

Aug 09, 2009 at 03:58 AM

Here's a look at what happened on during Sunday's practices at Lehigh University. The updates were provided by Bob Kent (BK), Chris McPherson (CM) and Bo Wulf (BW).

7:51 AM - It is pouring rain down here at the practice fields of Lehigh University. It was a steady drizzle for the past hour until the last few minutes where it finally opened up. Practice has not been canceled. There are only a few days left here at Lehigh University and head coach Andy Reid has to go easy on them the day before the game against New England on Thursday night. Unless there's lightning, it looks like Reid wants to have the practice outside. The backup offensive linemen have come out for some early work with Juan Castillo, their position coach. Some of the other special teams players have trickled out as well. (CM)
7:59 AM -There are a handful of crazy fans, and I mean that in a good way, who are going to brave it out and it looks like they will be rewarded. The rain has stopped and it looks like there could be a reprieve for the team from having to practice inside where it is so cramped that it's not as productive. (CM)
8:13 AM -The entire offensive line is now working with Juan Castillo. Asante Samuel is jogging, stretching and warming up. The rehab crew today consists of Matt Schobel, Trevor Laws and Victor Abiamiri. That was the same group as yesterday. The special teams are going through their usual pre-practice routine of drills. (CM)
8:17 AM- After hyper-extending his knee in yesterday's practice, DeSean Jackson is not out on the field this morning. There's no need to rush a player of Jackson's status back, especially in these wet conditions. (BW)
8:41 AM - The Asante Samuel quote of the day comes from a defensive back drill in which the players practice their tackling by picking up their teammates and driving him into a padded mat. After Samuel made his tackle and was facemask-to-facemask with his teammate, he said, "This ain't a good drill for hot breath." The owner of the bad breath will remain nameless for his reputation's sake. (BW)
9:05 AM - Notes from the linebacker and safety coverage drill: One of the questions surrounding Joe Mays is his ability in his pass coverage, and he shined in the drill. He won't need to spend too much time in coverage if he can jam at the line the way he did today. In his two reps he knocked both Lorenzo Booker and Kyle Eckel to the ground with strong punches at the line of scrimmage, eliciting a huge reaction from the crowd ... Chris Gocong was also very impressive in his two reps, showing great coverage on both LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek, two tough matchups ... Moise Fokou as the other defender who went 2-for-2 in his reps, stopping both Eugene Bright from getting open and batting away a pass intended for the new tight end Rob Myers ... Akeem Jordan made a very nice diving pass breakup in coverage of Leonard Weaver ... Omar Gaither showed great coverage skills on Eldra Buckley ... Matt Wilhelm had LeSean McCoy covered for the first 15 yards but then McCoy used his speed to separate and caught a long pass from Kevin Kolb ... Myers ran past Quintin Demps with his fresh legs ... Marcus Mailei made a nice out cut after getting off the line to bat Tank Daniels ... Lorenzo Booker sped past Tracy White ... Leonard Weaver got open to beat Charleston Hughes ... Eugene Bright ot off the line of scrimmage and caught a pass beating Reshard Langford. (BW)
9:12 AM -Blitz pickup drill notes: LeSean McCoy contnued to impress with his pass blocking skills, standing up Charleston Hughes ... Leonard Weaver was his usual brick wall, stonewalling Omar Gaither and Quintin Mikell. The Mikell matchup was closely contested ... Chris Gocong swam past Brent Celek easily on the first attempt, but then Celek stopped Gocong in the rematch ... Lorenzo Booker has improved as a pass protecter during camp. First he did a good job on Tracy White, and then in the last rep of the drill, he stood up Qunitin Demps in a hotly contested battle ... Eldra Buckley was impressive, first pushing Quintin Demps far to the outside and then standing up Tank Daniels ... Rob Myers and Joe Mays battled to a draw and Myers also did a commendable job on Moise Fokou ... Kyle Eckel was able to force Joe Mays to the outside ... Tracy White beat Marcus Mailei ... Brent Celek was able to hold up Matt Wilhelm ... Eugene Bright had a tough drill, first going too high on Akeem Jordan who was able to push him backwards an then letting Charleston Hughes get a step on him before making a solid recovery. (BW)
9:20 AM- Although he wasn't on the field to start practice, DeSean Jackson made his way onto the field to join the rehab group this morning. The four players just finished their workout and walked off the field. (BW)
9:58 AM - As the team drills get underway, there is yet another look to the offensive line. Jason Peters is at left tackle, Nick Cole is at left guard, Jamaal Jackson is at center, Max Jean-Gilles is at right guard and Winston Justice is at right tackle. With the wet field, I'm not surprised about Stacy Andrews not being out there, but we'll have to find out after practice why Todd Herremans is not taking part in this drill. (CM)
10:02 AM - On the defensive side of the ball, Sheldon Brown is not taking part in the team drills. Ellis Hobbs is in as the first-team right cornerback. We'll learn more after practice. (CM)
10:04 AM - Add another change to the defense, Sean Jones is working in as the first-team strong safety for Quintin Mikell during the team drills. Again, we'll learn more after practice. (CM)
10:08 AM - Some notes from the 7-on-7 drills where the Eagles offense worked on the Zebra package. There was no tackling as the defenders shadowed the receivers. I got my first look at the new tight end Rob Myers. He did a nice job holding on to a Kevin Kolb pass as Rashad Baker was tight on him in coverage. However, on the very next rep, Matt Wilhelm stripped the ball as it got into Myers' body. Hard to gauge from this drill his speed and route running ability. Jeremy Maclin made a great stretching grab with his hands on a pass over the middle from Kolb. I would have liked to have seen Kolb hit him in stride and watch Maclin cut upfield. Brandon Gibson made a nice grab on a comeback route where he had to reach behind him for the ball. Kolb did hit Brandon Robinson down the left sideline in stride as Robinson made a great over-the-shoulder grab. Does LeSean McCoy have the best hands on the team in terms of a receiver? He catches the ball cleanly and securely with his hands each and every time. (CM)
10:13 AM - Sheldon Brown is back in action, but Quintin Mikell remains on the sideline as the team drills continue. (CM)
10:19 AM- Jason Babin just got in the middle of another fight with an offensive lineman, but this time he looked to be on the losing end. After a play, Babin and King Dunlap were pushing and shoving and exchanging words when Dunlap threw a strong right hand and then pushed Babin to the ground. Most of the players on the field and on the sidelines then got in on the action, most of them in a joking manner. Afterwards, Omar Gaither, apparently a WWF fan during the mid 90's, said, "That was some Bam Bam Bigelow action right there." (BW)
2:53 PM - DeSean Jackson is on the field for the afternoon practice wearing a sleeve on his leg to protect the knee he hyperxtended at practice yesterday. (CM)
3:28 PM -Some notes from the 10-10-10 practice so far: During the offensive portion, Danny Amendola made a couple nice catches. He's continued to look sharp as come has progressed, but he is caught up in a tough numbers game at wide receiver ... Joselio Hanson made a nice pick of an A.J. Feeley pass that excited Chris Gocong who was watching from the sidelines ... Moise Fokou, who was touted as the second-team strong side linebacker in today's official depth chart, made a nice pass breakup ... Quintin Demps and Jeremy Maclin both worked in at kick returner. (BW)
3:38 PM - The fans just had some fun watching the offense practice a couple end of the game situations. First, they ran a couple hail mary plays, most intended for Hank Baskett, the Eagles tallest receiver. Then, the team ran through a lateral play where almost everyone touched the ball, and when Kevin Curtis finally reached the end zone, because the defense was letting the offense move the ball, the crowd applauded. (BW)
3:40 PM - Brian Westbrook is out on the field running on the side. (BW)

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