By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
The Eagles' secondary still has a lot of question marks, but the depth of the secondary showed some promise on Wednesday morning at the NovaCare Complex.
Terrence Brooks continued to have a strong camp as he nails down the third safety spot. Brooks intercepted a Matt McGloin pass that bounced off of the hands of tight end Anthony Denham. Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation noted that plays like this have become common from Brooks this summer:
Terrence Brooks makes one or two big plays every single practice. Picked off McGloin after ball bounced of Denham's hands. #Eagles
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) August 2, 2017
Aaron Grymes, a camp standout from a year ago after being plucked from the Canadian Football League, has continued to show his coverage ability when he intercepted a pass while covering Nelson Agholor in 1-on-1 drills. Grymes appeared to be pushing for an NFL spot last training camp when he made a spectacular play to intercept a ball in preseason, however he came down hard on his shoulder on the play and was relegated to a practice squad role after spraining his AC joint that sidelined him for the remainder of last year's camp.
Another corner from last year's camp has also stood out, and that is Carson Wentz's college teammate C.J. Smith. Smith was signed as a undrafted free agent last offseason and found himself on the practice squad out of camp and earning a promotion to the 53-man roster by season's end. Smith was active on Wednesday, earning some time with the first unit.
He caught the attention of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz who said that he was "impressed" by Smith who consistently improves and needs to continue "to make plays." As of now, Smith and 2017 third-round pick Rasul Douglas are the team's second string cornerbacks.
Schwarz also discussed the status of second-round pick Sidney Jones, who many believe has shutdown corner potential if he gets healthy following an achilles tendon injury he suffered at his pro day.
Regarding Jones, Schwartz said "it's a tough situation…It's harder when you're not the one that's on the film, and he has a tough job, he's been very good at staying up with things…At some point he's gonna play, his job is to make sure he's mentally ready when he's physically ready." Jones's playing status remains up in the air for this season.
Anticipated starters Patrick Robinson and Jalen Mills were both noticeably physical on a day that featured a lot of red zone work, with Mills toeing the line between a legal and illegal play on more than one occasion and Robinson playing through the catch, wrestling the ball out of Jordan Matthews's hands to save a touchdown.
It was an up-and-down day for the offense as red-zone drills were the focal point. Carson Wentz was lights out in the first run of red-zone drills, only overthrowing a fade route and scoring multiple touchdowns. In Wentz's second run, the defense stepped up and Wentz went 0-for-12 during that portion of practice.
With Legarette Blount absent for a second straight day as he deals with a personal matter, undrafted rookie Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood took the bulk of carries again with Darren Sproles active in the receiving game. Donnel Pumphrey was also sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Like Blount, Alshon Jeffery missed his second day as he tends to a strained shoulder. Jeffery is considered day-to-day and the Eagles do not plan to play Jeffery in the preseason opener against Green Bay, as John Barchard of 94.1 WIP and Bleeding Green Nation reports.
Missing this game is not a big deal, as starters usually only play the first series or two in a preseason opener.
Marcus Johnson took reps with the first team at outside receiver with Jeffery out the past two days. Johnson spent last season on the Eagles' practice squad after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2016.
Also missing practice was Nick Foles (elbow), Elijah Qualls (groin), Alex McCalister (hamstring), and Paul Turner (shoulder).
The Eagles will practice again tomorrow before having a day off on Friday.
