Phreak's Training Camp Report; 31 July 2006 (Morning Session Only)

[PhillyPhreak54]

The best thing about today was the fact that most of the walking wounded are back out there practicing. The day started off a little overcast and that burned off quickly. It ended up being pretty hot and a few guys were cramping up. I felt that today's practice was much better than the junk I saw on Saturday.

I do think that the heat and other variables are starting to wear on a few guys. Reid had to tell a few guys to hustle up later on in practice when a few were loafing to drills. One thing he expects is that every player runs between stations. No walking at all.

Onto the good stuff...first we start off with the injuries and guys who were affected by the heat.

a. Darren Howard - I did not see him out there today. I looked all over and he was nowhere to be found. I have not read any reports yet so I don't know what his deal is.

b. Ryan Moats - He is still missing. But I heard he'll be back in another day or so.

c. Todd Pinkston - Did not practice again.

d. Matt Schobel - He cramped up and the heat got him towards the end

e. Reggie Brown - He came out, stretched and then went back in the fieldhouse. After about 20 minutes he came back out and participated in everything. He showed no ill effects of the hammy strain.

f. Jason Davis - Not practicing due to the fractured hand

1. The first thing they do in the morning is the STs players come out a few minutes early and get some work in fielding punts and covering kicks. Today it was JR Reed, JJ Outlaw, Dexter Wynn and Bruce Perry were fielding them early on. I am rooting hard for JR Reed so I cannot wait to see if he can do this once the games start.

2. Omar Gaither had himself an excellent day today. He is a guy who interests me and I am hoping he will be a stud on STs and hopefully be a good backup MLB. He was all over the place today. He is way more vocal when calling out the defense and making pre-snap adjustments than he was earlier in camp. After watching him for a few days now today was sort of like watching the light come on for him.

3. Jerome McDougle...I still cannot believe how well he is playing and how good he looks coming off the end. He had another 2 "sacks" today and also batted a pass down. He is playing LDE as well as getting a lot of snaps at Joker. He's the 2nd team Joker behind Kearse.

4. Tra Thomas might've found his groove again. He played pretty well today. He didn't look tenative and he wasn't beaten real bad. He went up against Trent Cole most of the day and they both won some battles, but Tra was good.

5. Today was Jevon Kearse's day where he announced that he's ready. As I mentioned before The Freak didn't really stand out. His speed was there but he just wasn't getting to the QB. That changed today. Kearse was really playing well. It's like it took him a week to get warmed up.

6. Another note on Kearse; he was working with the LBs some today. I would guess that has a lot to do with him playing the Joker but he was working on his pass drops from the joker position and from other wild-card spots. Any by wild-card I mean that he wasn't over the center or at his LDE spot. Sometimes he would look like he was playing WLB.

7. That nickle defense I was talking about a few days ago was featured a lot today. Kearse was at Joker, Patterson at NT, Walker at RDE, McDougle at LDE, Barber at LB, Dawkins at LB, Lewis and Considine at S and then the 3 CB's. They used a lot of variations of this. Sometimes Kearse and Barber would both blitz the A gaps with Dawk doing a "twist" and finding the hole in the pass-pro scheme. Other times they'd blitz one of the other safeties with Dawk dropping out. This was exciting to watch. Someone give Jim Johnson a white lab coat because he's cooking up some crazy and exciting stuff.

8. There was a period today where the offense was working on the audibles. They were facing that nickle alignment and they would have to react to the blitzes being shown. Donovan and Garcia would have to check out or fake check. A chess game with the play clock running.

9. Jason Avant was a pleasant surprise on the field today. I was excited that I would finally get to see him. Now I only saw him for one practice but he left a few good impressions on me. I am not worried about his perceived "lack of speed". Any football fan should know that when a player is a rookie and trying to learn a phonebook sized playbook he will be thinking a lot and not reacting thus affecting his play. I saw it with Reggie Brown this time last year. What I did like from Avant was how well he did against the press coverage. He uses his hands well to slap away the defender and not allow himself to be pushed off his route. He isn't an overly big guy but he's solid. And that build helped him not get bumped. He ran a few wrong routes which lead to incompletions, but he also caught the ball well when he was in the right spot. Avant received a lot of reps today. One thing I noticed was when it was time for the offense to run an end-around they took Avant out and let Greg Lewis run it. I don't think they wanted him running the ball yet because of that knee.

10. Hank Baskett had a bandage on his right calf. I don't know if it is a laceration that they ust covered up or if he maybe strained a calf muscle. But towards the end of practice he was favoring the leg a little bit. He did not miss any time though and he continues to put his hands on display.

11. Greg Lewis has been pretty decent this camp. I'm not a real big fan of his and I've said that his role is meant to be a solid #4 WR and contribute on STs. His one problem today was that he should have caught a deep ball down the left sideline from McNabb. He didn't get up far enough to get it. This is where we need Todd Pinkston because Greg showed last year that he cannot win the jump balls.

12. As much as I have been gushing about McDougle I have to do the same about Reggie Brown. This guy is going to be very popular in Philadelphia. He adjusts to well to balls and still is able to get his hands on them. He picks them right out of the air and is looking to turn it upfield everytime. He did not show any favoritism towards that left hamstring. He also stayed about 30 minutes after practice and caught extra passes. His work ethic and demeanor are just two more things to be excited about.

13. I noticed that Jamaal Jackson was pulling a lot today and he did it well. One thing Fraley was great at was pulling. I wondered how Jackson would be at this since he is about 30lbs heavier. He pulled left and right and was out there fast enough to lead the backs.

14. Matt Schobel finally had a decent day today. The dropsies were gone and he caught everything thrown to him that I saw. Unforunately the heat jumped up and bit him later on and that ended his day.

15. A lot of two TE sets today as well. Some were with both at the LOS, some were with Smith split out in the slot and Schobel at the LOS. At times both were split out wide.

16. Andy Thorn continues to have a solid camp. He'll be caught up in the numbers game and I think he will end up on the PS. When Schobel went out Thorn ran #2 TE and made a few nice grabs.

17. Scott Young likes to fight. He ripped off Ed Jasper's helmet today and they went at it briefly. Then, two plays later, Young punched Jasper in the facemask for no reason after the play was over.

18. Speaking of Scott Young, he has moved to the 2nd team LG. There were a lot of changes along the 2nd team OL. Justice @ LT, Young @ LG, Fraley @ C, Adrien Clarke @ RG and Pat McCoy @ RT. Calvin Armstrong has been demoted to 3rd team.

19. The 3rd team OL is as follows; Pat McCoy @ LT, Max Jean-Gilles @ RG, Nick Cole @ C, Trey Darilek @ RG and Calvin Armstrong @ RT.

20. Shawn Andrews continues to amaze me as well. On one running play he pancaked Mike Patterson pretty good. Remember how Reggie White would use "the club" and just knock OTs to the ground? That is was Andrews did to Patterson. He swatted him out of the way and made his way to the second level and opened up a huge hole.

21. And even though Patterson got blown up on that play, he continues to play well. To those of you who belived his lack of height would hurt him, I beg to differ. The fact that he is built like he is allows him to usually win his battles and be in the backfield. His ability to diagnose plays sticks out as well.

22. Sam Rayburn needs to step it up. Last year we kind of attributed his subpar season to that elbow injury he had in camp. Now I am beginning to wonder what happened to the push that he got in 2004. He is not winning his battles and has not been playing in the backfield. With Ed Jasper heating up and LaJuan Ramsey continuing to open eyes, Truck Driver better get his butt in gear.

23. Another note on the WR's...there is going to be some fierce battles going on between those guys fighting for a roster spot. Everyone seems to be ready to rip the Eagles, and even I am a little skeptical, but I can't really rip any of the guys and say they stink. Even though I am not a Lewis fan, he even looks OK. I haven't really seen any of the guys having trouble with the press and I like the overall size of the position.

24. Darnerian McCants is making a push. He doesn't get a ton of reps but when he does he makes the most of them. He was one of the guys who stayed late after practice catching a ton of balls from the Jugs machine. He is also a beast as a gunner.

[PhillyPhreak54]

25. Another note on Avant...he stayed late and worked with Timmy Chang. Chang threw him quite a few balls.

26. Chris Gocong is going to be a player on STs but I must stress that his work at LB is going to take awhile. He doesn't look horrible but his head must be swimming with everything thats going on. He stays late everyday with Steve Spagnuolo and Tank Daniels, Shawn Barber and Omar Gaither and they work on coverage techniques. Its obvious the guy knows how to get to the QB, but patience is required to see if the LB experiment will work.

27. For the Jason Short fans out there, I have to say I think this is his last hurrah with the team unless injuries bite them. He is a player without a position. Although he did break through the line a few times today, his work as a DE leaves a lot to be desired. Can he beat out Gocong, Roper, Gaither and others who not only play STs but can play another position? I don't think so.

28. Sean Considine had a nice workout today. He had a pick and seems to cover well. He is also a hitter. It shows that JJ has confidence in him because he is using him in many of those nickle packages.

29. Koy Detmer is done, guys. He cannot get the ball downfield. Most of the struggles have to be that he is working with receivers such as Carl Ford, Bill Sampy and other camp bodies. But he is just not good. I think that he will be let go and that he might possibly end up back here as a coach. And I think TImmy Chang might be on the PS but if I were the GM I would be looking for someone different to tote that clipboard. Someone with a little bit of potential. goeagles99 and I talked about this a little last week and one guy who is interesting is Brooks Bollinger. Can the Jets keep him? I doubt it. I'd like to see him as our #3.

30. Donovan had a better day today than he did on Saturday. He missed a few guys and I noticed that after he did he would talk to Pat Shurmur, Reid and Marty a lot. I think that they were new plays because Donovan seemed to be asking questions about routes. He is also not hesitant to run. He took off several times today and big cheers accompanied him when he did so. He is moving in the pocket, making his reads and then taking off.

31. Justin Jenkins is a possession receiver if I've ever seen one. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean it because he doesn't have blazing speed but the guy catches a ton of balls. He always seems to be in the right spot. Can he stick? I doubt it but I wouldn't be shocked if he played his way onto the team. If he can have a good PS and cover kicks, he has a shot.

32. Trent Cole honors his contain responsibility well. He doesn't just crash down the line and leave that edge wide open. He reads the play and when he is sure it isn't bouncing outside he crashes down. On two plays back to back he made nice stops on outside plays. The first was on a rollout. He shed his blocker and forced the QB to stop and make a bad throw. The next play was a sweep and he forced the back to cut back to pursuit and the play gained nothing.

33. Correll Buckhalter continues to run well. Today it seemed as if he had more burst than before. He still is not seeing contact yet but he is doing everything else.

34. Watching Westbrook run so up close and personal is an amazing thing to watch. He can cut on a dime and pick up his acceleration like no one else. He is being used all over the place. Split out, split out after going in motion, running inside and outside and swinging out of the backfield. He caught a pass and got tackled by Considine out of bounds that drew Sean a "die" look from Reid.

35. Jeremy Bloom came out after practice and caught a bunch of balls as well. He is small but he is not slight in build.

36. Having Shawn Barber as the nickle LB brings great relief to me. He already knows the defense and he seems to be taking on a leadership role along with Dawkins and Trotter.

37. Thomas Tapeh made a few nice blocks today. The last time I saw him block someone he killed Trent Cole. Today he blew up Mark Simoneau. He's still running #2 but I hope that in the games he can push himself ahead of Parry. Why? Because even though Josh looks a little better at catching the ball, he still doesn't block well enough for my liking and when he gets handed the ball it's a half-a-yard and a cloud of dust. Parry seems slow when getting to his blocks.

I am not sure when I will be back up there, but I can assure you that I will make it back at least two more times before camp is done. As always, feel free to ask questions.

[PhillyGirl]

Brown returns to Eagles practice

By Marc Narducci
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

BETHLEHEM, PA - As a change of pace, the Eagles morning practice today at Lehigh was more noteworthy for who was participating than who wasn't.

The biggest news was the return of No. 1 wide receiver Reggie Brown, who had missed the two previous days with a hamstring spasm. In a practice that saw limited live hitting, Brown was running with the first team and didn't appear to be bothered by his hamstring.

Tight end L.J. Smith, who was expected to be out a few more days, returned after missing the previous three days with a shoulder injury.

Running back Bruce Perry and defensive tackle Ed Jasper, who were sidelined yesterday with lower back spasms, both were back at practice.

Rookie receiver Jason Avant, the fourth-round draft choice from Michigan, made his first appearance of the preseason. Avant had been on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list following arthroscopic knee surgery on June 20th.

During practice he was running his patterns well and didn't seem to be favoring the knee. The Eagles receiving corps is considered one of the team's biggest question marks and if he remains healthy, Avant will compete for a spot on the team.

Avant caught his first pass of the day, from Jeff Garcia, for a 15-yard gain on a deep out pattern in an 11-on-11 drill.

Defensive end Darren Howard and rookie linebacker Chris Gocong both missed their first practice of the preseason. Howard has knee inflammation, and Gocong was out with a stinger.

Other players who remained out included rookie fullback Jason Davis, who has a fractured hand, wide receiver Derric Fenner (hamstring) running back Ryan Moats (knee Sprain) and wide receiver Todd Pinkston (soreness in both Achilles).

Offensive guard Adrien Clarke left practice with a hyperextended elbow. Cornerback Donald Strickland suffered injuries to his knee and groin during today's practice.

Tight end Matt Schobel left practice with dehydration.

Considering how hot and humid it was at Lehigh, the fact that only one player left with dehydration speaks to how well conditioned the Eagles are.

The team went through a 2-hour, 15-minute morning workout that included little live hitting but plenty of running and sweating.

The Eagles worked at a brisk pace, with the players seemingly ignoring the searing heat.

"We are used to the elements, but it was still really hot out there," receiver Jabar Gaffney said. "I'll look forward to get in the ice tub."

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

This is where we need Todd Pinkston because Greg showed last year that he cannot win the jump balls.

Wrong.  Pinkston is shtein and probably finished.  He lost his elite speed and can't even run properly.

This team needs a new deep threat.  Pinkston's farging toast.

[MURP]

thanks for the report Phreak.


where is the billy mcmullen update?

[ice grillin you]

i agree even if pinky makes it thru the season which i dont think has any chance of happening hes gonna be a non factor.....he wasnt that good before the achilles and is basically worthless now...id almost rather take my chances with baskett or avant

the wr's are just a train wreck

i cant even count the number of times over the weekend that the eagle quarterbacks had to pull in the ball because no one could get open

being there and watching those clowns made me even more sick over how vanilla they are....unless reggie brown is the next chad johnson as phreak says (which im sure is possible but not something im counting on) this offense is in trouble

[mussa]

Thanks Phreak, another good one.   

[PhillyPhreak54]

What was Les watching? Gocong was out there today. 

Billy Mac is on pace for 95 catches 1268 yards and 13 TDs, MURP.

Even though PInky looks close to being taken out back and being put down, I want to see if he can come back once that swelling goes down. He hobbles around like an old man now, but I want to see if he can be ready to go in October. I'm not counting on it, but we'll see.

[T_Section224]

another great report phreak. 

PG, are you sending these reports to your sources so they can find some new talent to do the reporting in philly?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Will you be my agent?

[Father Demon]

Phreak, I don't know what I'd do without you.  Great reports.   

[Phanatic]

These write ups are just outstanding.... Thanks Phreak!

[phillywin2k5]

who has been filling in for Pinky at the 2 position, most consistently anyway?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

who has been filling in for Pinky at the 2 position, most consistently anyway?

I believe that is Greg Lewis.  Yay.

[TexasEagle]

Great report, Phreak! : How's Considine looking when he's in coverage? I was really excited he got drafted but he lost so much time to injury. Is he coming along well?