Training camp is a series of firsts.
First, the players report. That happened Wednesday.
There is the first real practice of training camp. That will be on Friday.
Thursday was the first time the Eagles took the field as a team for the 2019 training camp, a light practice that went just a little over an hour and didn't feature any competitive team drills. Instead, the team held a 10/10/10 practice, a session where the offense runs certain looks for the defense for 10 plays, and then the defense does the same for the offense.
While it was a lighter day, there were still a few noteworthy things that happened.
Here is everything you need to know from Day 1 of Eagles' training camp:
Health: The Eagles started training camp last year with six players on some version of the Physically Unable to Perform list and their quarterback was recovering from a torn ACL. With that in mind the team had to be thrilled with how healthy they were for the first day.
The two best pieces of news? Offensive guard Brandon Brooks and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox were both in a helmet, a sign that both could be close to playing. Neither Brooks (Achillies) or Cox (foot) took part in team drills, but the fact that neither is on the PUP and did individual work is a great sign of where they are physically. They are without question two of the most important players on the team, and the possibility — if not likelihood — that both will be ready for Week 1 is huge.
In other injury news, running back Corey Clement, defensive end Derek Barnett, safety Rodney McCleod, cornerback Ronald Darby and linebacker Nigel Bradham all practiced, but none took part in team drills. Instead the group worked off to the side after individual drills were over. The only player that didn't practice was cornerback Jalen Mills. Mills was placed on the PUP and head coach Doug Pederson said after practice that Mills won't be taking the field until he is 100% recovered from his foot injury.
Also, in something that shouldn't be looked over, quarterback Carson Wentz was a full-go on Thursday, taking part in all of the team drills. Wentz said after practice that he could play in a game today if they had one and that he feels completely healed from the ACL/LCL and back injuries that have ended his last two seasons.
Cornerback: The Eagles appear to have a rotation they feel comfortable with at cornerback right now until both Darby and Mills are back. Just like they did in minicamp in June the team lined up on defense with Rasul Douglas and Avonte Maddox as the starting cornerbacks on the outside, with Maddox sliding inside to nickel and Sidney Jones playing on the outside when they went with five defensive backs. Cre'Von LeBlanc was once again running exclusively with the second-team defense. It will be interesting to see what the team does when Darby and Mills return, but for now, they appear pretty set with Douglas and Maddox as the starters.
Wentz: Wentz had the best play of the day on Thursday when he found receiver Nelson Agholor about 20-yards down the field for a completion during a team drill. The pass was right on the money, as he hit Agholor near the right sideline over the outstretched fingertips of two bigger defenders. The ball couldn't have been thrown any better. Wentz has had a very sharp offseason and that continued on Thursday.
Miles Sanders: The Eagles rookie running back was a full-go on Thursday after missing essentially the entire offseason of workouts due to a hamstring injury. Sanders worked mostly with the backups but did have one really nice play that stood out in an otherwise relatively slow practice. After getting the handoff Sanders started to run to his right before cutting to his left, seeing a wide-open hole develop in the defensive line. Sanders hit the hole hard, cutting free for about a 15-20 yard gain that might have been even more if the pads were on. Great vision from the rookie on the play.
Defensive ends: The Eagles were without Barnett on Thursday, so the defensive end rotation was a little off. Still, we got our first look at how the depth chart appears to be at defensive end. The starters were Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry, with Josh Sweat and Joe Ostman as the backups. Assuming Barnett will start when healthy, that means the Eagles top five defensive ends appear to be in this order: Graham, Barnett, Curry, Sweat, Ostman.
12 Personnel: The Eagles are expected to run plenty of 12 personnel this season so they can get both tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert on the field at the same time, so it wasn't surprising — but definitely noteworthy — that their first play of training camp had both Goedert and Ertz on the field. The play was a run, but expect the Eagles to throw it a lot more than they run it out of that personnel grouping this season.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
