Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Saquon Barkley looks primed for another big season

Today marked the seventh Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The fully padded session lasted for about two hours; it was the longest practice of camp so far. Also the nicest weather we’ve had thus far with overcast skies and temps just below 70 degrees. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.

EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES

  • JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts was OK. He had a good completion to Grant Calcaterra. He lofted a ball to Will Shipley on the wheel route for a touchdown. Some of his incompletions weren’t his fault. Case in point, Jahan Dotson dropped a back shoulder throw that should’ve been caught. Some other passes ended up being broken up at the catch point. The passing game as a whole hasn’t exactly been humming recently (related: DeVonta Smith missing time) and that much likely led to the Eagles’ first-team offense leaning more on the run on Friday. So, maybe we’re not going to see a night and day difference from the 2024 offensive approach?
  • Sticking with the Eagles’ rushing attack, that Saquon Barkley guy looks pretty good. He made an impact as both a ball-carrier and pass-catcher on Friday morning. Barkley had multiple good runs. There was a red zone sequence that especially stood out where he 1) caught a short reception to put the offense just shy of the goal line (and it looked like he may have been a little banged up), 2) took a carry up the middle to fight his way into the end zone and immediately got in Jeremiah Trotter Jr.’s face to talk trash (Reed Blankenship got between the two to try to diffuse the tension), and 3) took another carry up the middle for another score for more trash talk. While listening to the most recent episode of The Exciting Mics, Blankenship commented on Barkley’s competitiveness: “Saquon gets so mad. Like in OTAs and stuff. ‘Wait ‘til we get pads on! Wait til’ we get pads on!’ Like, bro, chill! You just add fuel to the fire, if you mess with him, he can’t stand it.” Barkley was also talking some trash after a touchdown run earlier this week in a practice where the defense mostly got the better of the offense. All of this is to say that Barkley looks great. He’s primed for another big season.
  • EAGLES INJURY REPORT

DID NOT PRACTICE

LB Zack Baun (back contusion)
TE E.J. Jenkins (hamstring)
WR Terrace Marshall Jr. (knee)
CB Mac McWilliams (quad)
WR DeVonta Smith (back tightness)
LB Nolan Smith (concussion)
FB Ben VanSumeren (ankle)

DeVonta has missed four straight practices. He was doing some rehab work on a side field today, so, that seems like a step in the right direction.

Baun and Nolan have missed three straight practices. Unlike the last two practices, however, Nolan was seen watching from the sideline. He seems to be progressing well.

Jenkins and Marshall have missed two straight practices.

McWilliams and BVS are new additions to the injury report.

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

LB Jihaad Campbell (shoulder)
DT Jalen Carter (shoulder)
OG Landon Dickerson (ribs)
C Cam Jurgens (back)
S Andrew Mukuba (shoulder)

Campbell doesn’t appear to be limited despite being listed as such.

Carter participated in team drills for the second time this summer.

Dickerson is a new addition to the injury report.

Jurgens has been on a pitch count.

Mukuba returned in a limited capacity after missing three practices. He did not participate in team drills.

OTHER INJURY NEWS

AJ Dillon (back) was removed from the injury report after sitting out of team drills on Thursday.

Elijah Cooks was not listed on the injury report despite getting banged up late in Thursday’s practice.

POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK: Kelee Ringo was first up with the first-team defense on Friday. That makes four days when Adoree’ Jackson has been up first and three days for Ringo. I wrote down Ringo’s name in my notes for: 1) being called for pass interference while covering Dotson and 2) allowing Elijah Cooks to score a touchdown on a quick slant in front of him. I wrote Jackson’s name in my notes for: breaking up a short Hurts pass to Barkley. Still not seeing major separation between Jackson and Ringo. Would be good to get both of them playing time in preseason games.

  • Second practice in a row where Jordan Davis stood out for getting to Hurts for a “sack.” Encouraging.
  • Reed Blankenship broke up a deep Hurts pass to A.J. Brown to prevent a touchdown. The ball wasn’t exactly the tightest spiral I’ve seen, which probably didn’t help Brown.
  • A.J. Brown made a nice grab on a slant with his arms extended. You can really see the strength he has in his hands in those moments. The very next rep, Hurts threw to Brown on a short curl only to see the ball knocked down by Quinyon Mitchell. Q continues to not make life easy for Brown … and vice versa. Iron sharpens iron. Mitchell also broke up a goal-to-go Hurts pass intended for Dillon, who was already covered nicely by Uche.
  • Moro Ojomo continues to generate pressure. He actually got to Hurts for a strip-sack, which isn’t really allowed (the QBs wear a non-contact red jersey for a reason).
  • Jihaad Campbell did not have tight coverage on the play where he allowed a touchdown to Shipley. There have been some lapses as a man defender. The rookie did do a good job of contributing to Barkley getting stuffed no gain on one rep.
  • Smael Mondon Jr. saw some first-team off-ball linebacker reps next to Jeremiah Trotter Jr. For the second day in a row, Mondon impressed. He was stride-for-stride with Barkley running the wheel route 30+ yards down the left sideline to knock down what would’ve been a touchdown.
  • Drew Kendall saw a good amount of first-team center reps with Jurgens not taking his full workload yet. Brett Toth worked in at left guard with Dickerson limited. There was really bad rep-ruining shotgun snap that I thought belonged to Toth but was actually Kendall’s fault. Apologies, Brett. Still, Toth’s had a lot of bad snaps this summer, so, you can see how I’d make that mistake.
  • Speaking of bad shotgun snaps, Trevor Keegan had a bunch of those. At one point, Jeff Stoutland pulled him out of team drills. Not feeling good about Keegan’s chances to make the roster.
  • Elijah Cooks was a frequent target on Friday. He made a nice toe-tapping grab along the right sideline. He did have a bad drop after getting wide open in the middle of the field. Really interested to see how Cooks looks in preseason game action. We know he can play receiver. We need to see if he can block and play special teams. At worst, Cooks has been the Eagles’ fourth best receiver this summer. Could make a case for him over Dotson, though the latter will very likely be WR3.
  • Ainias Smith tried to make a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone. Not sure he would’ve been able to get both feet in even if he caught the ball. Pass from Hurts was a tad high. Doesn’t help that Smith is only 5’9” with very short arms (1 percentile).
  • Azeez Ojulari logged a “sack” today. First time he’s stood out.
  • Edge rusher Ochaun Mathis has flashed at times this offseason. The 2023 sixth-round pick made a leaping deflection on a Tanner McKee pass.
  • It’s been a very quiet offseason for Lewis Cine but he had a pass breakup today. The Georgia alumnus has been consistently running with the third-team defense.
  • With Dickerson missing some reps and Toth being bumped up to first-team left guard, Kenyon Green moved up from third-team left guard to second-team LG. Green didn’t look good against Byron Young in a 1-on-1 OL vs. DL rep.
  • Speaking of OL vs. DL, other notes: Toth struggled against Ojomo but then held up against “BY” (as Vic Fangio called him) just fine. Josh Uche got some good pressure against Darian Kinnard. Trevor Booker made mince meat out of undrafted rookie Hollin Pierce with a rip move and then bull rushed him into oblivion on the next rep. Kendall Lamm stifled Ojulari.
  • Avery Williams (who has not looked very useful on offense) and Ainias Smith were lined up as the first-team kick returners during special teams drills.
  • Some UDFA notes: Darius Cooper was open over the middle for a short touchdown reception from McKee. ShunDerrick Powell dropped a pass late in practice.
  • Nick Sirianni’s pre-practice press conference was cancelled due to him feeling under the weather. The head coach did still attend practice.
  • Not sure if The Exciting Whites are legitimate options to be the emergency holder if Braden Mann gets hurt or if they were just having some fun before practice. Britain Covey used to be the emergency holder.

UP NEXT: Eagles players have off on Saturday before returning to practice at 10:00 AM Eastern on Sunday morning. You can find more of the Eagles’ training camp schedule by clicking here.


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