Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: The 2 most intriguing wide receivers behind the top 3

Today marked the 10th Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The unpadded session lasted for about one hour and 15 minutes. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.

EAGLES PRACTICE NOTES

JALEN HURTS UPDATES: Hurts had some high highs and low lows on Tuesday. There was more good than bad and he continues to trend in the right direction following a cool stretch.
THE GOOD: Hurts got off to a hot start in red zone 7-on-7s. He threw a good ball to Johnny Wilson over the middle with multiple defenders closing in on the big receiver. He threw a touchdown to a wide open DeVonta Smith underneath. He placed a ball high to only where Dallas Goedert could get it and make a leaping touchdown grab over Andrew Mukuba. In 11 on 11s, Hurts threw a 10-yard touchdown over the middle to Saquon Barkley (side note: it feels like Hurts has targeted Barkley over the middle of the field more often this summer than last year). Hurts was pumped after throwing a touchdown to a crossing Jahan Dotson in the end zone as Azeez Ojulari was bearing down on the quarterback. Hurts had another connection with Dotson that would’ve set the offense up just short of the goal line. DeVonta Smith made an over-the-shoulder catch along the right sideline on a Hurts throw for another touchdown.
THE BAD: Hurts threw a short pass that would’ve been a pick six had it not been bobbled and dropped by Kelee Ringo. In fairness to Hurts, Ringo did a really good job of jumping the route. Don’t think it was a terrible decision as much as it was a good read by the defender. Hurts later threw an interception to Cooper DeJean. That one was less forgivable since he threw off his back foot as he was getting blitzed. It didn’t help that Dallas Goedert stumbled on his route (and otherwise may have had a chance to either catch the pass or break it up) but that throw seemed like a reckless decision.

EAGLES INJURY REPORT:
DID NOT PRACTICE
LB Zack Baun (back contusion)
WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
RB Montrell Johnson Jr. (hamstring)
DT Byron Young (groin)
Baun has missed six straight practices.
Brown and Johnson Jr. have missed three straight practices.
Young has missed two straight practices.
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
S Lewis Cine (hamstring)

LS Charley Hughlett (neck)
C Trevor Keegan (back)

WR Terrace Marshall Jr. (knee)

CB Mac McWilliams (quad)

S Andrew Mukuba (shoulder)
OL Matt Pryor (shoulder)
Cine, Keegan, and Marshall Jr. were upgraded to limited. I didn’t see them in team drills.
Hughlett was limited for the third day in a row.
McWilliams and Mukuba participated in team drills.
Pryor is a new addition to the injury report.
UPGRADED TO FULL PARTICIPATION
Nolan Smith (concussion) and Ben VanSumeren (ankle) were removed from the injury report.

POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — CORNERBACK: Adoree’ Jackson was first up with the first-team defense on Tuesday. That makes six days when Jackson has been up first and four days for Ringo. I didn’t write Jackson’s name down in my notes today, for better or worse. As previously mentioned, Ringo dropped an interception. Kudos to him for making the right read and jumping the route … but he’s simply gotta catch the ball there. Missed opportunity.

New Eagles cornerback Jakorian Bennett is wearing No. 49. Tough downgrade from the No. 0 he wore with the Las Vegas Raiders. Bennett needs to change his number as more options become available after the roster is trimmed down to 53 players.

POSITION BATTLE UPDATE — WIDE RECEIVER: Dotson had a good practice. He’s clearly WR3 behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. How many receivers do the Eagles keep behind the top trio? And who are they?

The feeling here is that Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson are good bets to make the roster again. They get first team reps and Nick Sirianni spoke highly of them on Tuesday morning:
Q: How valuable has the opportunity been for WR Johnny Wilson and WR Ainias Smith getting first team reps with WR A.J. Brown being out and WR DeVonta Smith before that?
Nick Sirianni: Obviously, the ones in our practices get more reps, so they’re getting more reps than they would get when they were with the twos. So anytime you get more reps, that’s huge. It builds trust with the quarterback, which is always big. Johnny had a big third-down catch in a backed-up scenario yesterday, which again, builds confidence. So, I think those guys in that wide receiver room are doing a nice job. [WR] Jahan [Dotson]‘s been good all offseason. Same thing like how I mentioned Tyler Steen. Jahan is another guy that’s really showed up, and then, it has been a good battle for that four or five spot. I think Ainias shows great quickness and acceleration. He’s scrappy. Johnny, I think it’s probably underestimated how much Johnny did for us last year on that field. One of our better special teams players, a guy that was very powerful at the point of attack on the number one rushing team, and then looking forward to [WR] Terrace [Marshall] getting back out there. [WR] Elijah Cooks is doing a good job. [WR] Darius Cooper has got a lot of talent, and we’re excited to continue to work with those guys.
Wilson has rebounded a little after a rough start to camp. I can see his unique size and skill set being valuable. I struggle to see what the Eagles like so much about Ainias Smith (who had a pass bounce off his hands today). He’s had some success in 1-on-1s but not so much in team drills. I do think he looks more comfortable returning punts than he did last offseason, so there’s that.
But, to me, the two most intriguing wide receivers behind the top trio are Elijah Cooks and Darius Cooper. (I’m not including Terrace Marshall Jr. since he’s missed multiple practices due to injury.)
Cooks has undeniably been the Eagles’ fourth best receiver in camp. He had a really impressive two-play sequence near the end of today’s practice. 1) He caught a pass on a slant and then immediately cut back to (metaphorically) break Eli Ricks’ ankles and accelerate to the end zone for a touchdown. 2) He then beat Mac McWilliams on a quick slant for a successful two-point conversion. Cooks is making a strong case to be on the roster.
Cooper is probably more of a practice squad candidate … assuming he manages to go unclaimed through waivers. A leaping Cooper caught a fade pass over McWilliams in the end zone for a score.
It’ll be interesting to see if Cooks and/or Cooper can translate their practice success to the preseason games. Keep an eye on them. Cooks is No. 86 and Cooper is No. 41.

Nolan Smith had good coverage on a Saquon Barkley wheel route in 11-on-11. Hurts’ throw ended up being a little too far in front of the running back but Smith might’ve been able to break it up had it been more on target. Pretty nice to have a guy who can drop into coverage like that and also effectively rush the passer.Moro Ojomo continues to dominate. And, no, it’s not just him beating up on Tyler Steen. Ojomo got by Landon Dickerson with a rip move to generate pressure on Hurts. Ojomo also beat Brett Toth (yes, it was really him this time) to log a “sack” on Hurts. Ojomo is primed for a good season.Tanner McKee targeted Will Shipley in the flat for a catch-and-run touchdown. He also targeted Shipley for a two-point conversion. I maintain that Shipley will see more targets than Kenny Gainwell did last year.UP NEXT: The Eagles have a walkthrough closed to media access on Wednesday. Then they host the Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field for a 7:30 PM Eastern kickoff on Thursday night. The first preseason game is somehow already here! You can find more of the Eagles’ training camp schedule by clicking here.