Skip to main content
Philadelphia Eagles
Advertising

Philadelphia Eagles News

Practice Notes: Carson Wentz red hot in the red zone

Fran Duffy and Chris McPherson bring you the injury report and 10 things you need to know from Wednesday's Training Camp practice at the NovaCare Complex.

Injury Update

RB: Miles Sanders remains week to week with a lower-body injury.

WR: It was a maintenance day for DeSean Jackson.

OL: Tackles Lane Johnson (lower body, day to day) and Jordan Mailata (upper body, day to day) missed practice. Matt Pryor was the first-team right tackle.

DL: Derek Barnett (lower body), Vinny Curry (lower body), and Javon Hargrave (upper body) missed practice. Genard Avery was carted off following an injury during practice.

DB: Sidney Jones (lower body) returned to practice, but did not take part in team drills. Marcus Epps (lower body) remained sidelined.

Quick hits from Wednesday's practice

1. The first team period got started with Carson Wentz's first completions finding rookie receivers. First, he hit Jalen Reagor for a nice completion over the middle of the field that went for a nice gain, before dropping back off play-action and finding John Hightower for a deep post route down the field. Hightower was matched up against Avonte Maddox on the play, and the rookie was able to outmuscle the versatile defensive back for the catch. Fellow rookie Quez Watkins caught a pass later in the drill from Jalen Hurts for a nice gain as well. – Duffy

2. Defensive end Genard Avery was injured while rushing quarterback Nate Sudfeld. The young veteran attempted to turn and cut after Sudfeld worked to his left, and Avery went down to the ground. Several of his teammates on defense stopped by to wish him well as the training staff worked on him before he was carted off. Injuries like that are always the toughest part of Training Camp every year. – Duffy

3. The team splits apart for a 7-on-7 drill on one field, and O-line vs. D-line on the adjacent field. I thought the quarterbacks were much more aggressive in pushing the ball downfield throughout practice and it started in this drill. Carson Wentz connected with Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, and Zach Ertz during this period. Two other rookies of note. Quez Watkins broke free wide open for a reception from Nate Sudfeld. Elijah Riley made a nice diving pass breakup to prevent a touchdown. – McPherson

4. While C-Mac watched the 7-on-7 drill, I walked over to check out the offensive and defensive lines match up. Here are my takeaways:

• Brandon Graham kicked things off for the defense with a win against Matt Pryor. Graham won with an outside rush and turned the corner on the young O-lineman, who bounced back on the very next play with a good rep against Shareef Miller. Miller beat Pryor later with a bull rush. Pryor also got some snaps at guard in this drill, where he got a nice W against Hassan Ridgeway, who has given a lot of people trouble so far this summer.

• Nate Herbig turned in a solid rep against Fletcher Cox from the right guard spot. Jason Peters very rarely takes reps in one-on-one drills, and with Pryor at right tackle it was Herbig's spot against the first-team defensive line. He made the most of that rep. Herbig's next reps came at center, where he was able to get stops against rookie Raequan Williams and T.Y. McGill inside.

• Jason Kelce, expectedly, turned in a great rep against Anthony Rush, who tried to win with sheer power with his bull rush.

• Isaac Seumalo rode Malik Jackson up the field after the veteran defensive tackle tried to win with an outside move.

• Defensive end Josh Sweat tried to win with a speed-to-power move against Andre Dillard, but the second-year tackle was able to drop his anchor and did a solid job of holding his ground. Watching Sweat the rest of the way, it feels like his hands have gotten quicker this offseason.

• Jack Driscoll had another nice day in this drill, shutting down a Matt Leo bull rush on his first rep before stopping a Joe Ostman speed rush on his next snap. The only guy who gave Driscoll trouble at right tackle was Brandon Graham, who beat him on a couple of snaps late.

• Hassan Ridgeway beat guard Sua Opeta with quick hands and impressive lateral agility on his first rep.

• McGill, beat undrafted rookie Julian Good-Jones with an inside swim move on his first rep. Good-Jones bounced back on the next rep, showing off a strong punch and good feet to ride McGill up the field.

• Rookie Prince Tega Wanogho turned in a nice rep against Ostman, pushing the defensive end up the field and mirroring him from snap to whistle on his first rep. – Duffy

5. The team gets together for more 11-on-11 drills, and after some incomplete deep shots to Reagor and Hightower, the offense gets rolling with a long run by Boston Scott. The offense hasn't gotten a ton going in the run game so far in camp, but there was a huge hole inside and Scott hit it for a big gain. A couple of plays later, Elijah Holyfield keeps the party going by shaking rookie linebacker Shaun Bradley in the hole on his way to a long touchdown. Holyfield was VERY vocal with the defense today, lowering the shoulder and finishing runs and letting the defense know about it afterwards. – Duffy

6. More 11-on-11 action ensues, and halfway through the drill the highlight comes from Nickell Robey-Coleman, who leapt up into the air and came down with an interception on a throw intended for Zach Ertz. With the way Robey-Coleman came at the throw, he was either in zone coverage or left his man when he saw the ball in the air, but, it was a phenomenal play. He's been around the ball a LOT this summer. – Duffy

7. Good thing fans were not in attendance for a play that would have left everyone holding their breath. Left tackle Andre Dillard was bull rushed by defensive end Joe Ostman and the second-year offensive lineman fell into quarterback Carson Wentz's legs. Everyone was OK. Every move Dillard makes will be carefully scrutinized as he takes over for the future Hall of Famer Jason Peters. There are going to be some growing pains along the way. The talent and potential are there. Head Coach Doug Pederson noted Dillard's development on Tuesday.

"I've been real impressed obviously with Dillard and his growth, obviously his strength and what he did this offseason coming into camp mentally and physically prepared," Pederson said. "He's done a really nice job for us. He has really stepped in and embraced that role at left tackle." – McPherson

8. In the next period, after a couple of run stuffs from the defensive line, Fletcher Cox nearly makes a remarkable play, reading a screen pass from the offense and nearly picking off a Carson Wentz pass intended for Boston Scott. Cox showed off the natural athleticism on this play, nearly pulling in a one-handed pick. The defensive success continued, because on the very next play, defensive end Shareef Miller exploded off the edge and got home to Wentz quickly. I couldn't see who was in protection, but Miller got home QUICK. On the ensuing play, Maddox nearly came up with the interception on a throw intended for Reagor down the field. Wentz and Reagor answered a couple of minutes later with a nice completion over the middle on a dig route for a big gain. – Duffy

9. The defense brings the juice each and every day, and Wednesday was no different. But the offense responded with some noise of its own, especially during this red zone period. Some highlights:

• Wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is quietly having a very good camp. He scored three touchdowns during his session. First, Nate Sudfeld connected with him down the left sideline for a score. Then, Carson Wentz later threaded a ball in the back, middle of the end zone through traffic on a throw that was a thing of beauty. Center Jason Kelce was so pumped after the score that he ran into the end zone hugging his teammates and yelling during the celebration. For the hat trick, Arcega-Whiteside hauled in a pass in the back of the end zone from Wentz throwing on the run that the receiver managed to secure the ball and get two feet in just before going out of bounds. Not lacking confidence going into Year 2, Arcega-Whiteside was asked after practice about his touchdown catch. The receiver said, "Which one?"

• The last touchdown sparked a perfect series with Wentz in at quarterback where the offense scored on four straight plays in the red zone. Following the juggling catch, Elijah Holyfield burst up the middle for a score. Somehow the defense lost track of tight end Dallas Goedert, leading to an easy touchdown. Finally, Corey Clement took a toss up the right side and ran it in for the score. – McPherson

10. After the energetic red zone period, the backups took the field for a live period with tackling to the ground. Here's my play-by-play of the 13-play period:

• Elijah Holyfield took a run on the first play and was stuffed quickly inside. Massive defensive tackle Anthony Rush looked heavily involved in getting Holyfield to the ground.

• Nate Sudfeld was picked off by Rasul Douglas down the field, and Rasul looked to bring it back, cutting against the grain before pitching it to Craig James, who took it the rest of the way for the touchdown. It was a much-needed big play for Douglas.

• The team moved to the goal line, and Jalen Hurts handed the ball to Michael Warren, who ran it in for a touchdown.

• Hurts completed a pass to Caleb Wilson on the right side. It was a nice catch by Wilson, who went to the ground to reel in the throw.

• Rookie linebackers Shaun Bradley and Davion Taylor combined to take Adrian Killins to the ground on an inside run.

• Rookie undrafted free agent Elijah Riley, working as a nickel corner in camp, came off the edge on a blitz and "sacked" Jalen Hurts (even though it's a live period there is no tackling the quarterbacks).

• Hurts found Michael Warren on a screen pass to the right, and the rookie had some blockers out in front to help him down the sideline.

• Jalen Hurts kept the ball on a run to the right and, obviously, was not tackled by the defense ... A fact that the defensive sideline was sure to let him know about as he ran back to the huddle.

• Hurts completed another quick throw to fellow rookie Quez Watkins to the left to keep things moving. K'Von Wallace was there to usher Watkins out of bounds.

• Hurts scrambled to his right and found rookie wideout Jalen Reagor down the field for a solid gain.

• Holyfield took a run to the left side and was brought down by Shaun Bradley one-on-one. Nice revenge for Bradley there after Holyfield juked him earlier in practice. – Duffy

• Jalen Hurts completed a final throw to Travis Fulgham on a quick screen pass after he dropped the shotgun snap on the play before. This play ended practice on what was a really lively, energetic day of work for the Eagles. – Duffy

Related Content

LATEST VIDEOS

Advertising