Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Cooper DeJean takes outside cornerback reps for first time this summer
Monday marked the 16th Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The rainy and chilly (for summer standards) session lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes. Hereâs what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.
EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES
JALEN HURTS UPDATE
Hurts rebounded well from last weekâs struggles against the Cleveland Browns; this was one of his strongest practices of the summer.
Hurts made multiple tight window completions over the middle to Dallas Goedert. He found a crossing Jahan Dotson in stride with Quinyon Mitchell trailing. He hit Johnny Wilson along the left sideline for first down yardage. Hurts hit DeVonta Smith to beat Cooper DeJean on two different reps, one for a succesfully two-point conversion. Hurts avoided pressure and rolled left to find Kylen Granson in the end zone on a scramble drill. Hurts found Darius Cooper in a soft spot for the defense along the right sideline for another completion.
Good to see Hurts spreading the ball around to multiple targets instead of really just locking in on one player. One would think that kind of distribution works towards keeping defenses more honest.
EAGLES INJURY REPORT
DID NOT PRACTICE
WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
CB Tariq Castro-Fields (hamstring)
S Lewis Cine (groin)
OG Landon Dickerson (knee)
CB Brandon Johnson (groin)
The Eagles seem to be taking it easy with Brown to get him to Week 1.
Dickerson watched practice from the sideline for the first time since getting hurt.
Cine has missed two straight practices and one preseason game.
Johnson and TCF got hurt during Saturdayâs preseason game.
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
OG Kenyon Green (shoulder)
OT Lane Johnson (rest)
DB AJ Woods (illness)
The Eagles are managing Laneâs workload.
Green was upgraded to limited after missing five straight practices and the Eaglesâ second preseason game. Maybe he has a chance to play on Friday.
Woods was carted off the field during Saturdayâs preseason game.
UPGRADED TO FULL PARTICIPATION
Saquon Barkley (rest), Zack Baun (back contusion), and Elijah Cooks (shoulder) were removed from the injury report after being previously listed for the Eaglesâ last practice.
Baun was back in 11-on-11 for the first time since early in camp.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE â CORNERBACK
Some new developments in the Eaglesâ interminable CB2 battle today.
For the first time this summer, Cooper DeJean was the outside cornerback in the Eaglesâ base defense packages. DeJean previously repped on the outside during three spring media-attended practices. He moved to first-team safety next to Reed Blankenship in base defense reps at the starting of training camp.
The Eagles probably arenât moving DeJean back to corner if they feel good about how the battle is going at that spot. On the bright side, perhaps they are happy with what theyâre seeing at safety.
With DeJean shifting to the slot for nickel reps, Adoreeâ Jackson was first up with the first-team defenses in 11-on-11 on Thursday. That makes 10 days Jackson has been up first and six days for Kelee Ringo.
Speaking of Ringo, major stock down day for him. Ringo did not rotate in with the first-team defense as he previously had been doing. Rookie Mac McWilliams rotated in for Jackson with the starters instead. Ringo mostly worked with the second-team defense. And even then, Ringo rotated out with Jakorian Bennett taking his place and McWilliams staying on the field at right cornerback. There was a series where Ringo allowed back-to-back receptions to undrafted rookie Darius Cooper. Ringo wasnât even anywhere near Cooper on the second rep. Ringo then participated in some third-team reps during the developmental period late in practice. Seems like heâs fallen out of starting contention.
McWilliams and Bennett also did see some reps in the developmental drills. But McWilliams is a rookie and Bennett is new to the team.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE â SAFETY
Sydney Brown was the first first-team safety up next to Reed Blankenship in team drills. But Andrew Mukuba rotated in and took a lot of reps with the starters. Guessing weâll see both Brown and Mukuba play on Friday night. The safety battle could be decided over these next several days.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE â LINEBACKER
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was the first first-team linebacker up next to Zack Baun in team drills. But Jihaad Campbell rotated in to rep next to Baun for the first time this offseason.
Campbell outshined Trot Jr. in this practice. The rookie first-round pick broke up a short Hurts pass to Goedert. Trot Jr., meanwhile, allowed a catch to Goedert over the middle.
Trot Jr. did well to meet Montrell Johnson Jr. near the line of scrimmage on a run play to the outside.
POSITION BATTLE UPDATE â LEFT GUARD
Brett Toth was the first first-team left guard and he took the majority of reps there. But for the first time since Dickerson got hurt, Darian Kinnard took some LG reps with the starters.
MISCELLANEOUS
DeVonta Smith got the best of DeJean multiple times, including on a contested catch in the end zone.Darius Cooper needs to be on this roster. In addition to making back-to-back catches against Ringo from throws by Tanner McKee, Cooper had a reception for a chunk gain while working with the first-team offense.New Eagles wide receiver John Metchie III did not attend practice since the trade from the Houston Texans was yet to be made official.With the Eaglesâ offense backed up against their own goal line, Jalen Carter knifed through Tyler Steen and Cam Jurgens to get to Saquon Barkley for a tackle for loss or no gain.Carter didnât seem to be very happy with Jurgens at one point in practice. Not sure exactly what happened but I did see Carter go down early in one rep. After the rep, Carter went up to Jurgens but the two were immediately separated with Moro Ojomo helping to intervene. Carter then kicked the ball that had been spotted in front of the defense while they were waiting for the offense to be done huddling. He kicked it again after someone fixed the spot.E.J. Jenkins notably lined up with the first-team offense when they were backed up against their own end zone. Jenkins blew multiple chances to make plays as a pass-catcher in this practice. Kylen Granson, meanwhile, had a touchdown catch. Granson seems like the favorite for TE3 with Jenkins making the practice squad, though the Eagles might opt to keep four tight ends.AJ Dillon has looked quite comfortable as a pass-catcher.Kyle McCord built on the positive momentum from Saturdayâs preseason game. He had some good completions over the middle during the developmental period late in practice. Weâll see if he can keep it going and cement himself as QB3 over Dorian Thompson-Robinson.Trevor Keegan continues to struggle snapping the ball as a center.UP NEXT
Schedule for this week:
Tuesday, August 19 â Eagles training camp practice at 10:00 AM Eastern (NovaCare Complex)Wednesday, August 20 â Eagles training camp practice at 10:00 AM Eastern (NovaCare Complex)Thursday, August 21 â Walkthrough closed to media accessFriday, August 22 â Eagles at Jets preseason game starting at 7:30 PM Eastern (MetLife Stadium)Saturday, August 23 â Off day
