The Eagles hit for the first time in training camp on Tuesday, and in the live sessions that were the closest the team has gotten so far to a real games, it was the youngest players on offense that shined the brightest.
Here is everything you need to know from Day 5 of Eagles' training camp:
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: The play of the day came from rookie receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
During one of the final team sessions of the practice, the offense lined up on the 25-yard line. After quarterback Carson Wentz dropped back he fired the ball to receiver Nelson Agholor, only to see it tipped on the way. Arcega-Whiteside made a great play, however, snatching the ball out of the air, breaking one tackle and running the rest of the way for a 75-yard touchdown. The entire offense followed Arcega-Whiteside to the endzone and celebrated the touchdown with him.
The touchdown capped off what has been a solid two days for Arcega-Whiteside, who has been getting more first-team reps with Mack Hollins still sidelined. Arcega-Whiteside finished the day with two catches on three targets. The Eagles have to be thrilled with what they have seen from him so far in camp.
Miles Sanders: Running back Miles Sanders has slowly seen his reps with the first-team offense increase and he has started to make the most of them. Sanders had two really nice plays on Friday, one coming in the passing game and on one the ground.
The catch Sanders made down the sideline during an 11-on-11 drill was very encouraging to see. Sanders ran a wheel route down the left sideline and Wentz hit him right in stride between the defender and oncoming safety. Sanders held onto the ball and got a few yards after the catch, completing what was about a 20-yard gain. The Eagles badly need a running back to step up and make plays out of the backfield in the passing game and they would prefer it to be Sanders. He showed signs on Tuesday he might be up for task.
Sanders scored his first touchdown of training camp on Tuesday when he ran the ball in from around five-yards out right up the middle. The touchdown came during a live-tackling session, so it was impressive that the slightly-undersized Sanders was able to breakthrough for the score.
Carson Wentz: Wentz followed up a strong day on Monday with another great day of practice on Tuesday.
Wentz has been very aggressive with the ball so far in training camp and is far more willing to throw it down the field than the other quarterbacks on the roster. That continued on Tuesday as he let it fly down the field a few times, including one 35-yard pass to receiver Nelson Agholor right down the seam on the left side of the field. Wentz has been putting excellent touches on his passes, and that was certainly the case on the completion to Agholor, as he put it where only Agholor had a chance to catch it.
Wentz's day was not perfect, however, as he did throw his second interception of training camp. The interception came in a seven-on-seven drill. It is not clear exactly what Wentz was looking at, as he through it almost right into the stomach of cornerback Sidney Jones, who had Arcega-Whiteside completely covered. Arcega-Whiteside tried to rip the ball away but Jones held onto it for his second interception of camp. Wentz throwing an interception in a seven-on-seven drill is not great, as that drill usually leans towards the offense.
Friday was a busy day for Wentz as he was on the field for 36 reps and threw the ball 31 times, easily his highest totals so far in training camp.
Stats: 22/31, 1 TD, 1 INT
Grade: B+
Mack Hollins: Receiver Mack Hollins once again did not take part in team drills, instead only participating in individual drills as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury. Hollins missing time with an injury is the last thing he needed during training camp as he missed all of last season with a groin injury. The fact that Arcega-Whiteside has played makes matters ever worse for Hollins, as at this point he might be behind the rookie on the depth chart.
L.J. Fort: New linebacker L.J. Fort made a major impact on Tuesday. Fort made one of the best plays of the day on defense when he burst through the line of scrimmage and tackled running back Josh Adams in the backfield for a loss. Fort followed that play up later on in the day with another nice stop in the run game. Fort seems to be behind Nigel Bradham, Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nate Gerry at this point, but with the Eagles making him a priority free agent this past offseason, it wouldn't be surprising if he soon past Gerry on the depth chart.
Jordan Mailata: Tuesday was a rough practice for offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, who was badly beaten on a spin move by defensive end Joe Ostman, who would have sacked Nate Sudfeld as a result if the defenders could hit the quarterback. Ostman has had a strong training camp, but the play showed just how far Mailata still might have to go to be ready to play in a regular season NFL game. Watching Mailata so far in training camp makes it clear why the Eagles decided to draft Andre Dillard — who has impressed so far in camp — in the first round.
Jeffrey Lurie: You can't say owner Jeffrey Lurie doesn't care. Lurie was out on the field for the entire, blazing hot practice on Tuesday, standing right on the sideline with the players during team drills. His decision to stand so close backfired, however, as at the end of one play he was knocked over by two players who ran out of bounds. Lurie took a pretty serious fall, but was able to get right back up and didn't seem to be injured.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
