August 04, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jalen Carter has been a beast at the start of Eagles training camp.
Day 5 of Philadelphia Eagles training camp was the longest yet this summer, and there was hitting with the pads on. We have a lot of notes to get to, so, you know, let's just get to them.
• The Eagles' defensive line absolutely destroyed the offensive line today. Everyone made plays.
Jalen Carter had a two-play sequence in which he got a tackle for loss followed by a Jalen Mills-like finger wag; and then on the next play he smacked Tyler Steen with a club move and got free for a sack. Later, he rushed outside of Steen and into Markel Bell, who was filling in at RT for an absent Lane Johnson. Steen followed Carter, and Carter was able to occupy both Steen and Bell. That allowed Nolan Smith to loop inside unblocked for a sack. Carter has been a beast these first five practices.
Nolan Smith also had a nice play in coverage. The offense ran a misdirection play to the left, and tried to sneak Tank Bigsby into open spaces on the right, but Smith wasn't fooled and was all over Bigsby, forcing Hurts to throw the ball at Bigsby's feet.
Moro Ojomo was in the backfield a lot. He got the best of Landon Dickerson a few times, plus some of the second stringers. He has picked up where he left off last year.
One sneaky-important player for the Eagles this year could be Byron Young. As the fourth interior lineman, he is going to get playing time this season, and he'll be starter if Carter, Davis, or Ojomo go down at some point. He also had a quick pressure against the Eagles' starting O-line.
Even the linebackers got in on the action. Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell both had sacks blitzing off of the edge.
And finally, I should note that on a lot of the run stops that the Eagles got today, Jordan Davis was occupying multiple blockers but giving up no ground.
This Eagles front seven has a chance to be special.
• Of course, when one side of the ball is playing well, the other side oftentimes isn't. I thought the offensive line had a really tough day. In addition to simply getting beaten a lot, there seemed to be some miscommunications and/or mental mistakes.
We noted the play above where Smith got free because Steen and Bell both blocked Carter. But there were other plays like that, too. On one play, pre-snap Fred Johnson was watching Cooper DeJean, who was lining up as if he was going to blitz, but at the snap DeJean bailed into coverage, and with Johnson preoccupied with the potential blitz Jalyx Hunt ran inside of him unblocked for an easy sack.
And then just generally speaking it was a parade of flags all day, some on the defense, but seemingly more on the O-line, both for holds and dead ball pre-snap infractions.
• Jalen Hurts had his best day of camp so far on Monday. Tuesday was a lot tougher, but he also didn't get a lot of help, especially with DeVonta Smith missing practice with a hamstring injury.
Hurts uncorked a deep ball to Quez Watkins that I thought Watkins should have been able to run under for a long gain, but he couldn't make the play.
Hurts also threw a strike to a wide open Will Shipley on a wheel route, but Shipley dropped it. That was the worst drop of camp, by far.
On another Hurts deep ball, this time to Hollywood Brown, the ball sailed a bit past its target and was intercepted by Michael Carter. Carter caught the ball initially, but it popped up in the air when he hit the ground and he was able to concentrate and catch the ball again on its way down.
Even when he got some help, the result wasn't always there. For example, Darius Cooper hauled in a Hurts throw with one hand in the back of the end zone, but wasn't able to get two feet inbounds.
• It wasn't all bad from Hurts and the offense. One positive takeaway is that Hurts has quickly built some rapport with Dontayvion Wicks.
Wicks had a really nice route on an out-breaker that beat Riq Woolen, and Hurts got it to him in rhythm. Wicks also beat Cooper DeJean near the front corner of the end zone. Hurts also probably had his best throw of the day no a curl route to Wicks, who was being covered by Quinyon Mitchell. Hurts delivered that pass away from Mitchell, to a perfect spot near Wicks' outside shoulder. Wicks was able to shield off Mitchell and make the reception.
I like what I have seen from Wicks as a blocker as well, which we highlighted in a film breakdown of him earlier this offseason. Andrew Mukuba slammed into Wicks on a run play, but then Wicks turned the tables on Mukuba and blocked him through the whistle. At the end of the play, Wicks fell into Mukuba's leg. Mukuba didn't like that and the two players got into a fight that broke up quickly.
Through five practices, Wicks pretty clearly looks like the second-best receiver in camp.
• One guy who I would have on the 53-man roster if cutdowns were today is Cameron Latu. He had a physical block on Jalyx Hunt, coming across the formation on a misdirection play. And on kick coverage, he absolute RAN OVER Darius Cooper, who was trying to block him. Cooper went to ground hard, and Michael Clay liked what he saw from Latu.
Latu has some versatility. He can be a blocking tight end, a fullback, and he's a good special teamer.
• One under-the-radar undrafted player who has gotten my attention so far this summer is Joshua Weru. In 1-on-1's Weru ran around the corner on John Ojukwu, and although I'd have given the win on the rep to Ojukwu, Weru's speed was obvious. And then late in the day, Weru tried a speed-to-power bull rush on an enormous Hollin Pierce. He knocked Pierce back and got a hand on Cole Payton. The Eagles have something to work with there.
• Jake Elliott is coming off of two consecutive down years, so he's worth keeping an eye on in training camp this year. He was 7/7 on his kicks today:
| 7/30 | 8/4 | |||
| PAT G | PAT G | |||
| 35G | 38G | |||
| 38G | 42G | |||
| 40 NG/WL | 44G | |||
| 43G | 50G | |||
| 43G | 52G | |||
| 46G | 44G | |||
| 6/7 | 7/7 | |
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
And on Threads and Bluesky: @JimmyKempski and @JimmyKempski
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
