Injuries are beginning to mount for the Eagles during this laborious week of training.
Jordan Matthews (knee), Malcolm Jenkins (hamstring), Jason Peters (quad), Rodney McLeod (family funeral), Marcus Smith (concussion) Wendell Smallwood (quad) and Hunter Sharp (undisclosed) all missed practice today.
The Philadelphia Eagles left the pads in the locker room when they took the practice field on Saturday morning. After three straight days in full pads with “live” hitting, Saturday’s practice was a much more laid back atmosphere at the NovaCare Complex.
Much has been made of Carson Wentz’s ability to throw on the run this summer. Today, the rookie signal caller rolled to his right and fired a strike to rookie wideout Paul Turner in the end zone.
Earlier in the morning, Wentz threw a perfect 40-yard touchdown pass to Cedric O’Neal, who barley had to extend his arms as Wentz placed the ball just over his shoulder on the wheel route. Moreover, the coaching staff is continually indicating their approval of Carson Wentz using his legs in order to provide an alternative dynamic for defensive coordinators to take into account.
Eagles ran a designed run for Wentz. He looks good running the ball, pretty fast.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) August 6, 2016
It is also worth noting that there have been far fewer reports of erratic throws from Wentz over the past week.
Philadelphia worked on one of their trick plays during today’s light session. The play started with a routine handoff to Kenjon Barner, who tossed it backwards to Rueben Randle on a reverse, who beautifully launched the pigskin down the sideline to quarterback Chase Daniel for a touchdown.
Wide receiver Chris Givens has been a productive deep-threat through the first 11 practices of training camp. On Saturday, the fifth-year veteran from Wake Forest torched Eagles defensive backs while giving chase to a Sam Bradford bomb, ultimately snatching the ball for a long gain. While many around the team aren’t overly optimistic about how far starting quarterback Sam Bradford can take the Eagles in 2016, others have seen vast improvement in the 2008 Heisman winner’s game as compared to this time last year.
Darren Sproles displayed his lightning-quick cutting ability on Saturday morning. At first it seemed there was no room to run for the 33-year-old halfback, but the moment a hole opened up, Sproles could be seen darting through it for a solid gain. While Sproles is known for his agility, it’s his underrated vision and ability to quickly recognize an opening which is one of the reasons he’s so efficient. The 11th-year veteran is likely to surpass Herschel Walker, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson in career all-purpose yards by the end of 2016.
The Eagles have assembled a three tight end package to get Brent Celek, Zach Ertz and Trey Burton on the field concurrently. The implementation of this set could have to do with the magnificent camp Burton has put together. On Saturday, Burton made another surreal diving reception, this time on a deep pass from Chase Daniel for a touchdown.
Today’s practice was much like a walk through for the Eagles. The team will reconvene tomorrow morning when they’ll get back to blue-collared training in preparation for their first preseason game against Tampa Bay next Thursday.
Patrick Del Gaone is a staff writer for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Del_Gaone.
