June 01, 2023
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts throws during OTA drills Thursday at the NovaCare Complex.
The Eagles proved that a "less is more" practice philosophy is a winning one last season, riding minimal reps and time in the red-hot sun to limited injuries and an NFC title.
They started OTAs this week and on Thursday practiced for just about an hour in front of the team's media contingent.
Like last summer, we watched every throw Jalen Hurts made in the OTA practice because hey, why not? He nearly won the league's MVP award in 2022-23 and will enter this new season as one of the league's highest-paid players.
Broken into three series, Hurts threw 11 passes and completed seven of them. The team played 7-on-7 for the drills, which took the linemen off the field. There did not appear to be downs and distances for these plays.
1. Things opened with an easy toss over the middle to Quez Watkins for what would likely have been 8-10 yards.
2. Hurts completed his second pass to Olamide Zaccheaus, a newly signed backup receiver that is likely to earn the No. 4 spot on the roster. He gained around five yards before defenders swarmed.
3. Hurts forced a throw to a well covered Dallas Goedert down the right sideline, maybe 20 or 25 yards from the line of scrimmage. Darius Slay was there like a brick wall, knocking down a decent ball that was a tad underthrown. Slay might have been the MVP of the brief practice today.
4. A dump off to Kenny Gainwell went for a few yards.
After the second and third teams ran plays Hurts trotted back out.
5. A shotgun pass was underthrown to A.J. Brown down the sideline with Slay in tight coverage.
6. A play action pass went to Brown on the left sideline. Brown followed the ball into his arms as he slid toward the out of bounds line making a very impressive catch.
7. A 10 yard route over the middle was complete to Goedert
8. Hurts' throw to Watkins was incomplete. The wideout was streaking down the sideline and Hurts missed him a bit, overthrowing him outside.
The last session was near midfield.
9. With lots of time (granted, with no pass rush either), Hurts threw a bullet that threaded through a few defenders and was caught by Goedert over the middle in traffic.
10. Looking right the whole time, Hurts connected with Brown for a few yards.
11. A throw for Watkins missed due to a timing hiccup.
In all, for June 1, everyone looked pretty good. The plays were ran from the middle of the field with no touchdowns scored. The energy was high and Slay looked fantastic.
Several players, like DeVonta Smith, didn't suit up. There weren't really any running plays (as makes sense for a 7-on-7 session) to gauge the new running backs Rashaad Penny or D'Andre Swift.
Next week the Eagles are expected to have another practice open to the media.
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