Eagles OTA notes: First look at the 2023 team

Al-Nusour continued their organized team activities on Thursday afternoon at the NovaCare Complex.

It was the second of a total of six OTA sessions but the first one open for journalists to watch. There will be another one next week.

So it’s time to practice notes!

1. The Eagles had a strong presence for this OTA practice, but there were a few veterans: DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Haason Reddick, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Derek Barnett, Josiah Scott, and Josiah Scott. Remember, the entire Eagles’ vacation season is completely voluntary. They are one of two teams that do not have a mandatory minicamp; The other one is Bengals.

In addition to the outfield players, the Eagles had three players who were spectators, possibly due to injury: CB Avonte Maddox, DT Marlon Tuipoloto and WR Terry Cleveland.

2. As always, don’t read too much into the OTA notes but we at least have a chance to see a little bit of the depth chart on Thursday 7-7:

• Unsurprisingly, Nakobe Dean lined up with starting quarterback Mike and Nicholas Morrow at WILL.

• Cam Jurgens has been on standby with the first team. He is a sophomore battling for the position against rookie Tyler Steen. Jurgens will be given every chance to win this position.

• James Bradbury was in training but wasn’t involved in the 7v7, so Greedy Williams and then Josh Jobe were getting the shots with the first team versus Darius Slay. Rookie Kelee Ringo made the second team outside linebacker position.

• The first team Eagles on Thursday were Red Blankenship and Tyrell Edmonds. Rookie Sidney Brown was with the second team. It’s obviously very early but that’s where spring things really kick in.

• Kenny Ginwell and Boston Scott earned the first two delegates to the first team, while Rashad Penny and D’Andre Swift served next. I won’t read much about it now, but it’s a story worth watching at boot camp.

3. Some interesting comprehensive training elements:

• Zek MacPherson ran for first-team nickel cornerback Zek MacPherson with Maddux not coaching. McPherson was the primary backup at outside corner during his first two years in the NFL, but it makes sense to coach him indoors. Maddox missed important time last season and Scott struggled at times to replace him. MacPherson might have more opportunity to play if he can play both indoors and outdoors.

• It looked as though sophomore Keiron Johnson got some work at off-the-ball linebacker. With a stack of quality players ahead of him, this is something to consider when putting together projections for the 53-man roster.

4. Young fullback Christian Ellis played defensively today. He returned to coverage and made a jumping interception on a pass from Marcus Mariota. Ellis has played in seven games over the past two years with the Eagles but mostly on special teams. With no depth at quarterback, Ellis could get some serious training camp going.

5. Quez Watkins was with the first team on Thursday and started training with a gentle touch from a pass down the middle of the field from Jalen Hurts, who volleyed him over the outstretched arms of Darius Slay. The Eagles will likely give Watkins every chance of earning the WR3 job after a disappointing 2022 season.

6. Hurts had some ups and downs on Thursday but that is clearly not a concern at all in the spring. Slaughter cut off a pass to AJ Brown on a ball in the back shoulder. Brown tried to cheat Slay with his two late hands but Slay read it right to break up the pass. Slay also broke up a non-throw pass to Dallas Goedert a little later. The veteran cornerback looked like he was in shape mid-season.

7. Speaking of Goedert, he had a phenomenal finger-grab in the middle of the field on a pass hit by Hurts. It looked as if Hurts had just locked on Goedert, threw him as only Goedert could catch him and Goedert made the most of him.

Veteran tight end Dan Arnold also had an impressive catch. It will be interesting to see if he can legitimately earn a roster spot in training camp.

8. During the teams practice segment, Nick Siriani stood next to Jake Elliott and chatted as they watched Arjen Sipos and rookie Ty Zentner-punt. At the first glimpse of a punter’s fight, give a clear W to Siposs. His kicks were more consistent. Long way to go here, though.

9. Swift caught 156 passes in his three-year NFL career and it looked like it was Thursday. It’s very smooth off the field.

10. We mentioned that Dean was with the first team as Mike’s midfielder but after practice, Morrow confirmed that Dean has the green point. Dean will be the defensive signal caller in 2023. That’s a big responsibility but he looked like he was playing 7-on-7 on Thursday.

Dumb watch of the day: It’s weird to see Mariota dressed as the Eagles. It is also larger than I expected. Mariota is listed at 6-4, 223 pounds as he looks at her. He also made a nice pass on the move on Thursday.

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