The Philadelphia Eagles held the first of two OTA practices open to media access on Wednesday and I was at the NovaCare Jefferson Health Training Complex to watch the action unfold. Here’s what I observed!
- ANNUAL DISCLAIMER: Before we get started, please remember that the Eagles don’t permit videography/photography after warmups and position drills. So, that’s why you’re not seeing any highlights from team drills.
- ATTENDANCE UPDATES: Given that OTAs are held on a voluntary basis, it’s not surprising to see less than 100% attendance. A.J. Brown (shocker), Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter, Dontayvion Wicks, and Jihaad Campbell were not present on Wednesday. The latter four were said to be at practice on Tuesday. It’s notable that DeVonta Smith WAS at practice after spending previous spring workout programs training on his own.
- INJURY UPDATES: Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens were full participants in team drills, which is a good sign. Ditto for Drew Mukuba and Johnny Wilson. Jonathan Greenard, Hollywood Brown, and Kelee Ringo were among some guys who took part in position drills but not team drills. Cole Wisniewski (who is not believed to be seriously injured), Chandler Martin, and Tucker Large (who reverted to reserve/non-football injury after being waived) watched practice from the sidelines. Mac McWilliams got banged up in practice and limped off the field before later returning to action.
- DEPTH CHART NOTES, OFFENSE EDITION:
- QUARTERBACK: Andy Dalton — not Tanner McKee — was the second quarterback up in team drills. McKee’s reps seemed suspiciously limited considering he effectively rotated with Cole Payton as QB3. Not sure if it’s injury-related but McKee was wearing a sleeve on his right arm. McKee reportedly took QB2 reps on Tuesday.
- WIDE RECEIVER: 2026 first-round pick Makai Lemon saw a lot of first-team action. It’ll be more interesting to see exactly what the wide receiver rotation looks like when both Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks are taking part in team drills.
- OFFENSIVE LINE: The first-team unit was LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, C Cam Jurgens, RG Tyler Steen, RT Markel Bell. Interesting to see the rookie third-round pick instantly working with the starters with Lane Johnson not practicing. Seems like a good sign for Bell. The second-team unit was LT Fred Johnson, LG Myles Hinton, C Jake Majors, RG Drew Kendall, RT John Ojukwu. Hinton is now working at guard after repping at tackle as a rookie. Kendall repping at guard instead of center is interesting. Perhaps prepping him to be the top guy at all three interior spots, like Brett Toth was last year. The third-team unit was LT Hollin Pierce, LG Jaeadan Roberts, C Willie Lampkin, RG Micah Morris, and RT Cameron Williams. Pierce is back at tackle as working as a guard last year. Lampkin falling behind Majors on the depth chart isn’t great for him.
- TIGHT END: Johnny Mundt was TE2. Eli Stowers saw a first-team rep with three tight ends on the field (13 personnel).
- DEPTH CHART NOTES, DEFENSE EDITION:
- SAFETY: Marcus Epps was the first-team safety next to Mukuba in nickel packages. Epps came off the field in base defense with Cooper DeJean shifting from the slot to the back end of the defense, as Vic Fangio foretold. Michael Carter II and Andre’ Sam were the second-team safeties.
- DEFENSIVE TACKLE: The most interesting note here is that 2025 fourth-round pick Ty Robinson was working alongside Uar Bernard and Ta’Quon Graham on the third-team defense. BGN alumnus Jimmy Kempski recently did a film review on Robinson and, uh, it wasn’t exactly encouraging. Robinson looks to be in serious jeopardy of not making the roster in his second season. Byron Young and Gabe Hall were the second-team defensive tackles behind starters Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo (reminder: no Jalen Carter).
- SEAN MANNION UPDATE: I thought Vic Fangio’s defense got the better of the Eagles’ new offensive coordinator in this practice. That being said, there were some encouraging signs of new aspects to the offense with more motion, play action, under center usage, etc. More on this topic:
- JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Didn’t seem like Hurts went off script much, if at all. He didn’t air it out often but he did make some good completions over the middle of the field, including a layered throw to DeVonta Smith. His sole deep attempt was an underthrown ball to DeVonta, which was broken up by a trailing Riq Woolen. Hurts did come back from that miss with a crucial quick completion to DeVonta to beat Woolen for a first down in a situational scenario that Nick Sirianni had the team repping. All told, solid but unspectacular day on the field by QB1. Off the field, I thought he seemed more relaxed and less guarded than usual in his post-practice presser.
- BODY WATCH UPDATE: One of my bigger takeaways from each year’s first OTA practice is seeing how new players (or old players with new appearances) look in person. Two years ago, Saquon Barkley stood out for being huge while Huff looked so tiny. Notes from this year include:
- Nolan Smith looks like he bulked up.
- The Eagles sure have some small wide receivers. Makai Lemon isn’t very big. Hollywood Brown is tiny. Elijah Moore looks short. Not necessarily saying it means they’re bad but the lack of size was just especially noticeable when they were all standing nearby today.
- Speaking of shorties, Tucker Large is not very large at all. Seeing him stand next to long snapper Rocco Underwood early in practice and not knowing who Large was at first, I thought he might’ve been a kicker.
- Eli Stowers looked a little smaller to me than expected. He’s listed at 6’3” but he didn’t look tall while standing next to the other tight ends and his frame is not big.
- We already knew Riq Woolen is tall for a cornerback at a listed 6’4” but it was another thing to see him stand above the other corners.
- It’s not hard to see why Uar Bernard’s physical profile is intriguing. Check him out warming up next to Moro Ojomo.
- ROOKIE WATCH:
- Makai Lemon made some solid catches over the middle on throws by Hurts. Good to see some early chemistry there. He also had a bad drop while running wide open on a crossing route, which was a little surprising to see given all the talk about him having great hands. Lemon seemed to be on a different page from Hurts at one point where a throw intended for the rookie was not catchable (unclear who was to blame).
- Eli Stowers did nothing to stand out.
- As previously noted, Bell taking first-team RT reps seems like a good sign for his stock. Seems like the Eagles might be training him to be the top backup option there while Fred Johnson is the top backup at LT only.
- Cole Payton didn’t get to rep much while rotating in as QB3 but he looked more advanced than I expected him to be. He made the throw of practice when he hit undrafted rookie tight end Dae’Quan Wright (my guy) in stride for a 20+ yard gain on a corner route. Good anticipatory throw that was right on the money. Payton had two other good completions that stood out. He’s already accomplished more than Clayton Thorson ever did in an Eagles uniform.
- Wisniewski didn’t practice and I can’t say I saw anything from Micah Morris, Uar Bernard, or Keyshawn James-Newby.
- Andy Dalton was not so dandy in his first Eagles practice open to media access. One of his passes over the middle was deflected into the air for a pick opportunity that was not converted. Another one of his passes actually did get taken to the house for a defensive score. Dalton sailed a throw to a wide open Danny Gray out of bounds. I’m not seeing the intrigue here early on.
- Jonathan Jones was the defender who notched a pass deflection and an interception on Dalton. The veteran cornerback split time lining up on the outside (left cornerback) and in the slot. We’ll see where he goes from here but the first impression is that he might be a nice backup option behind the Eagles’ strong trio of starting corners.
- Shout out to the Mundtheads out there: he can apparently do more than just block because he actually caught a pass from Hurts!
- Britain Covey dropped a pass from McKee and failed to haul in an over-the-shoulder grab from Dalton.
- Chance Campbell had tight coverage on Will Shipley to force an incompletion over the middle.
- Willie Lampkin had some issues with snapping the ball cleanly.
- DEPTH CHART NOTES, SPECIAL TEAMS EDITION: The Eagles didn’t practice returning but they did rep some kickoff coverage units. It caught my eye that Carson Steele and J.T. Gray were on the first group that featured other players (Smael Mondon Jr., Cameron Latu, etc.) who stand a good chance of making the Eagles’ roster. Maybe nothing, maybe something.
- ROSTER MOVE: The Eagles signed undrafted rookie wide receiver Brandon Hayes, who is sharing the No. 47 jersey with undrafted rookie linebacker Deontae Lawson.
- The Eagles were inside their practice bubble since it was raining outside. Here’s what my view looked like:
UP NEXT: The Eagles’ remaining OTA practice schedule: May 29, June 1-2, June 4. Media is expected to be able to attend one of next week’s sessions. The Eagles will then hold two days of mandatory minicamp from June 9-10.