August 10, 2022

Eagles 2022 training camp practice notes, Day 10: Jalen Hurts lets it rip

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Day 10 of Philadelphia Eagles 2022 training camp is in the books, and it was a short one, as the Birds only practiced for an hour. The next time the Eagles take the field in a competitive setting will be Friday in their first preseason game against the New York Jets.

• Nick Sirianni said before practice today that the starters will likely get a series or two in that game. He was also asked about the risk of playing the starting quarterback when the top two offensive tackles — Jordan Mailata and Andre Dillard — have concussions. But, not to worry. On the injury front, Mailata and Dillard both practiced today, and even participated in 11-on-11's. They'll likely be good to go on Friday.

• Jalen Hurts had a really nice day, even if it was a short practice. I thought his passes in the intermediate areas of the field had some nice zip on them, and he was mostly accurate. He had two consecutive really nice throws during 7-on-7's.

He threw a deep ball down the right sideline to A.J. Brown, and my apologies for sounding like a broken record here, but Brown did not tip off the corner that the ball was arriving. At the last second, Brown turned his body and made the catch on his back shoulder, not allowing James Bradberry any time to react and break up the pass. Bradberry had close coverage, but it didn't matter because Brown is such a savvy contested catch receiver.
On the next play, Hurts threw more of a long dart (line of scrimmage was around the 20 yard line) to Zach Pascal in the back of the end zone on the left side of the field. Hurts put it up high, and let Pascal go up and get it. I'm tempted to say that that was his most encouraging throw of camp, because (a) it came out on time, (b) he had great placement, (c) it had good velocity, and (d) it was to the left side of the field, where he hasn't seemed comfortable throwing early in his career.

• Speaking of Pascal, he missed a big chunk of camp early on because of an illness, but he has really picked it up the last couple of days. He was particularly active today, making catches all over the field. Pascal has 44 career starts, he has good size at 6'2, 219, and he has some inside/outside versatility. I like his fit as a No. 4 receiver willing to do some grunt work as a blocker, but who can also actually make catches and be productive on the few opportunities he'll get each game. He will be a substantial upgrade over a guy like J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's on the field for as many as 500 or so snaps this season.

• Last year, Jalen Reagor made a pair of highlight reel catches, and I think the perception by some was that he had a good camp. Not so, in my opinion. He disappeared for long stretches, and had his share of miscues. The consistently just wasn't there. This year, there haven't been any highlight reel catches yet, but he has quietly made the plays he should make, which in my opinion, is progress. I don't foresee any sort of Year 3 breakout after a pair of miserable seasons like, say, Nelson Agholor had in 2017. But if Reagor doesn't get traded between now and the start of the regular season, he's going to be on this roster and he might be asked to contribute at some point. If so, low bar here, but I think he'll be better prepared to take better advantage of his playing time than he was in 2020 and 2021.

• I meant to mention this yesterday, but I haven't seen Britain Covey even come close to muffing a punt or kickoff throughout camp. On Tuesday, the returners were fielding kicks with the sun their eyes, and it seemed like all of them struggled at least a little bit with it, except Covey.

• At the start of training camp, I identified 22 players who I thought were on the bubble. My ranking of the players most likely to earn a roster spot among that group:

DT Marlon Tuipulotu
SAM Patrick Johnson
QB Reid Sinnett
WR Britain Covey
OL Jack Anderson

• I have one "near lock" from that article who I think could be in trouble. That would be safety Jaquiski Tartt. Tartt has been absent with a "personal reason" over the last few days, and certainly I hope it's nothing serious, but even before he was missing practices, he was nearly invisible on the field.

• One player who has really come on of late is second-year defensive end Tarron Jackson. His get-off at the snap looks good, and he has done a really nice job of pressuring the quarterback over the last three or four practices. Today, he had a sack of Gardner Minshew, and then almost got him again on the next play. Jackson got meaningful snaps down the stretch last season, and Brandon Graham talks him up any chance he gets. He could possibly make a jump as a rotational player and be more effective than Ryan Kerrigan was last season.

• Jordan Davis is a smart, thoughtful person, and thought this was a great quote from him today:

Jordan Davis on the reaction to the viral clip of him bullrushing Cam Jurgens:

“I hate it.”

Said that it’s just one rep and isn’t fair to Jurgens, who has beaten him in other 1 on 1 battles.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) August 10, 2022

It wasn't really even that bad a rep by Jurgens, and Davis has had much better reps than that throughout camp, but I digress.

If he ends up being a good player on the field, Davis has a chance to also end up being a core leader off of it for the next decade. The Eagles need young guys like that, because guys like Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham aren't going to play forever.

• Throughout training camp, I'll have some occasional one-on-one interviews with Eagles beat writers / other media folks while the players are stretching and doing other boring stuff. It was a treat to talk to Mike Quick today. Oh, and here's the iTunes link. Review, subscribe, etc.

Within those beat writer interviews, I'm asking each writer four different questions:

What will the Eagles' record be in 2022?
Will they make the playoffs?
Will they win any playoff games, if so?
Will Jalen Hurts be the starting quarterback in 2023?

The predictions so far:

Writer	Record	Playoffs	Playoff wins?	Hurts in 2023?
7/27: Eliot Shorr-Parks, WIP	10-7	Yes	None	Yes
7/29: Jeff McLane, Inquirer	10-7	Yes	None	No
7/30: Bo Wulf, The Athletic	11-6	Yes	One win, over the Vikings	Yes
8/2: Les Bowen, NJ.com	11-6	Yes	One win, over the 49ers	Undecided
8/4: Fran Duffy, Eagles	17-0	Yes	Yes, unspecified	Yes
8/9: Reuben Frank, NBC Philly	12-5	Yes	One win, over the 49ers	Yes
8/10: Mike Quick, Eagles	11-6	Yes	Declined to answer	Yes