August 05, 2025
Day 10 of Philadelphia Eagles training camp is in the books, and all the pads were off today. Not even shoulder pads. It was a light day in advance of the first preseason game on Thursday.
• First, injuries 🦅🩼
LIMITED
Nick Sirianni was asked if there is any concern about Baun's and Brown's injuries, and he more or less didn't answer. But, they're fine. There are no long-term concerns. The season doesn't start for another month. Just say they're fine.
Mukuba and McWilliams both participated in team drills today. Again, no pads. Vic Fangio said Mukuba "probably" wouldn't play on Thursday.
• Every day, rookie LB Smael Mondon does something impressive. Today, he had blanket coverage on Saquon Barkley, who looked like the primary receiver on the play. Jalen Hurts waited a bit for Barkley to break free from Mondon's coverage, but Mondon suffocated him and Hurts was forced to look elsewhere.
If I had no idea about draft statuses or the backgrounds of of these players and I were asked who the best linebacker has been this summer, for me it would be Mondon. He's athletic, he can cover, he's physical against the run, and he seems willing to do the dirty work stuff. He can play.
And that's not even an indictment on guys like rookie first-round pick Jihaad Campbell or second-year player Jeremiah Trotter, who have both done their share of positive things this summer. Mondon has just been that good.
Could Mondon start? I think it's unlikely. If a rookie fifth-round linebacker in Mondon were to start over a first-round rookie at the same position in Campbell, I think that would bring a lot of unfair scrutiny on Campbell, who would be unfairly judged for not performing, when in reality he looks good too. Campbell also probably has a significantly higher ceiling than Mondon, and the more he plays the quicker he'll reach that ceiling. But with Fangio, you never know. If he thinks Mondon is currently the better player and puts the Eagles in a better position to win games, maybe he just plays the guy who is playing better right now.
• One player under a little bit of scrutiny following the Eagles' trade for a cornerback on Monday night is Kelee Ringo, who is battling for a starting job opposite Quinyon Mitchell. Ringo jumped an out route in front of Jahan Dotson and had a chance at a pick-six. The ball was right in his hands, but he dropped it. Ringo then jumped around in frustration and knocked over a 60-something year-old official, lol. (He was fine.)
What could have been a camp battle-separating play became merely just an OK play.
• Dotson had a good day. He beat Cooper DeJean for a TD while running along the back line of the end zone. He also beat DeJean on an out route in the red zone. He was able to get some separation twice against a really good player.
• DeJean picked off Hurts today on a play in which he was covering Dallas Goedert in the end zone. He was step for step with Goedert, who stumbled, leading to DeJean making the uncontested pick near the sideline.
• Goedert had a nice red zone play to make up for his stumble against DeJean. He went up high in the end zone for a Hurts pass over Mukuba, who is giving up six inches to Goedert.
• Eli Ricks had a tough moment today. He was covering Elijah Cooks, who was running a slant route. After Cooks made the catch, he slammed on the brakes, spun back toward the outside and beat Ringo to the end zone. Ricks never even got a hand on Cooks. You don't want to put a play like that on film the day after the team trades for a player at your position.
Cooks also beat Mac McWilliams from the slot on a slant route for a TD. Cooks is very clearly a better pass catcher than Johnny Wilson or Ainias Smith.
• Another young receiver who has done some really nice things is UDFA Darius Cooper. He made a nice catch in the back corner of the end zone today over McWilliams, and just generally speaking has made a bunch of catches for long gains this camp. Cooper isn't likely to make the team, but he's done more than enough to warrant a spot on the practice squad for further development.
• Both backup running backs did nice things today in the passing game. Will Shipley had a pair of catches in the flat in which he caught the ball and turned upfield without ever breaking stride. That might not sound like much, but he looked smooth and efficient, with no wasted steps, putting himself in the best position possible to get yards after the catch.
A.J. Dillon had a nice run after the catch on a screen play. He has caught the ball well all camp as well.
Oh, and Saquon made a TD catch over the middle past Trotter on a Texas route. Have we mentioned that Barkley is good?
• After practice, Josh Uche was asked about a pass rush that beat Lane Johnson Week 1 of 2023, and his recall of the play was impressive. First, his recall of the play:
And his rush against Lane.
Smart guy.
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