Eagles training camp 2020 observations Day 12: Josh Sweat wrecks Matt Pryor

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For the first time this summer, the Eagles moved their practice over to Lincoln Financial Field for a scrimmage. 

It was the final day of practice I’ll get to watch during training camp. *sheds a tear* 

The Eagles treated warmups like they would for a normal game, so that was fun. They also pumped in fake crowd noise, which was not. 

I cruised through the temperature check at the Linc with a 97.5, my lowest of the summer. 

Let’s get to the observations one last time this summer: 

1. For the second straight day, Matt Pryor lined up at left tackle and Sunday was an absolute disaster. Josh Sweat beat Pryor for at least three or four sacks and consistently got by him. 

Now, Sweat has had a good camp and I don’t want to take anything away from him. But this is more about Pryor. He’s not a left tackle and the Eagles can’t have him out there at that spot in two weeks when they kick off their season in Washington against Chase Young. 

The Eagles were still without Lane Johnson on Sunday and Jason Peters is still at right guard, even after the injury to Andre Dillard (he’s out for the year). Peters reportedly wants to get a pay bump to move over to left tackle … and the Eagles might not have a choice. 

Here was the line on Sunday: 

LT: Matt Pryor 

LG: Isaac Seumalo 

C: Jason Kelce 

RG: Jason Peters 

RT: Jordan Mailata 

I don’t really like that Peters is basically holding the Eagles hostage to get more money before he changes positions — didn’t we all know this was a possibility? — but the Eagles might just have to pay him. Based on what we saw Sunday, Pryor simply can’t handle that left tackle spot. If he doesn’t show dramatic improvement, it would be borderline negligent to go into a season with Pryor at left tackle while Peters remains at right guard. 

2. Carson Wentz didn’t practice on Sunday and is day to day with a lower-body injury. I’m told it’s a soft tissue injury and isn’t anything serious; the Eagles are just keeping him out as a precaution. Without Wentz, Sudfeld and Jalen Hurts split reps. 

But seeing Jalen Reagor go down during practice definitely wasn’t a good sign. He’s reportedly having an MRI on his shoulder after trying to make a tackle following an INT in a team portion of practice. 

Not practicing today: Wentz, Miles Sanders, Genard Avery, Johnson, Vinny Curry, Dillard, Quez Watkins, Dallas Goedert, Javon Hargrave, Derek Barnett. 

3. Reagor had the day’s first touchdowns but DeSean Jackson had the next one. Jackson got around Will Parks in coverage and caught a ball in the left side of the end zone. He celebrated with Reagor after the score. 

4. Rookie John Hightower has consistently made big catches during this training camp. Sunday was no different. He caught a touchdown in the back right corner of the end zone on a pass from Jalen Hurts. Hightower juggled the ball but was able to reel it in and got both feet in bounds for the score. 

A little later, Sudfeld hit Hightower in stride deep down the middle of the field with Avonte Maddox in coverage. Sudfeld had time on that play because Corey Clement stayed in to chip Sweat. If Pryor lines up at left tackle this year, expect a lot of that. 

5. I’ve seen Maddox get beat a little too much during this camp. I’m a little skeptical about how he’ll hold up as an outside corner in 2020. 

6. Receiver Travis Fulgham doesn’t have a real shot to make the team but he did have a nice TD catch on Sunday on a beautiful back-shoulder throw from Nate Sudfeld in the end zone. Craig James had tight coverage but Sudfeld put it where only Fulgham could get it. 

7. James did make a big play on Sunday. Hurts underthrew a ball to Deontay Burnett and James picked it off and went the other way for six. James is less of a long shot to make the team than you might think. He’s a big special teams contributor. 

8. It’s been a pretty quiet training camp for 2019 4th-round pick Shareef Miller but he had a nice TFL during a live period today. 

9. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside made a few more plays today. One was a leaping grab on the sidelines that might have been OPI. But with Reagor’s injury — we’ll see how severe it is — JJAW might need to play a bigger role early this season. If Reagor isn’t ready for Week 1, my guess is that the starters are Jackson, Arcega-Whiteside and Greg Ward. 

10. After Sudfeld picked up a bad snap off the ground and handed it to Boston Scott, the stout running back pulled off a quick spin move to avoid a defender and then showed his burst into the next level. 

11. Rasul Douglas and T.J. Edwards each had “sacks” on blitzes today. I’ve been impressed by Edwards all camp and Douglas has come on strong. On Sunday, when Darius Slay got a breather, Douglas was with the first team for a bit. 

12. Ward just makes solid catch after solid catch. He had a sweet back shoulder one today to move the chains. That’s the type of player he is, just moves the chains. 

13. While Sudfeld began the day with the starters, he and Hurts split those first-team reps. Without Wentz at practice, Hurts got a lot of time with the first team today. That’s the first time this summer. 

14. The last play of practice was a beauty. With the offense backed up, Hurts delivered a deep ball down the right sideline to rookie Manasseh Bailey, who nearly took it the length of the field. Credit Elijah Riley for a tackle at the 1-yard line. 

Stupid Observation of the Day: I understand pumping fake crowd noise into a stadium, but it’s mind-numbing. They should use that to get criminals to crack. At least real crowd noise makes sense. This is just loud all the time, highs and lows. Heck, when Doug Pederson called on them to raise the volume, it became louder in the Linc today than it was for the NFC Championship Game. 

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