Eagles QB practice report card vs. Ravens

Carson Wentz
Photo credit Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles held the first of a two-day joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens on Monday, opening the doors at the NovaCare Complex to one of the top teams in the NFL. 

The practice was a good chance for the Eagles to see how far along they are at this point of training camp and how much work they need to do before Week 1. 

Here is a look at the day quarterback Carson Wentz had, along with some other practice observations: 

 

Wentz: Wentz and the first-team offense had their work cut out for them going against the Ravens’ defense, a unit that is not only one of the best in the league but is extremely deep at secondary.

Despite playing against an elite defense, however, Wentz definitely had his moments. One of his best completions of the day was a long pass to receiver Alshon Jeffery, a pass that sailed about 40 yards and hit Jeffery in stride with two defenders in the area. Jeffery did a great job keeping control of the ball on the way down for the long completion. One area Wentz excelled in against the Ravens was fitting the ball into tight windows, as there were not many — if any — blown coverages. His touchdown pass was a perfect example of Wentz using his arm strength to get the ball out quick, as he hit receiver Mack Hollis in stride over the middle for the touchdown during a red-zone drill. 

The Eagles’ offense did not have a good day in the red zone overall, however. Wentz and the first-team offense ran nine plays inside the 20-yard line, with only one ending in a touchdown and six of the plays ending in incompletions. Wentz was also not great with his deep passes against the Ravens, as he had a chance to hit receiver DeSean Jackson down the field for what would have likely been a long touchdown, but he overthrew Jackson by a few yards. 

One positive for Wentz was he did not turn the ball over — although he did nearly have an interception on a pass intended for Nelson Agholor over the middle, but it was dropped by the Ravens defender. 

Overall, Wentz had a solid — but not spectacular — day. Considering the competition he was going against, however, the Eagles likely left Monday feeling encouraged by what they saw. 

Stats: 15/30, 1 TD, 0 INT
Grade: B-

 

McCown: McCown, like Wentz, should be graded on a bit of curve. Not because of the competition, but because it was his first real practice since the end of last season. What was encouraging for McCown was that he was not only already taking reps with the second-team offense, but he was up at the line calling audibles just two days after signing with the team. McCown mostly checked the ball down, but the few times he did try to hit a receiver beyond 15-yards were not impressive. He doesn’t appear to have the arm strength that Nate Sudfeld does. It will be interesting to see how much McCown plays on Thursday night against the Ravens. 
Stats: 6/18, 0 TD, 0 INT
Grade: C

 

Thorson: Perhaps not player in camp has made as much improvement over the last week as Thorson has. The rookie got off to a terrible start in training camp, but he had an impressive day on Monday in the reps he got with the Eagles’ third-team offense. Thorson had one of the best passes of the day when he found receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone from about 18-yards out, lofting it over the defender and right into the receiver’s hands. He had the best day of all the quarterbacks in the red zone, completing three of his four passes inside the 20-yard line for a touchdown. 

Thorson is still far away from being able to play in a regular season game, but the Eagles have to feel encouraged by the progress he is making since camp started. 

 

You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter or email him at esp@94wip.com!