In the first few days of Eagles camp, there was one noticeable missing part to secondary drills: no interceptions. On Wednesday, there were plenty of them.
The secondary picked up four interceptions in Wednesday’s practice, two by new safety Malcolm Jenkins.
"That was great to see," DeMeco Ryans said. "It was great to see people picking up the tempo, picking up the energy, on the defensive side of the ball. We made some big plays."
The secondary served as a weakness in 2013 and the Eagles need more than just stops. Ryans wants to see playmakers. Jenkins second interception of the day, off Nick Foles, would have been returned for a touchdown.
"He did a great job of getting out in the route and cutting the route," Foles said, "and I love to see that aggressiveness."
"We feel like we've been close the last couple of days. Today, it came together," Jenkins said. "It's a tough play. It's really all about the finish, being able to kind of get your hips around and disrupt the receiver so that he's not making an uncontested catch. If the quarterback throws it right, it's really hard to defend."
Here are the rest of the highlights and happenings from Day 5 of Eagles camp:
- In addition to Jenkins two interceptions, Brandon Boykin had one in redzone drills. Cary Williams had the other interception.
- With Lane Johnson starting the season with a four-game suspension, he’s been taking reps with the second team. Allen Barbre is working with the first-team, as he is the expected starter in Johnson’s absence.
- The two players to watch offensively have been Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews. Sproles continues to display great speed out of the backfield with screen plays and rushing attempts. Matthews has been a favorite target of Mark Sanchez and has impressed during redzone drills with his size and ability to go after the ball.
- Earl Wolff saw significant time with the first-team on Wednesday and was primed to have the Eagles fifth interception on a bad throw from Foles but dropped the ball. Nevertheless, he made some good plays on Wednesday during 7-on-7 drills that have opened eyes at camp.
- Injury Report: Riley Cooper, Chris Polk, Bennie Logan and Julian Vandervelde remained out on Wednesday. Cooper has a foot injury, Vandervelde has a back injury and both Polk and Logan are sidelined with hamstring injury. Josh Huff left practice briefly on Wednesday but returned.
The Eagles will practice again on Thursday starting at 11:45 a.m. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is expected to address the media before practice. LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin will speak after practice.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
