You know I’m a big Jimmy Kempski fan, so it’s no surprise I pay attention to his most recent takes on his privileged position as credentialed observer at Eagles practice yesterday:
• An interesting development is that Avonte Maddox has been getting first team reps in the slot over Sidney Jones. Today, Maddox had a good day. He had a nice pass breakup in the back of the end zone while covering Shelton Gibson. He also timed out a blitz nicely that forced a quick throw.
Maddox has a knack for blitzing. In 2017, he had 4 sacks for Pitt. In 2016, he had 2.5.
“As we noted a year ago, Jim Schwartz has a history of playing rookie cornerbacks early, and he doesn’t care what round they were drafted in. If Maddox is better than Jones in the slot, then he’ll play.
“To note, we’re not saying Maddox has been better. In fact, Jones had a pick six today when he sold that he was in man coverage and then jumped an underneath route for the pick. But in my opinion, this is a development to keep an eye on.”
• In addition to Maddox and Jones, the secondary as a whole dominated the Eagles’ offense yesterday. Some examples:
- Rasul Douglas had a few pass breakups. He has rebounded nicely from a game on Thursday in which he allowed two touchdowns.
- Rookie undrafted free agent Chandon Sullivan had two interceptions today. One was on a diving catch along the sideline. The other was a leaping grab in the end zone on a fade route.
- Tre Sullivan had a pick in the back of the end zone after a Gibson drop.
- Corey Graham had a pick-six today, after a Nate Gerry blitz forced a quick throw from Nate Sudfeld. Graham also had a nice pass breakup of a ball intended for Zach Ertz in the end zone.
- Jalen Mills had his (estimated) 100th pass breakup of camp today (kidding on that number), when he stepped in front of a sideline pass intended for Kamar Aiken. Mills read the route beautifully and put himself in a position to almost come away with a pick. He has had an outstanding camp.
• “One corner who did not have a great day today was De’Vante Bausby. His lowlight came on a Gibson touchdown reception in which Bausby wasn’t even close. Bausby had a great spring, but that has not carried over into training camp. At one point I was beginning to think of Bausby as a lock to make the team. Now, I’m not completely sold.”
• “One player who has gotten a lot of hype by the media (self included) has been G/T Matt Pryor. He is dominant in 1-on-1’s, but less so in 11-on-11’s, where he’s just been “good.” Today, rookie UDFA DT Bruce Hector got the best of Pryor on his way to a sack. Hector looks like a player.”
• “After starting off camp going a perfect 29/29, Jake Elliott had a rough day today, when he missed four out of nine field goal attempts.
| July 27 | Aug 1 | Aug 3 | Aug 6 | Aug 11 | Aug 13 |
| 22 – Good | 33 – Good | 33 – Good | 33 – Good | 33 – Good | 38 – Good |
| 33 – Good | 38 – Good | 33 – Good | 38 – Good | 24 – Good | 43 – Good |
| 36 – Good | 30 – Good | 37 – Good | 41 – Good | 33 – Good | 48 – No good (wide right) |
| 38 – Good | 45 – Good | 35 – Good | 38 – Good | 40 – Good | 48 – Good |
| 40 – Good | 34 – Good | 33 – Good | 33 – Good | 46 – Good | 38 – Good |
| 44 – Good | 45 – Good | 43 – Good | 48 – No good (wide left) | ||
| 44 – Good | 48 – No good (wide left) | ||||
| 48 – No good (wide right) | |||||
| 48 – Good | |||||
| 7/7 | 5/5 | 6/6 | 5/5 | 6/6 | 5/9 |
Jason Peters is going to have to remind Elliott that missed field goals will not be tolerated.”
Good stuff from Jimmy. Cracking corn is what he does.
In other news, by now you know Christian Hackenberg has been signed by the Eagles as a developmental QB. Hackenberg was drafted in the second round (51st overall) of the 2016 draft by the New York Jets out of Penn State. He played in the preseason for the Jets in 2016 and 2017, but never saw time in a regular-season game.
After a trade to the Raiders in the spring of 2018, he was released and became a free agent. He is hoping to use this opportunity with the Eagles to get his NFL career back on track.
“I’m going to come in every day and learn as much as I can from these guys,” Hackenberg said. “I assume they signed me for a reason so I’m just going to come in and give it all that I have in terms of picking it up, trying to push myself, and learning as much as I can mentally and trying to take that on while also making sure I stay up on everything physically. So, it’s going to be tough. It’s a challenge, and I’m excited for it. It’s better than sitting on the couch.”
Sitting on the couch is exactly what Hackenberg has been doing in the last two months. He said he worked with personal trainer Jeff Christensen and did 86 two-a-days of workouts trying to perfect his arm motion and footwork. He said this summer was the first time since he could remember that he was not involved in a Training Camp in some form.
“Being able to finally get that call and come in and do things, it puts things in perspective,” Hackenberg said. “You take things for granted and you don’t miss it until it’s taken away from you and I understand it’s not like a year or anything like that, there’s been way crazier stories, but getting a taste of that, it’s not a good sandwich to bite into. So like I said, just really happy to be here, smile on my face and enjoying every minute of it.”
Hackenberg worked out for the New England Patriots and Houston Texans in that time. He worked out with the Eagles on Sunday and was “thrown” into a walk-through after signing his contract. He then had to drive to his home in New Jersey to retrieve a bag of clothes before coming back to the hotel in Philadelphia and preparing for Monday’s practice.
“I know what I’ve put in this offseason and things I’ve changed and I just haven’t had an opportunity to go out and show any of that yet,” Hackenberg said. “So I think the expectations and all, that really hasn’t crossed my mind. It’s been more of a focus on just the process and every day, whatever step that is, and however that’s going to come, just falling in love with that again because usually if you take care of that, the results end up being pretty good.”
Who knows where this Hack thing could go? I see him as a feel-good story right now, not much more. But I thought the same about Michael Vick’s journey to the Eagles in 2009.
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