August 17, 2024
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Tight end C.J. Uzomah during warmups of the Eagles' open practice at the Linc on Aug. 1, 2024.
The Eagles returned to practice at the NovaCare Complex on Saturday. It rained pretty heavily for like half of it.
Jalen Hurts still hasn't thrown an interception all camp, and as the intensity ramps up in the buildup to a long-awaited Week 1, a tight end on the roster bubble made a few impressive plays, while the defensive units came out with a real mean streak, the second-team especially.
Here are the game ball honors from Saturday's practice...
Uzomah made three solid catches on Saturday:
• 1: Running with the first team, he ran a corner over top while Dallas Goedert ran an out underneath in a two-tight end set. Jalen Hurts kept his eyes locked on to Goedert, which drew defenders down low, until he flipped at the last second then let the ball fly over to Uzomah all alone. He made the catch with plenty of open field in front of him that, in a live-game scenario, would've been a massive play.
• 2: With the second team, he hauled in a Kenny Pickett laser over the middle through contact for clear first-down yardage.
• 3: Later on, with Tanner McKee under center, the third-string QB lobbed one up for Uzomah, but the tight end was a touch ahead of the throw. He managed to shift his body back, however, and make the catch in time before falling to the ground for another play that resulted in a decent amount of yards.
Uzomah, a nine-year vet, is on the bubble of making the Eagles' 53-man roster. The team is already carrying Goedert and Grant Calcaterra at tight end, leaving Uzomah, Albert Okwuegbunam, E.J. Jenkins, and Armani Rogers each on the fringe – as our own Jimmy Kempski wrote about earlier Saturday morning.
Jenkins had his moments during Thursday night's preseason win over the Patriots, and Rogers, while a long shot to make the team, is at least staying somewhat visible.
So with time only getting shorter, players on the outside looking in need to make every rep count, and Uzomah capitalized on three impressive ones on Saturday.
Vic Fangio had the defense running with high aggression on Saturday.
Nakobe Dean threw a shoulder that knocked Will Shipley straight to the ground on one rep, and neither of the defensive unit were shy about sending the blitz.
The best effort and overall series might have been late into practice, when Pickett and the second-team offense tried to move the ball down the field. The second-team defense instead caused them fits.
Jalyx Hunt got his hand in the way to break up a pass meant for Uzomah that he matched with a celebration and hype from the defensive sideline, Nolan Smith had a near interception on a pass that slipped through Austin Watkins' hands, and even James Bradberry – whose future with the Eagles is still up in the air – broke up a pass in the back of the end zone as a safety (also meant for Uzomah).
The second-team offense did push into goal-to-go territory, but it looked ugly, and in the end, the defense held them short to force a turnover on downs.
Pickett as the backup quarterback looked shaky Thursday night against New England, and that continued into Saturday – which isn't going to help him quiet the Tanner McKee noise.
But to the second-team defense's credit, for that series, they looked completely in control of the tempo, and gave Pickett considerably little to work with.
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