Philadelphia Eagles News

Practice Blog: July 27

Jul 28, 2009 at 02:40 AM

Here's a recap of what happened on Monday at the practice fields of Lehigh University. The updates were provided by Bob Kent (BK), Chris McPherson (CM) and Bo Wulf (BW)

8:17 AM - Running back Eldra Buckley is the first player out on the practice field to begin stretching. He is shortly followed by a number of other players. Once everyone is on the field, we'll give a list to indicate who is here. (CM)
9:07 AM - So, do you want to know who is here on the practice field? Here's the list of who we saw ... Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, A.J. Feeley, Danny Amendola, Ken Parrish, Brandon Robinson, Jack Ikegwuonu, Macho Harris, LeSean McCoy, Cornelius Ingram, Trae Williams, Eldra Buckley, King Dunlap, Jervonte Jackson, Mike Gibson, Marcus Thigpen, Courtney Robinson, Reshard Langford, Brandon Gibson, Shaheer McBride, Eugene Bright, Moise Fokou, Charleston Hughes, Byron Parker, Fenuki Tupou, Dallas Reynolds, Stacy Andrews, Kevin Curtis, Mike McGlynn, Max Jean-Gilles, Marcus Mailei, Josh Gaines. The biggest names here obviously are Curtis, Andrews and Jean-Gilles. Brian Westbrook is rehabbing, but not on the practice field. There was a heavy emphasis on special teams before going into individual drills. (CM and BW)
9:28 AM - Caught the last 10 minutes of the wide receiver drills ... The main person I wanted to see was Kevin Curtis. He looked smooth, fluid and fast. He was crisp cutting in and out of his routes. He was the role model for the other young receivers to follow in this camp. He showed no ill effects of his sports hernia injury. I wouldn't have known the injury by watching him. Other notes on guys ... Danny Amendola also looked very quick out there. Brandon Robinson did a good job on his route running. Same goes for Brandon Gibson at times. Position coach David Culley was shouting words of encouragement or things the players needed to work on after each throw. Some of the points of emphasis for Culley included where the receivers place the ball after they catch it - especially on out routes. The other thing is eye placement. This is not just on the ball, but when running the route. Obviously if you have your head down the whole time then pick it up suddenly, the defensive back is going to know when the cuts are coming. (CM)
9:35 AM - Eagles fans will be happy to know that Stacy Andrews is in camp and running with the "first-team" offense, of players who are here, at Right Guard. The rest of the offense looked like this: Donovan McNabb, QB; LeSean McCoy (with Eldra Buckley working in), RB; Marcus Mailei, FB; Cornelius Ingram/Eugene Bright, TE; King Dunlap, RT; Andrews, RG; Mike McGlynn, C; Max Jean-Gilles, LG; Paul Fanaika, LT; And all six WR's currently in camp were rotating in (BW).
9:56 AM - Paul Fanaika wasn't included on our original list of who's here in camp, which brings the total of player's practicing to 33. Here's the position breakdown: 3 QB, 3 RB/FB, 6 WR, 2 TE, 8 OL, 2 DL, 2 LB, 6 DB, 1 P (BW).
10:02 AM - The team ran some 7 vs. 7 drills and there were a couple highlights. Cornelius Ingram got past th defense and hauled in a long pass from A.J. Feeley, Kevin Kolb looked sharp throwing some accurate slant routes, and Marcus Mailei looked sharp catching the ball out of the backfield. But the biggest response from the fans here in camp was to a very nice one-handed grab by LeSean McCoy on a Kevin Kolb pass (BW).
10:51 AM - Wrapping up the morning session, the best play of practice was Macho Harris' interception of a Kevin Kolb pass during the 7-on-7 red zone drill. From just inside the opponent's territory, Kolb slung a deep pass down the middle and Harris was able to get his paws on it and haul it in. Said Harris, "I just do what I'm coached to do. He did a little skinny post and I undercut him. I was expecting the ball to be there right away because it was an angle route. In the red zone, you have the back of the end zone to help you out. So I can play aggressive like that." (CM)
11:01 AM - This post was news worthy simply because it's something I haven't seen during my years here at training camp. After practice, Donovan McNabb was running sprints with some of the assistant coaches. McNabb is meeting the media as I write this, so I'm sure it will come up in the press conference. The other note I wanted to put here was that LeSean McCoy looked very smooth during practice, especially when catching the ball. More on him shortly as he talked to the media after practice. We'll be back later on for the afternoon practice. (CM)
3:19 PM - We're on the way to the practice fields now. We'll be here with updates shortly. (CM)
3:35 PM - The Eagles kicked off the afternoon session with work on kickoffs and kickoff returns. The shifty Danny Amendola is being used as the primary returner of the Ken Parrish kickoffs, most of which are landing inside the 5-yard line (BW).
3:55 PM - A very welcome sight on the practice fields as Brian Westbrook is out rehabbing under the goal posts as Ken Parrish field goals sail over the top of the Eagles star running back. So far Westbrook has primarily been stretching his back and legs on a red balance ball, and looks very comfortable in his long sleeve white shirt and hat. It's definitely an encouraging sign to have Brian Westbrook making progress directly parallel to where LeSean McCoy and the other running backs in camp are partaking in their position drills (BW).
4:05 PM - After finishing his stretching, Westbrook jogged around the perimeter of the practice field with head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder. The two then went through a series of running drills, increasing speed and distance each time. He's obviously not going full speed yet, but there are no noticeable limps hampering Westbrook's form. From my eyes, it's hard to imagine Westbrook not being ready for the start of the season, and hopefully sooner (BW).
4:15 PM- Another note from this afternoon's practice is that Donovan McNabb is sitting out the session for undisclosed reasons. We'll keep you posted when we get more information (CM and BW).
4:21 PM- It looks like Westbrook's workout has come to a close as Westbrook is now getting his lower body stretched out. He worked out for over a half hour, and although little can be gleaned from Westbrook's session, it's no doubt a good sign to see him on the field in some capacity on the first day of training camp (BW).
4:48 PM - Word is in on McNabb: He was excused for personal reasons and will be back tomorrow morning, so no worries there.
4:52 PM - Some quick notes and observations from the red zone 7 vs. 7 drill that closed out the first day of Eagles training camp. Macho Harris continued to get reps at both safety and cornerback, facing off against the slot receiver when he wasn't lined up deep. It's hard to make any concrete observations before they put the pads on, but LeSean McCoy really has been playing at a different speed than the other guys on the field. Two other guys that continued their solid days were Danny Amendola, who has displayed a suddenness in motion that has been fun to watch, and Marcus Mailei, the undrafted rookie FB from Weber State. Mailei has exhibited an impressive ability to catch out of the backfield so far, and made a nice catch falling down in the end zone on the final play of the day. He faces an uphill battle to make the roster, but he's impressed me with his soft hands.

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