After a few days of banging around in pads, the Eagles had a lighter and shorter 10-10-10 practice today.
Sometimes, it's a little tough to come up with observations from these practices, but I'll give it a go. We'll avoid Carson Wentz in these observations, but here's what Doug Pederson said about Wentz's recovery.
To the observations:
1. Wendell Smallwood walked past Jake Elliott in the Eagles locker room after practice, and gave him a nod. "Thanks for the kick."
Elliott drilled a 45-yard pressure field goal at the end of practice and his teammates went nuts. Doug Pederson joked that the kick was to get popsicles for the team, but it was actually to get them out of meetings tonight. With a day off tomorrow, the extra time was a welcome prize.
Since Elliott wasn't with the Eagles last training camp, this was the first time he's been put in one of these pressure situations by Pederson. He nailed it.
"Yeah, not too bad," Elliott said. "A little pressure kick at the end. Glad we put it through."
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2. At one point, I looked at the Eagles defensive line and saw this (from left to right): Chris Long, Fletcher Cox, Michael Bennett and Derek Barnett.
Good luck to the rest of the NFC East.
They didn't even have Brandon Graham or Josh Sweat at practice on Friday. This defensive line is so ridiculously talented and deep. Thinking about all the combinations of players the Eagles can use is going to give offensive coordinators nightmares this season.
3. Mack Hollins made a great catch over Rasul Douglas on a 50-50 jump ball. Hollins has good size and athleticism, so he should come down with those balls. Hollins doesn't flash very often, but he seems to be having a solid camp.
4. Even though there were no pads on today, there was nearly another fight for the second day in a row. This time, De'Vante Bausby didn't take too kindly to rookie receiver Anthony Mahoungou's staying on him for a split second too long after the play. Bausby grabbed Mahoungou by the facemask and didn't let go until their teammates separated them.
5. Haloti Ngata was back at practice today after being given a veteran rest day yesterday. Zach Ertz was given a day off today, per Pederson.
Some players missing at practice: Shelton Gibson (concussion), Richard Rodgers (shoulder), Sweat (lower body), Matt Jones (lower body), Adam Zaruba.
6. Sidney Jones got work as the first-team nickel corner again. This comes after yesterday, when he came on the field in nickel but was outside, while Jalen Mills went inside. So to recap how many days each guy has played nickel CB: Jones 4, Bausby 3, Mills 1. But it's also important to note that when Mills was the NCB, Jones was on the field.
7. Bryce Treggs came back to practice yesterday and made the play of the day today. He caught a pass from Nate Sudfeld in the back of the end zone. Treggs rose high over the defender to bring the ball in and somehow tap his toes down inbounds. Good first two days back for Treggs, who has a shot at one of the last receiver spots.
8. Sudfeld has been somewhat inconsistent this camp, but he did drop a pretty fade into the hands of 5-foot-8 receiver DeAndre Carter's hands in the end zone. It was kind of a funky side-arm throw, but it worked.
9. Every day, I'm still amazed about how fresh Darren Sproles looks. That's not new. I think I write that every day. OK, something new. We've seen Sproles work as a kick returner this camp, which makes sense. The new rules will make kickoffs more like punts and the Eagles ought to see if Sproles can help them there.
10. I know I said no Wentz, but I lied. Here he is running sprints before practice:
Carson Wentz is one of the first players out here today, running sprints. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/B55gazW5dz— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) August 3, 2018
Stupid Observation of the Day: British comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan were at Eagles practice today for Sky Sports. They apparently did a segment with Jay Ajayi in the offseason and wanted to come to the United States and learn a little more about American football.
During this training camp, there have been several international reporters at Eagles training camp. Part of it is because the Eagles play in London this year, but the other part is because of their diverse roster. As far as NFL standards go, the Eagles have a lot of guys from other countries. It's been cool to see.
