Eagles training camp observations: You can always throw it to A.J. Brown
Eagles training camp observations: You can always throw it to A.J. Brown originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It was Military Day at the NovaCare Complex for Day 3 of training camp.
It's Military Day at Eagles training camp. pic.twitter.com/DLwtFANQrn
- Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) July 26, 2025
Practice lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes before the final whistle after the developmental period. At some point next week, the Eagles will put on pads for the first time this summer.
Let's get to our notes from Day 3:
1. As always, we'll start with some housekeeping nuggets:
The Eagles' injury report changed slightly on Day 3:
Did not practice: Jalen Carter (shoulder)
Limited: Kenyon Green (knee), Jihaad Campbell (shoulder), Cam Jurgens (back)
Green practiced for the first time of training camp on Saturday and even took part in 11-on-11 drills. Carter's injury still isn't considered serious; it makes sense to take things slowly with their star DT.
Eagles great Fletcher Cox was in attendance for practice on Saturday. So too was another former Pro Bowl defensive tackle. Gerald McCoy, who works for NFL Network, was at camp too. Those two defensive tackles have a combined 12 Pro Bowl appearances - six apiece. Cox had 70 career sacks and McCoy had 59 1/2.
2. Some depth chart notes:
Rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell got his first first-team reps of training camp on Saturday as the Eagles began to mix him in a bit. To be clear, Zack Baun and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are still very clearly the top pairing right now (with Nakobe Dean on PUP) but Campbell began to get some first-team reps later in some practice periods on Saturday. It seems likely that those first-team reps are going to continue to increase.
For the second straight day, Adoree' Jackson was up first as the RCB opposite Quinyon Mitchell. But Kelee Ringo did mix in with the ones as well.
At safety, we saw more Cooper DeJean at safety in the base package. Sydney Brown was the first safety up in the nickel package but rookie Andrew Mukuba also got a lot of first-team reps. That has been the case for the first three days of camp.
The Eagles used their dime package (six defensive backs) a bit on Saturday and Mukuba was the extra DB on the field.
On offense, Tyler Steen continued to get all the first-team right guard reps. Day 3 in 2024 was when he suffered an ankle sprain, so he's already made it further in 2025.
OG Kenyon Green worked as the third-team left guard in his first practice of the summer.
QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson got exactly one second-team rep on Saturday. He's not competing for that job, which belongs to Tanner McKee, but he is competing with Kyle McCord for the QB3 position. McCord and DTR continue to split reps. DTR had his best day of camp so far.
Cooper DeJean got to catch a pass in a drill that is new this summer. The drill features two DBs and one receiver. The first DB is there to make sure the receiver has to fend him off and the second is there to get square and make a tackle after the catch. Adoree' Jackson got to catch the ball in this drill on Day 2.
Today's kick returner pairings (in order): Avery Williams and Will Shipley, Ainias Smith and Danny Gray, A.J. Dillon and Keilan Robinson, Taylor Morin and Montrell Johnson, Giles Jackson and ShunDerrick Powell.
3. The Eagles had a period of practice exclusively for third-down situations on Saturday and the defense was dominating. Vic Fangio's first-team defense got wins on the first four plays before the Eagles finally just went big to A.J. Brown.
On 3rd-and-10, Jalen Hurts heaved it deep to Brown down the right sideline for a gain of 30 or so yards. Brown then underhand flung the football into the air in celebration. Kelee Ringo had tight coverage on Brown but the throw and catch were perfect.
Overall, it wasn't Hurts' sharpest day of training camp. He missed a few throws and even threw one pass into the arms of a new piece of equipment this year that get held up by staffers at the line of scrimmage during 7-on-7s.
4. Jalen Hurts found DeVonta Smith on back-to-back touchdown passes in a red zone drill in a team portion of practice. The first play was an 11-yard score on a misdirection play where Smith was able to beat Cooper DeJean in a tight area. The other was a 6-yarder where Smith got in front of rookie linebacker Smael Mondon Jr.
Smith in 2024 had a career-high eight touchdown catches in just 13 games. Through four NFL seasons, Smith has 27 touchdown catches. That ranks tied for fifth in Eagles history for a player through four seasons behind just Tommy McDonald (35), Mike Quick (34), Calvin Williams (29) and Pete Pihos (28).
5. Earlier in the week, Quinyon Mitchell had a nice pass breakup on a go ball against A.J. Brown and today he got one against DeVonta Smith in 11-on-11s. Hurts had a good throw to Smith down the right sideline but Mitchell stayed with him in stride. Even though the second-year corner didn't get his head turned, he clearly read Smith's eyes and body and was able to get a hand in and knock the ball loose. That Quinyonomo Bay nickname isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
6. We saw a bunch of passes go Dallas Goedert's way on Saturday and that has become commonplace early in this training camp. That was also the case last year. Goedert was able to use his size to create enough space to make a catch on the rookie Drew Mukuba in an early portion of practice. Goedert also nearly had a spectacular catch in the red zone period but couldn't haul in the pass.
7. Keep an eye on third-year defensive tackle Moro Ojomo. He had a sack" in team drills today and has been consistently generating pressure early in camp as he goes against Tyler Steen. For a guy who has played 25 regular season games without a single sack (he did have one against the Rams in the playoffs), there's a lot of excitement about his future and his ability to rush the passer. Ojomo should have an expanded role in 2025.
8. It has been a relatively quiet camp so far for the receivers who are fighting for roster spots but former 49ers third-round pick Danny Gray made an impressive catch on Saturday, coming back a long way to make a diving catch on a ball from Tanner McKee. Off McKee's hand, I thought it was getting picked but Gray came back for it. Not only was it not intercepted; it was a completion.
9. The Eagles had some fun 1-on-1 battles in special teams today. In this drill, the ball is tossed to a return man while one guy attacks and the other blocks. The three highlights:
Saquon Barkley actually took a rep in this drill and after Jalyx Hunt beat his man cleanly he squared up and at least let Barkley know that he could have hit him. And then Hunt also let A.J. Brown - who was standing nearby - know that he could have put Barkley on his behind.
We'll see how much Jihaad Campbell actually gets to play on special teams but if he needs to, he should be good. He beat Dallas Gant cleanly on one rep.
The most fun battles were between Ben VanSumeren and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. - two of the Eagles' best special teams contributors. On one play, VanSumeren had an excellent rep blocking Trotter and his sideline went nuts.
10. The Eagles hold a developmental period to finish off every practice as a way to get some of the down-the-roster guys and young players some extra reps. This session doesn't often make the notes but receiver Elijah Cooks made a really great grab over B.J. Mayes down the left sideline to end practice. The first guy in Cooks' face to celebrate? A.J. Brown, who sprinted from the sideline.
Stupid Observation of the Day: On Military Day, all 90 players on their roster hand over their jerseys to select military personnel in attendance. Landon Dickerson profusely apologized to the lady who got his jersey because it was drenched in sweat after a tough practice on a hot day.