After a much-needed day off, the Eagles were back at practice on Sunday morning.
And they drew quite a crowd.
The team estimated 36,000-plus fans packed into Lincoln Financial Field for the second and final open practice of training camp. There were so many people there that the team had to open the upper level after the bowl was packed.
The Eagles will practice on Monday and Tuesday before traveling to Green Bay on Wednesday. They face the Packers in the preseason opener at 8 p.m on Thursday.
Sunday's observations:
1. *Clears throat* injuries: Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) was back at practice after missing the last four days last week (see story). He was limited, participating in individual drills but not team drills.
Mychal Kendricks (groin) and Donnel Pumphrey (hamstring) both returned to practice, too.
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Nick Foles (elbow), Paul Turner (shoulder), Adam Zaruba (concussion), Josh Andrew (hand) and Anthony Denham missed practice.
2. Carson Wentz was on fire Sunday. He was absolutely dropping dimes to his receivers on deep balls. He threw a perfect pass to Jordan Matthews over Malcolm Jenkins. His pass to Torrey Smith deep down the sideline was perfect, too.
Perhaps the best pass of the day came when Wentz threaded the needle to Trey Burton down the middle of the field with three defenders near him. Burton might have gotten lit up in an actual game, but the ball couldn't have been placed any better.
Wentz's accuracy on deep balls isn't new — he's been doing it all camp — but his throws Sunday were shockingly good.
3. During DB vs. WR 1-on-1s, Jalen Mills made a really impressive interception on a ball intended for Smith. Sure, the ball from Matt McGloin was underthrown, but Mills made a great play. He recovered after Smith sped by him, turned to find the ball, leaped backward with his back to the goal line and brought in the pick.
4. Newcomer Corey Graham was on the field for the first time as an Eagle on Sunday. He wore No. 36. While Jim Schwartz and the Eagles are going to begin with him at safety, the former cornerback showed really good coverage skills from the get-go Sunday. If he continues to do that, the Eagles are really going to have to think about moving him to corner (see story).
5. Shelton Gibson, the rookie from West Virginia, has had a pretty terrible camp. There's no need to sugarcoat it. But on Sunday, he made two impressive leaping grabs during 1-on-1s. For a receiver who admitted his confidence was an issue, making two catches like that in front of 36,000 screaming fans might give him a needed bump.
6. Rookie Elijah Qualls got off to a rough start in DL vs. OL 1-on-1s. On consecutive reps, he ended up on his backside — never a good sign in these drills. The first time, he got caught with his body turned awkwardly and Dallas Thomas threw him to the ground. The second time, Thomas beat him and then it looked like Qualls slipped. After those two reps, defensive line coach Chris Wilson really gave it to him. But give Qualls credit, he came back on the next rep and did much better, actually earning praise from Wilson.
7. Vinny Curry has had a pretty quiet training camp but looked good Sunday. He blew past Matt Tobin and Isaac Seumalo in the line drills and then during 11-on-11s, cruising through the line to pick up a "sack" against Wentz.
8. Every time Nelson Agholor touched the ball at the Linc the last two weekends, the crowd went nuts. How's that for rallying around a guy who really needs it?
9. LeGarrette Blount is a big guy but seems to move pretty well for his size. There were a few times he ripped through the line and accelerated downfield. It's surprising to me every time he does it.
10. Interesting that Matt Tobin got some reps at left tackle with the first team. It's not uncommon that Jason Peters takes reps off, but to see Tobin get some run instead of Halapoulivaati Vaitai was interesting. Tobin is a mostly forgotten guy, but might still have a place on the team.
Stupid Observation of the Day: The guy who plays "quarterback" and catches the snap during the defensive line vs. offensive line 1-on-1 drills has an incredibly scary job. I know the D-linemen don't actually hit him, but they get pretty close. I wouldn't be able to shake the worry that one of them would just forget one time and level me.