Not a good morning for the Eagles.
It was sweltering and the Eagles played like you'd expect a team to play by the 20th practice of training camp. They were sloppy, particularly the offense. There were dropped passes and the offense had trouble executing. On one play, the defense had both a sack and an interception.
Practice lasted about two hours. The Eagles were in full pads.
Here are some observations, notes and tidbits from Tuesday morning:
L.J. Smith returned to contact drills. This was the major news from the morning. Donovan McNabb was back out in practice, too. Brian Dawkins wasn't there again.
One player who has stood out through camp is rookie free agent Nick Graham. The Tulsa product has shown impressive cover skills and had pulled down an interception today. Jim Johnson commented how impressed he's been in Graham, too. Graham has decent size (5-foot-10, 191 pounds), but Johnson kept mentioning his speed.
Another rookie free agent to keep your eye own: defensive tackle Jeremy Clark. He went to Alabama, but an injury hurt his draft stock. Johnson mentioned Clark as a player who might have slipped through the cracks, but the Eagles like his size (6-foot-3, 309 pounds). Defensive tackle is a crowded spot, but watch out for Clark.
Tony Hunt must work on his hands. It's that simple. It's been said before so this is nothing new, but he dropped two passes today. One pass was at the goalline and the ball bounced out of his hands and was intercepted.
Quentin Mikell had the hit of the day on tight end Brent Celek. Mikell has been playing with the first team throughout camp in the place of Brian Dawkins.
Brian Westbrook had the play of the day when he took a pitch at the 15-yard line and shook two defenders in front him -- Trent Cole and C.J. Gaddis. Once past the defenders, he had a clear way to the end zone. It was one of the more impressive plays of camp.
A.J. Feeley did not have a strong day. He's a decent quarterback and he knows the system, but some of his throws are simply off target. Linebacker Omar Gaither read Feeley on one pass and cut off the passing lane. At this point in camp, these plays aren't exactly a secret, but today was not one of Feeley's better days.
The Eagles focused on the red zone and the offense did pull of some nice red-zone plays. The first play of the drill was a fade from Donovan McNabb to Reggie Brown that was caught in the back corner of the end zone.
Darren Howard had a good practice. He had an inconsistent 2006 season and the Eagles paid him big money. He's been splitting first-team reps with Trent Cole but today was one of Howard's better days.
A nice moment at the end of practice. Servicemen and servicewomen surrounded the sidelines to a standing ovation from fans and chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" The players then embraced the servicemen and servicewomen at midfield.
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Eagles chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie delivered his annual "State of the Eagles" address. I'll post the full transcript in the afternoon. To hold you off, here are some interesting highlights:
Lurie started the press conference by complimenting the Eagles on reaching the playoffs last season after starting 5-6 after losing their franchise quarterback and star defensive end. He compared it to the Patriots losing Tom Brady and Richard Seymour or the Colts losing Peyton Manning and Dwight Freeney.
Lurie thinks Donovan McNabb isint the prime of his career, citing the average age of a Super Bowl-winning quarterback as 30-31 years old. That would put McNabb right in that range.
He said the Eagles believe the best way to sustain success is to have a franchise quarterback, which is why the team's philosophy to draft a quarterback if they feel he has everything they're looking for in a quarterback. That is how Lurie explained the Kolb selection.
Lurie said the most difficult part of owning a team is having a meticulous plan yet in the end, there are some things that are out of their control like injuries. It's why he mentioned that despite all they do, there is still luck involved.
There is much more to come. Check back later for the full transcript.
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