Eagles Minicamp Practice Notes: Defense ahead of offense so far

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Eagles Minicamp Practice Notes: Defense ahead of offense so far

The Philadelphia Eagles held the first of two minicamp practices on Tuesday and I was there ~~NovaCare~~ Jefferson Health Training Complex to watch what happens. Here’s what I saw!

GOING REVIEWS
- NO: Unlike voluntary OTAs, attendance at minicamp is mandatory. One player who was absent was Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. It is not yet clear whether his absence was authorized or if he will be fined for not attending. The cost of day 1 missing is $17,986.
- SURELY: Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter were practicing after missing the Eagles’ OTA practices attended by the media two weeks ago.
DAMAGE REVIEWS
- WHO CAN BE INVOLVED
  - Makai Lemon (hamstring) did not practice as expected. Assuming he’s out again on Wednesday, which seems like a safe bet, the Eagles’ first-round pick will have missed at least four of the team’s eight spring practices. Almost the end of the world but not good.
- LIMITED PARTICIPATION
  - Jalen Carter did not participate in team practice. Does he not recover 100% from the injury? Is the group just being overly cautious? Is this a “catch” in the situation?
JALEN HUTS UPDATE: The pain was not so sharp today. At the start of the 7-on-7, a downfield to DeVonta Smith and running back Riq Woolen was overturned and incomplete. Hurts missed a pass to DeVonta up the middle with an errant pass. The pain for DeVonta wasn’t perfect and in a game where it looked like there was a closed window for the wide receiver to get the ball between Woolen and Smael Mondon Jr. Hurts was guilty of holding the ball too long for some rebounders to get “sacked.” One such example may have been the elimination of what ended up being an EJ Jenkins layup over the middle by Hurts throwing his body while rolling to the right. It’s a good game if it counts, which it probably doesn’t have. I wouldn’t put all of the case’s struggles on Hurts; they’re clearly behind behind the defense, which is to be expected since 1) Vic Fangio is really good, 2) it’s not unusual for the defense to be ahead of the offense this time of year, and 3) the defense is in the third year of their system while the offense is new. There are still many issues to iron out.
I can’t remember many, if any, times that Woolen or Quinyon Mitchell gave up a catch this spring.

It seems to me that Hurts is referring to Saquon Barkley more often than ever. This isn’t the first time last season that some have wondered if the running back could be a big part of the offense, so, you have to take these observations with a grain of salt. But maybe it’s really different this time?! Barkley doesn’t have the best hands but is very good with the ball in yards after the catch. It should be a bigger part of the case than not at all.
BACK UP THE QUARTERBACK BATTLE (?): The Eagles have held three press conferences and Andy Dalton has been the QB2 for all of them. It looks like Tanner McKee has been demoted to QB3. If Dalton steps up right behind Hurts again tomorrow, we’ll have more confirmation. I don’t really get it, to be honest. Dalton obviously has a lot of experience starting in the NFL but McKee has shown legitimate promise and I think it’s worth promoting that potential, not pushing him down the depth chart as he enters a contract year. On that note, I thought McKee looked like the better quarterback on Tuesday. McKee ripped the ball up the middle to Elijah Moore for a first down rush and more. He found Hollywood Brown (twice, including a hard window throw) and Samori Toure for the connecting touchdown. Dalton was picked off by Jalyx Hunt and other defenders caught his passes. In fairness to Dalton, he had great completions to EJ Jenkins (he had a tight pass covered by tight end Chance Campbell), Moore for a touchdown (looked like covering Mac McWilliams?), and Johnny Wilson (rushing up the middle). But Dalton put the ball in danger too often (Chance Campbell almost picked him off in the end zone) and strayed from the line of scrimmage. I can understand a legitimate QB2 battle where the team actually splits the backup reps but I can’t find the deck in Dalton’s favor.
Not a good day for rookie quarterback Cole Payton. He threw at least three near misses. He responded well to his last throw in a dangerous fashion by delivering a strike up the middle to Brandon Hayes.
Eagles offensive line
With Lane Johnson returning to practice, it’s interesting to see that Bell has switched to the second team left tackle after switching back to the first team right tackle. While Jeff Stoutland preferred the smaller players to hold one position first, new offensive line coach Chris Kuper apparently isn’t afraid to emphasize position flexibility from the jump. Bell’s greatness stood out to me today when I saw him portray the young, not-so-young Jordan Mailata:

I feel like Jeremiah Trotter Jr. you always know exactly what the offense is going to do in a certain game. And this is not a comment on a predictable offense as much as it is that Trot Jr. he is a very intelligent player who plays with great passion. He was in a position to blow up a lot of running plays in addition to nearly blocking in the flat. I’m curious about how Jihaad Campbell looks but if he can’t stay healthy and/or struggles to make a start…I see Trot Jr. which is a great starter for this defense in 2026. Maybe Trot Jr. will finally replace Zack Baun?
Trot Jr. he is not the only deep linebacker. Chance Campbell also saw first team action and looked good there.
It’s worth noting that Byron Young took first-teamers at defensive end alongside Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo without Carter practicing. Youth seems like a good bet to do the show again.
I can’t say I’ve noticed much from Dontayvion Wicks so far. And that’s because Makai Lemon missed the last two practices he attended. That being said, Nick Sirianni has talked about Wicks among the Eagles’ top receiver group and said there is Keenan Allen in Wicks. That’s good for his stock.