The Eagles were initially scheduled to be in pads this morning, but after seeing how much work his team has put in under the 90-degree sun, Doug Pederson decided to back off a little.
Instead, the Eagles had a shorter practice without full pads. But the pads will go on Thursday night for the first preseason game of the 2018 season. The Steelers will be in town for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Before you know it, training camp will be over.
But for now, to the observations!
1. At times over the last week or so, since Carson Wentz has been held out of full-team drills, I've noticed him struggle to get into a rhythm. That's natural. He's been getting just a few reps and then watching either Nick Foles or Nate Sudfeld take the bulk of the reps.
But in today's 7-on-7 drills, Wentz was firing. The Eagles did 7-on-7s in the red zone and Wentz looked incredibly sharp. His arm looks like it has plenty of life, probably a product of the limited reps. He threw a few great touchdown passes.
2. The best play from that 7-on-7 time was a beautiful fade Wentz threw up to Dallas Goedert, who just went up and got the ball in front of Jalen Mills. Mills isn't the tallest guy, but he is aggressive with bigger receivers, and Goedert just posterized him. Goedert in the end zone has become a theme of training camp.
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3. I'd like to present my favorite photo at practice. Two of the most respected guys on the team. Two of the most experienced guys on the team.
One is 5-foot-6, 190 pounds. The other is 6-foot-4, 340 pounds.
I'll go ahead and call this my favorite photo of #Eagles camp. pic.twitter.com/mjFPbsWbCu— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) August 7, 2018
4. At times, Nate Sudfeld looks like the real deal, but he just hasn't been consistent enough in this training camp. Getting first-team reps in 11-on-11s, Sudfeld simply missed a wide open Zach Ertz on a play that would have gone for a big gain. Can't miss like that.
5. Sidney Jones almost had the play of the day. He dove backwards and nearly pulled in a crazy interception. Couldn't hold on. Still, he's looked good. Was back as the first-team nickel corner today.
6. I don't know how he's doing it but, 5-foot-8 receiver DeAndre Carter caught another pass for a touchdown today. This time, he reeled in a perfect pass from Sudfeld, over De'Vante Bausby, in the end zone.
7. Fletcher Cox was not happy with Lane Johnson after it looked like Lane might have clipped him in the back during a full-team rep. The guys weren't even in pads today, but the heat has a way of making everyone cranky. They separated and nothing happened.
8. Isaac Seumalo had another bad snap. That's at least 347 so far this training camp.
9. The Eagles worked on backed up drills today from their own 1-yard line. The defense looked good in these. Joe Walker got in the backfield for a "safety" TFL and there was a sack in the end zone too for another safety. Joe Callahan was able to hit Shelton Gibson during the backed-up portion of practice. Gibson streaked across the field and Callahan hit him for a gain of about 20.
10. During that same drill, there was one play where the offense was in the huddle without a quarterback. Before Callahan realized it and sprinted out there, Doug Pederson started to walk toward the huddle, pretending like he was going to take a QB rep.
Not to brag, but I was on this yesterday:
I hear Dougie P is warming up the ol' gunslinger arm. Player/coach? https://t.co/s9EsoPafU3— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) August 6, 2018
Stupid Observation of the Day: I saw a fan wearing a No. 14 Pederson jersey at practice. But I lost him in the crowd and fell down on my journalistic responsibility to find out how the hell he still had a Pederson jersey.