The Eagles 17th summer at Lehigh will begin on July 22, when rookies, quarterbacks and players who finished last year on an injured list are due to report to the teams summer headquarters in Bethlehem.
The first practices on the grass fields at Lehigh Universitys south campus are scheduled for July 23 and July 24. These practices have often been closed to fans in past years.
Although nearly half the NFL now holds its summer training camp at the teams own facility, closed to fans, the Eagles continue to open most of their Lehigh practices to fans, although the exact schedule hasnt been released yet.
Effective this year, the Eagles will have trained at Lehigh longer than they were at West Chester, their previous summer home. They trained at West Chester from 1980 through 1995. Their 17-year stay at Lehigh ties the longest in franchise history. They were also at Hershey, Pa., for 17 years -- 1951 through 1967.
Veterans are scheduled to report to Lehigh on July 25 and the first practice featuring the full roster is scheduled for July 26. This is generally also closed to fans.
If the Eagles follow their usual schedule, the first full-team practice open to the public will be on Friday, July 27.
The Eagles will then practice straight through until Aug. 7. After a walkthrough on Aug. 8, theyre scheduled to open the preseason on Aug. 9 at the Linc against the Steelers.
Theyll return to Lehigh on Aug. 11 but not for the full duration of nine days until their second preseason game, Aug. 20 against the Patriots in Foxboro, Mass.
The Eagles will practice at Lehigh from Aug. 11 through Aug. 15, when they break camp. Theyll presumably practice at the NovaCare the next few days through Aug. 18, then fly to Foxboro on Aug. 19.
Aug. 15 is the latest that Lehigh University officials will allow the Eagles to occupy the dorms, and the long gap between first and second preseason games means a split week of practice between Lehigh and South Philly.
All practices at Lehigh are free to the public. There is also ample free parking adjacent to the practice fields.
The Eagles exact daily training camp schedule, including all their various Lehigh promotions, will be released closer to the start of camp.
The Eagles open their summer practice scheduled -- now severely curtailed by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement -- with a rookie camp from May 12 through May 14.
Full-team OTAs are scheduled from May 22-24, and a full-team minicamp is scheduled for June 12-14.
Grigson adds Eagles scout Russell
Ryan Grigson, who left the Eagles in January to become the Colts general manager, hired Ahmad Russell, who had been with the Eagles since 2004.
Russell, who graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J., and Colgate University, started out as an intern in the scouting department and gradually moved up the ladder. He was a college scouting assistant in 2005 and then served from 2006 through 2010 as a college scout handling the Northeast. He spent 2011 as a pro scout.
The week after the draft is generally when most scouting and personnel department movement occurs throughout the league.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
