Eagles practice notes: Andy Dalton is QB2?

The Philadelphia Eagles held the second of two OTA practices open to media access on Tuesday and I was at the NovaCare Jefferson Health Training Complex to watch the action unfold. Here’s what I observed!

• ATTENDANCE UPDATES:
  • ABSENT AGAIN: Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter.
  • NEWLY ABSENT: Fred Johnson, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Hollin Pierce.
  • RETURNED : Dontayvion Wicks and Jihaad Campbell (Jihaad watched practice from the sideline).
• INJURY UPDATES:
  • DID NOT PRACTICE:
    • Makai Lemon suffered a hamstring injury, according to Quinyon Mitchell. The rookie wideout is expected to miss the rest of the Eagles’ spring practices but should be ready for training camp.
    • The aforementioned Jihaad Campbell is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
    • Britain Covey, Carson Steele (wearing a sleeve on his right leg), and Tucker Large (injured reserve) watched practice from the sideline.
  • LIMITED PARTICIPATION:
    • Jonathan Greenard is still limited to position drills.
    • Rookie safety Cole Wisniewski was sidelined for last week’s media-attended practice but returned to position drills. Don’t think I saw him in team drills but could be wrong.
  • FULL PARTICIPATION:
    • Hollywood Brown took part in team drills after not doing so in last week’s media-attended practice.
• JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Hurts’ first pass during team drills was an interception thrown right to Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in 7-on-7s. After the play, I noticed Cooper DeJean pointing down the field to someone (Drew Mukuba? A coach?), perhaps in an “I told you!” kind of way that suggested the defense might’ve had a read on the offense there. But maybe that wasn’t it at all, just speculating. Anyway, Hurts rebounded from this pick with some short completions over the middle to DeVonta Smith (the media focus of the day with A.J. Brown) and Dallas Goedert. Hurts also connected with Saquon Barkley up the seam (can’t recall him previously being targeted like that) for a 30+ yard touchdown. Unless someone just flat out missed their assignment, it looked like the design of that play help to scheme Barkley open (gasp, what a concept!). Could be good to get Barkley more involved as a downfield target. During a goal line drill towards the end of practice, Hurts just missed a throw to a crossing DeVonta in the middle of the field for a would-be touchdown. All told, it was mixed bag of a day for Hurts.
• The Eagles’ first 11-on-11 rep had Hurts lined up under center in 12 personnel to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley. Dallas Goedert and Johnny Mundt were the tight ends with DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks at wide receiver. Wicks didn’t stand out much in his first practice; I only wrote down his name for dropping a pass.
• Grant Calcaterra did rotate in with the first team offense, so, it’s not like he’s entirely out of the picture. He actually made a good grab coming back to the ball for a short contested catch against Quinyon Mitchell.
• BACKUP QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY? Or maybe there’s no controversy after all and it’s just been decided that Andy Dalton is Hurts’ primary backup instead of Tanner McKee? Plenty of offseason left to go but, for the second media-attended practice in a row, Dalton was the quarterback with the second-team offense. And unlike how he stunk last week, the 38-year-old veteran was much sharper today. Dalton made a good anticipation throw up the seam to hit E.J. Jenkins for a first down. Then he completed two passes to receivers on out routes along the left sideline. Dalton found Elijah Moore, who sat down in a soft spot in the defense, for another first down. He capped off a strong day at practice with a strike to Hollywood Brown in the back of the end zone during a goal line sequence. Tanner McKee’s limited reps included him hitting a flyswatter dummy, a short pass broken up by undrafted rookie Kapena Gushiken, a wormburner over the middle, and a short touchdown pass to Danny Gray. Maybe we’ll see more of a rotation at QB2 moving forward … but what if Dalton is just the guy at QB2? Something we’ll continue to monitor.
• Cole Payton was guilty of holding the ball too long on one rep where he ended up taking off running to the left (reminder: he’s left-handed). Payton did have a short completion to Eli Stowers over the middle. Unlike last week’s practice, I was able to watch him throw from behind him. He does have more of a Tim Tebow-like build than I initially realized.
• Riq Woolen had a good practice. He knocked the much smaller Hollywood Brown off his route on a Hurts go ball throw to the wide receiver. He also broke up a Hurts pass in the end zone to prevent a touchdown. Some good examples of how his size and length can be a benefit.
• OFFENSIVE LINE CONFIGURATIONS:
  • First-team unit: LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, C Cam Jurgens, RG Tyler Steen, RT Markel Bell
    • No surprises here but good to see Bell at right tackle again with Lane Johnson not attending. Of course, with Fred Johnson also out, it’s not like anyone would’ve realistically been ahead of Bell.
  • Second-team unit: LT John Ojukwu, LG Myles Hinton, C Willie Lampkin, RG Jake Majors, RT Cameron Williams
    • Ojukwu was repping at second-team right tackle last week. With no Fred Johnson, he was second-team left tackle. The Eagles are testing out his versatility. Might be a good sign for him.
    • Lampkin was elevated to second-team center with Majors sliding over from the pivot to right guard this week.
    • Williams also worked at third-team right tackle, so, the 22-year-old is getting a lots of reps.
  • Third-team unit: LT John Ojukwu, LG Jaedan Roberts, C Willie Lampkin, RG Micah Morris, RT Cameron Williams
• New guy Samori Toure (wearing No. 46 on offense, shared by Joshua Weru on defense) made a contested grab along the left sideline while facing tight coverage from Jonathan Jones.
• ROSTER MOVE: Shortly prior to practice, the Eagles announced they signed free agent running back Elijah Mitchell. He’s wearing No. 38 on offense with Ambry Thomas (another 49ers draft pick from 2021) also having that number on defense. Mitchell previously participated in the Eagles’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. Mitchell logged seven total touchdowns and 1,326 yards from scrimmage as a rookie in 2021 (including playoffs) with 1,132 rushing and 194 receiving. Since then, injury issues have limited him to 560 rushing yards (4.7 average) in just 18 regular season games played from 2022-2025. Now in Philly, Mitchell will have a chance to compete for a roster spot as RB3 or RB4.
• Fun example of the energy that Davis, an emerging leader on the team, brings to practice:

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UP NEXT: The Eagles’ remaining OTA practice schedule: June 4, which is closed to media access. The Eagles will then hold two days of mandatory minicamp, which is open to media, from June 9-10.

Then the players are off until training camp begins in late July.