UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Friday's practice times – 8:15 AM and 2:00 PM (special teams)
Friday's autograph session: Wide receivers
DEMPS SNAGS PRAISE ...
Fourth-round draft pick, safety Quintin Demps has been impressing coaches and fans this training camp with his ability to be in the right place at the right time.
"I've been happy with Demps," said head coach Andy Reid in his press conference. "You can see that, first of all, he had a lot of interceptions in college and you always want to see if that carries over to the pro game. In these practices here, you see him getting his hands on the ball and making catches. Now, we've got him playing both corner and safety, and he's able to handle that mentally and physically and that makes him a valuable guy as long as he can continue to improve in those areas."
Demps' 17 career interceptions topped the 2008 draft class and ranked second in both Conference USA and UTEP school history. Demps became the first player in school and conference history to have two 100-yard interception returns in both a season and a career. He also holds a school record with 404 interception return yards and school and league records with 220 return yards on five interceptions (2 touchdowns).
BACK IN ACTION ...
Rookie defensive end Bryan Smith was activated from the PUP list this afternoon and participated in the team's 10/10/10 practice. A third-round draft pick out of McNeese State, Smith had been hampered by a hamstring strain since the start of training camp.
TRUEX TAKES A PIT STOP AT LEHIGH ...
Martin Truex, Jr., a NASCAR driver and a good friend of kicker David Akers, visited Eagles practice this morning. Akers and Truex, who sim-race together online, exchanged helmets. Akers received a black NASCAR helmet with Truex's Bass Pro Shops logo on it, while Truex received an Eagles helmet, as well as an Eagles jersey with his name on it. Of the exchange Truex said, "This is going in my trophy room; I'm very excited."
When asked whose sport is more difficult to play, both parties differed to the other. Akers said of Truex, Jr., "He goes three wide in Talladega at 300 miles an hour, that's much harder than here."" Truex, Jr. replied that the Eagles "are working harder today than I ever do on Sunday." Truex, Jr. will race this Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. He said he plans to get his NASCAR helmet painted with the Eagles logo for a future race.
THINGS ARE HEATIN' UP IN THE VALLEY ...
Friday's weather forecast for Lehigh Valley according to Weather.com:
High: 88 degrees
Precipitation: 10 percent
Max. Humidity: 57 percent
TOTAL FAN ATTENDANCE: 6,099
