Eagles training camp report, Day 1: Sloppy start, depth chart notes and more

Lest you think the practice schedule means Nick Sirianni is taking it easy on the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles, the head coach was furious Wednesday morning during the team’s first training camp session of the summer.

“You wanna let bad teams beat us?” Sirianni barked through his megaphone after a third consecutive pre-snap penalty. “That’s how we do it.”

“Love it, coach,” said one fan on the sideline to his friend.

Alas, the ensuing play, a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line between the second-team offense and second-team defense, also included a pre-snap flag.

Before practice, Sirianni brushed aside questions about hoping to return to the Super Bowl. The goal is just to get better every single day, he said, echoing himself. Maybe if the first practice is sloppy, it makes getting better on Day 2 a little easier.

Here’s everything you need to know from training camp practice No. 1.

So far, so healthy

Only one Eagle opened camp on the injured list, namely wide receiver Devon Allen, who was placed on the non-football injury list with a calf issue. Haason Reddick did not practice because of groin soreness but is expected back early next week, while Derek Barnett (knee) and Avonte Maddox (toe) were limited participants. That’s it, which is a good place to start for the defending NFC champions.

Depth chart notes 

• Entering camp, it appeared from the outside that three or four starting positions were up for grabs, depending on how you’d like to classify running back, where Sirianni promised the team will rotate about five players with the first and second team throughout the summer. At safety, Reed Blankenship and Terrell Edmunds opened camp as the starters, with third-round rookie Sydney Brown working primarily with the third-team defense. At right guard, the first crack goes to Cam Jurgens. And at linebacker next to Nakobe Dean, Nicholas Morrow opened practice with the first-team defense but rotated at times with Christian Elliss. As he did in the spring, Elliss made perhaps the most impactful play of the day when he intercepted a poor Marcus Mariota pass in the red zone.

• The Eagles have 17 healthy offensive linemen in camp, which is two too many for three five-man units. Maybe for that reason, we saw a few snaps with the second team of six offensive linemen, while newly signed Dennis Kelly spent more time watching closely as a presumptive left tackle than he did playing. The second-team offensive line, from left to right, was Roderick Johnson, Sua Opeta, Brett Toth, Tyler Steen and Jack Driscoll. The third team was Trevor Reid, Julian Good-Jones, Cameron Tom, Tyrese Robinson and Fred Johnson, leaving undrafted rookie Chim Okorafor without a spot for now.

• The nominal starting defense, without Reddick and Maddox, included Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis, Josh Sweat, Dean, Morrow, Zech McPhearson, Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Blankenship and Edmunds. Elliss and Josiah Scott both rotated in at times, as did Milton Williams when they rotated to an odd-man front. Elliss and Shaun Bradley were the second-team linebackers, with Davion Taylor and Ben VanSumeren behind them. Justin Evans and K’Von Wallace were the second-team safeties, with Brown and Tristin McCollum behind them. On the outside, Josh Jobe and Greedy Williams worked with the twos, while Eli Ricks, Mekhi Garner and Kelee Ringo all rotated with the threes as Mario Goodrich spent time as the third-team nickel.

Highlight plays 

The red zone was the focus Wednesday, which meant a lot of checkdowns and throws into tight windows. Elliss’ was one of two interceptions on the day, the second coming when Tanner McKee threw a quick pass to D’Andre Swift in tight coverage, only for the ball to bounce into the hands of Taylor. For his part, McKee rotated with Ian Book as the third-team quarterback. Swift, meanwhile, had a busy afternoon in the role he seems best suited for. He was targeted about four plays in a row out of the backfield with the second and third teams.

Philadelphia retooled this offseason in their quest to repeat as NFC champions in 2023.@TheAthleticNFL‘s @Bo_Wulf looks at all 45 offensive players on the Eagles training camp roster, including new addition D’Andre Swift.https://t.co/CdUpHAHr2P pic.twitter.com/QaRpWwzYce

— TruMedia (@TruMediaSports) July 26, 2023

In the secondary, two players made separate diving plays on the ball in theoretical big spots. Blankenship laid out to knock down a Jalen Hurts pass intended for Kenneth Gainwell. Then, on the last play of the full portion of practice, Garner extended to break up a fourth-and-goal pass from Book to Tyree Jackson.

Touchdown-wise, perhaps the most impressive throw and catch of the day came during a seven-on-seven drill after practice for the young players. McKee ear-holed a pass over the middle to Jadon Haselwood, who hauled it in cleanly over VanSumeren.

More play-by-play 

• On the first team session of the day, between the first-team offense and defense, Hurts was pressured quickly on both of his first two dropbacks. After a handoff, he found Dallas Goedert for a touchdown on the fourth play of the session, though the second-team defensive line had just rotated in.

• Later in the period with the ones facing off again, Bradberry locked down Goedert for an incompletion. He did the same later in the morning, continuing his dominance from last summer, much to Zach Berman’s delight. The success of that prediction should make us all confident that Swift is prime to set a new record for running back receiving production.

• Unlike last summer, when A.J. Brown’s introduction was of such focus, there’s no guesswork about his value to the offense. Hurts only threw a handful of passes in team drills, but completed just one or two short ones to both Brown and DeVonta Smith.

• You’re likely to hear what Hurts said after practice about balancing the value he brings as a runner against the importance of him staying on the field. “I’m embracing the uniqueness of my game,” he said, probably knowing how likely that line was to be gobbled up. We have all season to debate the merits of that argument, but both Hurts and Mariota were used as planned ball carriers during Wednesday’s practice. Hurts “scored” easily on one draw near the goal line.

• The rudest “welcome to the NFL” moment was delivered to Ricks when Boston Scott juked him out of a tackle in the open field, drawing an excited reaction from the crowd.

• On a third-and-goal from the 8-yard line, a “four-point play,” according to Sirianni, between the first teams. First-round rookie Jalen Carter forced quick, early pressure on Hurts while lined up against Landon Dickerson, killing the play.

GO DEEPER

What you need to know about the 45 Eagles on defense and special teams

• Before practice, Philadelphia released tight end Dalton Keene and signed wide receiver Deon Cain, who spent last summer with the team, swapping out D. Keene for D. Cain. In his return, Cain victimized Ringo on a red zone touchdown pass by Book.

• Jackson caught a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone from Mariota that seemed reminiscent of his 2021 summer. The roster competition at tight end will be interesting, with Jackson, Jack Stoll, Grant Calcaterra and Dan Arnold seemingly competing for two or three spots.

Miscellaneous 

• After dabbling as an off-ball linebacker in the spring, second-year player Kyron Johnson was back lining up as a Sam linebacker Wednesday.

• Your four punt returners at the moment: Britain Covey, Greg Ward, Olamide Zaccheaus and Quez Watkins.

• Day 1 of the punting battle looked like a decisive victory for Arryn Siposs over the young contender Ty Zentner. Siposs’ punts were both higher and deeper. You’re welcome for the analysis.

• Janarius Robinson stood out a few times, not the least because of his impressive size. For the good, he used his size to bat down a Mariota pass after a low Toth snap. On the bad, he committed one of the pre-snap penalties that halted practice when he jumped offside. Also responsible for a penalty during that tense period of practice was Steen, who jumped early and later failed to touch a defensive lineman who had crossed the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.

• While Kelly did not practice as much in his return to Philadelphia, one objective opinion is that his man bun looks fantastic.

(Photo: Matt Rourke / Associated Press)