The Eagles held their second practice of the mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, and considering Thursday will likely be a light practice, it was probably the last time to get a real good look at the 2019 team before training camp in late July.
The results, at least for the offense, were extremely inconsistent.
Here are some observations from Wednesday's practice:
Carson Wentz: After a pretty strong practice on Tuesday, Wentz struggled a bit on Wednesday — but his day wasn't without a few great throws.
Wentz's best throw of the day came during a red zone drill when he found running back Wendell Smallwood in the back corner of the end zone on a wheel route. The ball couldn't have been thrown better and was placed right into Smallwood's hands despite the window to get to the ball to the running back being very small. There was nothing the defender could have done — the throw was that good.
Wentz's other highlight of the day was a deep pass to receiver DeSean Jackson, a touchdown that came on the second play of the day. Jackson burned cornerback Rasul Douglas deep and Wentz hit him right in stride. Jackson did the rest from there, going into the end zone before spinning the ball in celebration. The play showed what the Eagles are hoping will be a lethal combination this season — Wentz's arm strength combined with Jackson's elite speed.
Unlike Tuesday, however, Wentz turned the ball over twice. The first interception could certainly be viewed as a great play by the defense, as cornerback Avonte Maddox jumped a pass intended for Marken Michel. The throw by Wentz wasn't terrible — it was just a great play by Maddox. The second interception, however, was solely on Wentz as he threw the ball right into the arms of safety Andrew Sendejo, giving him two interceptions on the day.
Overall, Wentz looked good — but the offense didn't exactly shine or get the better of the defense.
Reps: 29
Stats: 15/25, 4 TDs, 2 INT
Nate Sudfeld: Sudfeld has a rough practice for the second day in a row, but it is hard to tell how much blame goes on Sudfeld vs. how much belongs on the offensive line infront of him. It is obvious watching the two units that Wentz has way more time to work with than Sudfeld does. That being said, Sudfeld does hold onto the ball too long at times, as he was called for a safety during a redzone 7-vs-7 drill.
Where Sudfeld really struggled was in a red zone drill. On Tuesday, both Wentz and Sudfeld had a touchdown on each of their four throws during the drill, a sign that the offense should really be expected to get a touchdown. Wentz went two-for-two on Wednesday, but Sudfeld didn't get the second-team unit into the end zone, going 0-for-2.
The Eagles likely aren't close to pressing the panic button on Sudfeld, but it has not been a great first two days for the backup.
Reps: 22
Stats: 10/17, 0 TD, 1 INT
Clayton Thorson: Like Tuesday, Thorson didn't get many reps on Wednesday, seeing the field for only seven plays and attempting on three throws. The main takeaway on Thorson through two days, however, is this — he is way ahead of veteran Cody Kessler right now. Thorson gets almost all of the third-team reps, with Kessler getting only a handful through each practice. It is easy to see way, as even despite shaky results from Thorson, he has outplayed Kessler.
Reps: 7
Stats: 2/3, 0 TD, 0 INT
Cornerbacks (by John Barhcard): As practice started, nothing seemed to change that much from yesterday.
Avonte Maddox remained on the field with the firs-team in either base (where he is on the outside with Rasul Douglas) or in nickel when Sidney Jones comes on the field. As practice got towards the end, you did see Sidney Jones get a few more reps instead of Maddox in base with Douglas opposite of him. Both Maddox and Jones had five snaps each in base formation. It's hard to pick up any type of tedencies during OTA minicamp, but the one fact remains the the Eagles really want Maddox on the field at all times and that is a good philosophy to have.
The secondary overall I thought had a really, really good day. Rasual Douglas got burned on the 2nd play of the day by DeSean Jackson. It was hard to blame Douglase, however, as Jackson made a great subtle move as he worked himself in and out. Wentz hit him in stride for a touchdown and you can look at the as good and bad all at the same time. Only other blemish I saw on the day was Maddox and Douglas got crossed up somehow because Marken Michel was wide open for a quick 10 yard play that ended up as a touchdown when Michel turned on the jets and ran it up the middle of the field before anyone else realized what was going on.
We still have to wait to see how everything operates when Mills & Darby are healthy. A lot of these reps haven't been against first string wide receivers but it's a good sign that Jones, Maddox and Rasul are taking all the of the first-team reps and performing well while doing so.
Today's snap count:
1st Team
Douglas - 30
Jones - 28
Maddox - 25 - 20 in nickel, 5 on the outside
2nd Team
Jeremiah McKinnion - 31
Joshua Hawkins - 26
Jay Liggins - 4 (consistent with his 4 snaps per practice!)
Cre'von LeBlanc - 27 (all nickel)
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
