INJURIES
A couple noteworthy injuries from Sunday. Reggie Brown is still feeling the effects of an Achilles strain. Sav Rocca has knee inflammation and missed practice. Brodrick Bunkley missed practice for personal reasons. Reid said he could be back as soon as this afternoon. Tra Thomas left the morning workout with back spasms and was replaced by Todd Herremans. Montae Reagor was also on the sidelines, still plagued by a knee injury.
AFTERNOON PRACTICE
The weather has forced afternoon activities indoors once again. With Tra Thomas out with back spasms, the offensive line has adjusted once again. King Dunlap steps in at left tackle, allowing Herremans to stay at left guard.
The defensive backs performed an interesting drill, utilizing the indoor facilities. The backs partnered up and as one player faced the wall, the other player threw a tennis ball over his shoulder. The player facing the wall then had to react quickly to catch it. Judging from the success rate, the drill is probably harder than it looks.
Most of what the team does during the afternoon sessions are at 1/4 or 1/2-speed to begin with. The purpose of the second practice is to keep the guys working out throughout the day. Being indoors slows down practice even more, but the time can be used to deal with assignments, techniques and other little things. It's almost like a live classroom. The guys working up the most sweat are off in the corner doing calisthenics. The only weight that they use are 10-pound dumbbells, but it looks effective.
MORNING PRACTICE
The defensive backs focus heavily on shedding blockers and pursuing the ball carrier. Asante Samuel is included in the mix, back from the hamstring strain.
The whole team seems to be revisiting areas that they had issues with against the Steelers. An example: DeSean Jackson and Kevin Kolb run the same 20-yard and out route that they used twice during the first preseason game and like the game, the play was incomplete due to Jackson going out of bounds. Marty Mornhinweg said, "That's the same thing that happened in the game." They eventually got it down though.
Two great plays from wide receivers: Brian Dawkins jumps to tip a pass but Jason Avant adjusts and still brings it in despite the deflection. Jamal Jones during the one-on-one drills beats his defender down the field and even though the pass is underthrown he rises up and makes the leaping catch. Harold Carmichael says, "Get up there on that roof."
Avant makes a sharp cut and gets open. McNabb starts to screech "errrr" like tire breaks.
Big depth-chart change today: Jed Collins is taking reps as the first-team fullback. Jason Davis, who scored the lone Eagles' touchdown in Pittsburgh is with the twos, and Luke Lawton is practicing with the threes.
Steve Mariucci's here today with NFL Network. Should be interesting to hear what he has to say.
McNabb's been working on jump balls in the end zone with Hank Baskett. They unsuccessfully tried to run one in Pittsburgh, and the connection looks a lot better today. On the next play, McNabb takes off running, and the crowd loves it.
Ouch. There's no hitting today, but the field is still slippery. Coming across the middle, Greg Lewis slips, and his head slams against the lowered shoulder of Quintin Mikell. One of the biggest hits of training camp, and completely unintentional. Once Omar Gaither sees that Lewis is all right, he starts hooting and hollering for more.
The cornerback turnstile is back in full force today with the return of Asante Samuel. Samuel/Brown, Samuel/Sheppard, Sheppard/Brown, or all three. All of these combos have gotten looks today. By the way, Samuel looks very sharp.
David Akers practices kicking field goals but with a twist. The goal posts are adjustable and they are set up so narrowly they resemble those of the Arena Football League.
The defense went through a few difficult series against the offense and some of the veteran defenders take it to the next level. Without hitting you really can't measure how well the defense plays. Sheldon Brown makes an interception, showing some impressive hang time. Andy Reid says "Nice job Sheldon Brown." The head coach doesn't like to see the ball on the ground at all so when he sees a play like that he acknowledges the effort.
As the team goes into the locker room, Sean Considine works with one of the coaches on catching deep balls. That's something all of the defensive backs do on their own time to make sure they are able to capitalize on interception opportunities.
Brian Westbrook, fresh off of signing his new deal, stayed late after practice to sign a ton of autographs.
9:41 AM - Yes, we realize it's been way too long since this was updated. We'll have complete updates shortly. Apparently, we leave for a few days and the Internet goes haywire. We've come up with a backup plan in the meantime. Stay tuned.
7:00 AM - Good morning Eagles fans! The Eagles resume two-a-day practices here at Lehigh University on Sunday. The live hitting portion of training camp is already over because of the preseason games. It will be interesting to see any changes to the depth chart, if Shawn Andrews, Asante Samuel or Reggie Brown return to the field after missing the preseason opener. Obviously, we all know that Andrews has not been here for the entire training camp. If you can't be here, we'll cover all the action for you.
