Super Bowl Champion Eagles set to open training camp

By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The quest to defend the first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history begins tomorrow. The Philadelphia Eagles are back in town, with training camp set to kick off on Thursday at the NovaCare Complex. 

The road to that elusive second straight Super Bowl title is going to be extremely tough, considering the hunger of the rest of the NFC and the NFC East. There's no doubting the strength of the conference this season, as the NFC is definitely in a stronger state than the AFC top-to-bottom. While the Eagles and fans alike believe the team can make a strong case to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, the national media tends to think differently.

Take a look at some keys to look out for in Eagles training camp this upcoming week and for the remainder of the summer as well as some of the major improvements in the NFC as a whole conference. 

Eagles' changes are minimal heading into 2018 season

The Eagles are in good shape heading into the upcoming season. Some may say the Eagles are in better shape than they were when they won the Super Bowl in February.

The team's roster changes are minimal, with many players returning to the squad, and only a few bolting for other teams through free agency. The Eagles made a few trades and dealt players elsewhere, but nothing that major that completely shook the landscape of what kind of team they will bring to the field this season.

The Eagles brought in veteran defensive tackle Haloti Ngata into the fold, adding linebackers Corey Nelson, LaRoy Reynolds, and Paul Worrilow into the mix. Worrilow is the only one of the bunch not available to play this upcoming season, due to an ACL tear suffered during the first session of mini-camp to start the offseason. Philadelphia also added wideouts Mike Wallace and Markus Wheaton to the active roster, replacing Torrey Smith and Marcus Johnson who were traded to the Panthers and Seahawks, respectively. Tight end Richard Rodgers signed a one-year deal to replace Brent Celek as the veteran tight end on the team. Finally, the Eagles brought in Matt Jones to the running back corps as well as QB Joe Callahan as the fourth option.

Celek, as mentioned, was released by the team, as well as Donnie Jones, Vinny Curry, Mychal Kendricks, and Daryl Worley. The Eagles are also going to miss the services of Trey Burton, famous for throwing the pass to Nick Foles in the Philly Special. Burton signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Bears. Running back LeGarrette Blount left for Detroit on a one-year deal, which was expected with running backs Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement expected to get the majority of the workload. The Eagles also lost DT Beau Allen (Buccaneers), RB Kenjon Barner (Panthers), LB Najee Goode (Colts), CB Patrick Robinson (Saints), K Caleb Sturgis (Chargers), and S Jaylen Watkins (Chargers) in free agency.

The Birds managed to re-sign LB Nigel Bradham to a five-year, $40 million extension and RB Darren Sproles to a one-year, $1.415 million deal before he retires at season's end.

The bottom line is that in what the Eagles lost to free agency, they gained in their own free agent signings, added to the depth that's already on the team. All-in-all, the defending Super Bowl champs look to be in good shape to defend that crown.

No Quarterback controversy in Philly, Carson Wentz still the guy

You'd think that given where the Eagles are at right now and who brought the team to prominence in the first place, there wouldn't be a conversation on why the backup quarterback should be the starting quarterback.

But there is that contingency out there that believes that Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles should be the starting QB over Carson Wentz no matter what. It's an absurd argument that isn't as common as some may believe, but there are still those people out there.

If you take a deeper look at Doug Pederson's team and where he stands on the Carson Wentz/Nick Foles QB battle, he reiterates that there is no such concept on the Philadelphia Eagles, there is no question who his starting quarterback is entering next season, even with Wentz's ACL recovery on the right track with a little bit of an unknown. He told reporters back in June that there is no "quarterback controversy" for the Eagles.

"I think inside he's very hungry," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said of Wentz before mandatory veteran minicamp at NovaCare Complex on Tuesday. "I would be. As the leader of the team, the face of the franchise, he was drafted to be our guy long term. Listen, I still believe this is Carson's team. I don't think differently about that. But yeah he's chomping, he's ready to get back out there."

And back in June, the Eagles' head coach made it clear that while Wentz is recovering, Nick Foles is still the No. 1 option until Wentz is 100 percent.

"Right now, today, that's the case," Pederson said. "I can't speak for September when we open up against the Falcons because I don't know where we're going to be at that time," Pederson said. "I think on the outside world, people looking at the Eagles would probably say 'yeah, Nick deserves an opportunity."

"But this is the off-season still," Pederson added, saying he's "encouraged with Carson's progress on the field right now … Right here, standing here today, if we're playing a game, I'd probably say Nick Foles is going out on the field."

The fact is that Nick Foles is a fantastic backup plan for the Eagles, especially if Wentz hits a roadblock in his recovery. If Wentz hits a setback and is unable to return to the field for an extended period of time, I'm sure the team is glad that they have Foles as the backup over Nate Sudfeld or Joe Callahan. Wentz has made major progress since going down with an ACL injury back in December against the Rams, participating almost fully in mini-camp just a month ago.

Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported during that mini-camp showing that Wentz was "running sprints on a side field, working on change of direction." Coming back from a knee injury as gruesome as an ACL tear is extremely difficult, some say that the recovery from that type of injury is worse than initially getting hurt.

Also in early June, NJ.com's Elliot Shorr-Parks took a deeper look at Wentz's reps and his mobility while maneuvering a pocket situation.

"Overall, Wentz was 4/6 with an interception and a touchdown, but didn't take enough reps to really get in a rhythm. His nice touchdown pass to Agholor made up for his bad interception right to McLeod, but outside of that he didn't take many chances with the ball. 

Still, at this point in his rehab what is important is that Wentz still isn't showing any signs of injury when he is out on the field, an encouraging sign for his recovery from a torn ACL."

Of course, all of this was a month ago, and Wentz has improved leaps and bounds since then. I mean, the guy got married last weekend and he looked pretty darn OK to me.

Eagles' injured past spans much further than just Carson Wentz

The good news about the Philadelphia Eagles this year is that injury problems don't seem to be that much of a concern outside of Carson Wentz's recovery. And that could very possibly just be due to the fact that he's the quarterback of the football team.

The NFL was plagued with injuries to high-profile players all last season, but the Eagles stuck out like a sore thumb to many of their key assets. Every major position class suffered a blow in one way or another last season, but they figured out ways to get better as a team with a true "next man up" attitude.

Aside from Wentz's season-ending ailment, Jordan Hicks saw his season end extremely prematurely, ending up on the injured reserve before most others. Special teams captain Chris Maragos had his season come to an abrupt ending due to a knee injury in Week 6.  The Eagles suffered a major loss during a Week 7 matchup with the Washington Redskins when offensive tackle Jason Peters was lost to a torn ACL and MCL. Peters, known by the league as "The Body Guard" left a void in the Eagles' offensive line that took a while to be filled back up again. There were other players that saw their seasons get cut short by injuries, but Darren Sproles, at the time, was a major loss when he went down with a torn ACL. 

The fact of the matter is that a lot of the Eagles players on this current team are an injury-prone squad. Whether it be Hicks, Peters, Sproles, or a couple of others, the injury question will always linger, especially with how important and active those players are.

At linebacker, as mentioned before, the depth is in question, especially if the Eagles lose Jordan Hicks to a prolonged period of time. With injuries to other guys already, Hicks needs to be on his best health this season, considering just how dominant and valuable he is as a defensive player. Joe Walker had a few quality moments last season for the Birds, as well as Kamu Grugier-Hill who's an extremely valuable asset on special teams. Grugier-Hill is going to be an intriguing player to keep an eye out for throughout training camp and into preseason when the Eagles try to figure out just how much they can shift around their linebacker depth.

For Jason Peters, this season is so important. The Eagles had to figure out the best way to guard Carson Wentz and Nick Foles from the left side last season, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai showed up to play towards the end of the season. Vaitai has been a question mark on this team for awhile now, but he came into his own especially in the playoffs when the team needed him most.

Position Battle To Watch: Running Backs

I feel like this is a cliche answer when it comes to the top position battles to watch among the Philadelphia Eagles this upcoming year. There are a bounty of options at the running back position that the Eagles are going to need to work out. 

Last year, it was easy to figure out who was going to be the guys heading into the season, as LeGarrette Blount, Darren Sproles, and Corey Clement ended up being the locks. Wendell Smallwood found himself largely inactive for most of the season, while Donnel Pumphrey was on injured reserve for the year. The Eagles acquired the services of Jay Ajayi from the Dolphins, who understandably became the team's No. 1 option. Don't expect anything to change there for 2018.

This year, veteran Matt Jones enters the mix, with rookie Josh Adams battling along as well. Ajayi, Clement, and Sproles figure to be locks for this year. With how successful a four-back system was last season, the Eagles may stick to that plan, and that's where training camp and preseason becomes so important. Smallwood is eager to get his chance to prove himself, but Pumphrey was drafted specifically to be someone the team can count on as a speed option with the potential to be a special teamer as well. Matt Jones is a veteran, that would fit in nicely as a fringe three-back, with the fourth spot the more likely option.

Whatever happens, the Eagles have a lot to work out behind Carson Wentz this season, as it is the most occupied position on this Eagles team.