July 24, 2025
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Zack Baun #53 of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks in an interview after a Philadelphia Eagles practice at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Pa. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
In my 20 years of Eagles reporting, there have been just a few constants every season. One is that in training camp the defense almost always is ahead of the offense early in camp. For whatever reason, it's just always appeared that the defense was more in sync than the offense for the first two weeks or so.
But this could be one of those seasons when the offense has the leg up in July, and that would make sense given that almost the entire offense from the Super Bowl championship team is returning while the defense is trying to figure out how to replace half its starters.
Each afternoon after the Birds walk off the field at camp we'll give out some hardware for the top player on offense and defense, players whose stock rose during the day.
Not surprisingly, Goedert made a few tough catches – including a ridiculous one in traffic – during the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 sessions, the kind of catches that come with contact – even without pads – because Goedert invites it. Afterward, Goedert noted that he, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have all played together long enough that the offense should be hitting the ground running in the early days of camp.
Honestly, Hurts also warranted a game ball. He spread passes to several different receivers, with the ball hardly ever hitting the ground, although the reality is this was a high checkdown day from all the QBs, with very few passes traveling past 15 or 20 yards.
But Goedert did make a really nice catch on a perfectly thrown ball from Hurts down the left seam, between three defenders. As the tight end explained in his press conference after, Hurts initially looked for DeVonta Smith before finding Goedert crossing to the left, and despite some really good closing speed by the Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and two defensive backs, Goedert was still able to pluck the ball from thin air and come down with it for a big gain.
It’s crazy to think that this kind of reception might not have happened if Goedert hadn't agreed on a contract restructure to come back this year on a pay cut. The Eagles loaded up on tight ends in free agency and there was some serious question about whether or not Goedert would be back in 2025 despite the fact that he led the team in receiving yards and receptions (17-for-215) during last year‘s Super Bowl run. But he’s definitely back and already in a great rhythm with his quarterback
This was not a great day for highlight-reel defensive plays. There were a couple of good stops, including a nice pass break up on the left side by cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields, but this practice was chock full of checkdowns, short completions, and no turnovers. If you want to see consistency from some of the players you’re expecting high-level play from in 2025, then you’d be happy about a pass breakup from Baun, who looked very spry and alert as he got his hand out to deflect a Hurts pass thrown to DeVonta Smith crossing to the right.
Amazingly, the 28-year-old Baun is the elder statesman of the Eagles' linebacker group, even though this is just his second year with the team. At this time last year, he was just trying to make the 53 after four years of playing special teams and being a backup edge rusher for the Saints.
Now, Baun is an All Pro. But next to him are second-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and two rookies in Jihaad Campbell and Smael Mondon Jr . So while Nakobe Dean is out for a while, it's important for Baun to not only continue playing like an All Pro, but also to be a leader.
On the whole, Eagles inside linebackers did OK in this practice. Trotter had a few crossing patterns come in his direction that got the best of him, but none for really long gains. He also nearly had his own pass breakup and clapped his hands in frustration when he didn’t get it.
SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice's Sports newsletters
Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
