What is the story about?
Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice notes are back, baby! Today marked the Birds’ first summer practice ahead of the 2026 NFL season. It wasn’t padded and it lasted for about 70 minutes*. Here’s what I observed at the Jefferson Health Training Complex (formerly NovaCare).
EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES
- JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Just like the headline says, there were encouraging signs from the Eagles’ quarterback and the team’s new offense. Was it perfect? No, it wasn’t. There were drops. There were procedural penalties, as Lane Johnson brought up during his post-practice press conference. But this offense looked much more functional than the version that was largely dominated by Vic Fangio’s defense during the team’s spring practices.
- There were a lot of under center play action looks. Hurts made some quality on-time completions in these situations. I wonder if under center play action helps Hurts’ timing because there’s more pressure to deliver the ball not knowing if a defender is bearing down on him while his back is turned to the defense, as opposed to him perhaps holding the ball too long while operating from shotgun and being able to see the defense at all times. Just a thought.
- Hurts made a good number of completions over the middle of the field, to which I saw a lot of “But I was told he couldn’t do that!” reactions. To that I’d say, the criticism hasn’t reasonably been about Hurts’ capability in that regard, though, as much as it has been about the frequency of his attempts between the numbers. Regardless, it was good to see him frequently target that portion of the field on Wednesday.
- Hurts had good back-to-back completions to Dontayvion Wicks and DeVonta Smith for moderate gains. The throw to Smith beat Quinyon Mitchell in coverage.
- The highlight play of practice was Hurts hitting a diving Darius Cooper over the middle with an anticipatory throw against tight coverage.
- Not the first time I’ve said it this offseason and certainly not the first offseason I’ve said the following but it really does seem like Hurts is targeting running backs more often than usual. Answering a question about pass protection duties after practice, Saquon Barkley alluded to having a bigger role as a pass-catcher. So, maybe there’s really something to this?! Have to see it in the real games to fully believe it.
- I thought Hurts’ post-practice press conference was good. He included a line about “100 alignment, zero entitlement” in addition to speaking about an emphasis on “discipline and unity.” Was Hurts solely taking shots at A.J. Brown? I don’t believe that to be the case. But it’s probably more than zero percent about Brown. Hurts is very intentional and I think he’s preaching the right messages as he continues to take on a bigger leadership role every year.
- Stock up!
- I am trying not to overreact to what we’ve seen in practice settings thus far but it’s hard not to buy the Eagles’ offense looking stylistically different under Sean Mannion this season. Obviously, we need to see it carry over to the real games, and it’s the results of those differences that matter most.
- The general vibe of the team seems to be pretty positive! Which is somewhat to be expected at this time of year when optimism is abound. Still, things feel good, which is good! And therefore not bad. You can’t get this kind of high-level analysis anywhere else.
- EAGLES INJURY UPDATES: The Eagles officially placed Jonathan Greenard on the active/PUP list prior to practice. Howie Roseman revealed that the veteran edge rusher suffered a pectoral strain while lifting weights. He added that it is “not a long-term injury; nothing to be concerned about.” The rest of the roster is apparently healthy, which is huge! (Though I did not explicitly see Drew Kendall taking part in team drills, which was also the case at times in the spring. But maybe I just missed him being in there.) Jalen Carter, Makai Lemon, and Jihaad Campbell were notably back in action after missing time during OTAs/minicamp. Important to see.
- 2026 DRAFT CLASS UPDATES: Lemon made some short catches via Hurts passes, nothing flashy. Eli Stowers was invisible to me just like he was in the spring (speaking together on a practice recap episode of the Go Birds! podcast, Eliot Shorr-Parks said he only noticed Stowers when he bobbled a short catch). Markel Bell continues to rep at second-team right tackle. Cole Payton made some good throws, more on that later. Micah Morris repped with the third-team offensive line. Didn’t really notice Cole Wisniewski, Uar Bernard, or Keyshawn James-Newby do much.
- All aboard the Tank Bigsby hype train. The Eagles’ No. 2 running back saw some run with the first-team offense (behind Saquon Barkley, of course) and stood out on two plays. The first was a long run up the middle where he fought through “contact” and looked explosive. The second was a catch-and-run that he set up by coming back to the ball and cutting upfield in a way that shook his defender to get yards after the catch. The dude clearly has juice. They’ve gotta find ways to get him involved.
- Dontayvion Wicks dropped a Hurts pass that Quinyon Mitchell may have gotten a hand on. Wicks has struggled with drops in the past, so, it would be good to see him avoid those issues in camp.
- Good to see the aforementioned Darius Cooper make some good catches. It was a quiet spring for him but, as I’ve said, he comes alive in the summer. Just like he did last year.
- BACKUP QUARTERBACK BATTLE: The QB2 competition we saw in the spring is rolling on to camp. Tanner McKee took the first set of second-team reps, including in the pre-practice walkthrough portion. But McKee and Andy Dalton frequently rotated with the backups. McKee didn’t do anything that made my notes while Dalton made some positive completions to a leaping Johnny Wilson and Hollywood Brown in stride on a quick slant.
- More on QB4, who saw limited action with the third-team offense. Cole Payton made a ballsy attempt over the middle to a contested Quez Watkins, who made the grab in 7-on-7. On the final play of practice, Payton completed a downfield pass to Britain Covey, who was able to find the end zone after the catch. Good to see that Payton doesn’t look scared to pull the trigger, as can be the case with some rookie quarterbacks. Payton is slowly but surely building the case for the Eagles to keep him as a developmental option.
- Dameon Pierce had a long run at one point. Could be the favorite to be RB4, likely on the practice squad, although the Eagles did keep four running backs last season.
- The second-team offensive line I saw: LT Fred Johnson, LG Michael Jordan, C Jake Majors, RG Myles Hinton, Markel Bell.
- Third-team offensive line: LT John Ojukwu, LG Hollin Pierce, C Willie Lampkin, RG Micah Morris, RT Cameron Williams.
- As you may have noticed, there wasn’t a ton to say about the defense today. The biggest standout from that side of the ball was Jalyx Hunt, who had some quality wins against Jordan Mailata. Good sign that Hunt is ready to make another leap from Year 2 to Year 3 after doing so from Year 1 to Year 2.
- Eagles 2025 draft pick Ty Robinson was repping on the third-team defensive line, lining up next to undrafted rookie Zion Wilson and the incredibly inexperienced Uar Bernard. Doesn’t seem like a good sign for his stock. (RELATED READING — Eagles Film Review: This is a huge offseason for Ty Robinson.)
- Makai Lemon, Britain Covey, and Elijah Moore were the three players fielding punt returns during special teams drills.
- JERSEY NUMBER UPDATES: Jihaad Campbell moving from No. 30 to No. 11 has been officially confirmed. DB Shaun Wade, who was signed out of the UFL, has taken over No. 30. Other newer additions: EDGE A.J. Epenesa is No. 57, OG Michael Jordan is No. 79, WR Erik Ezukanma is No. 49, DT Zion Wilson is No. 78 (shared with Myles Hinton). Official #JerseyNumberAnalytics stance: Ezukanma and Wilson are cooked. Wade is on the roster bubble but leaning off. Epenesa’s number is perfectly fine and Jordan’s is actually good (formerly worn by the likes of Brandon Brooks and Todd Herremans), especially for being signed so late in the offseason.
- I can’t say I expected someone to be wearing an Uar Bernard jersey at practice. It was a young fan wearing a kelly green youth uniform. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that they’re not related.
- *Some people seem to think it’s weird when I say “70 minutes” instead of one hour and ten minutes. The former just seems more efficient to me. Fewer characters to type, fewer words to speak out loud. Do you think it’s weird or nah?
UP NEXT: The Eagles practice again tomorrow starting at 10:00 AM Eastern. We’ll hear from Vic Fangio prior to practice around 9:40 AM.
