Time to put on the pads and get down to it… Friday’s practice at Lehigh was the last interlude sans full metal jacket contact… Now it gets nasty…
Final review before the Braveheart stuff begins…
Bryce Brown gets a rep at RB taking a handoff from Nick Foles…this of course will be much different on Saturday when the full uniform pads and hitting commences…
The Eagles have stocked their training-camp roster with two rookies, Bryce Brown and Chris Polk, and an inexperienced second-year player, Dion Lewis, to compete for the backup running back spot behind LeSean McCoy.
They all appear game-ready before the first shoulder pads have even been strapped on — the Eagles don’t start with full contact until Saturday, July 28 —
“They are fast,” coach Andy Reid said of the rookies. “Polk has quick feet, and that’s what you notice about him. He’s very instinctive. Bryce is very fast and very big. He’s a big kid now, and he’s smooth. He can take one cut and hit a guy.”
“Polk has more [college] experience than what Bryce does, but Bryce has a lot of talent. It’s just going to be a matter of time and reps for these guys to get themselves back in there and pick it all up.”
Both rookies are dark horses to make the team, even before the pads go on…
Polk has a chronic shoulder condition that knocked him from as high as a second-round draft grade to undrafted. The Eagles pounced on him with a free-agent offer. That’s almost certainly what they would have had to do with Brown as well if they hadn’t decided to take him in the seventh round.
Brown barely played in college after transferring from Tennessee to Kansas State, where he quit the team after suffering an ankle injury.
But after doing their homework on him and being satisfied that he still wanted to prove himself as a football player, the Eagles and general manager Howie Roseman decided it actually would be more prudent to draft Brown in the last round than to possibly get into a UDFA bidding war with other teams who would have been interested the day after the draft.
Now the rookies are helping each other even while competing, which in a sense enhances the process. “We actually push each other and help each other out a whole lot,” Brown said. “He helps me out, I give him feedback, he gives me feedback.”
Even more than the playbook and the terminology, the typically fast pace of Reid’s practices is a huge adjustment for the rookies. “We’re definitely moving at a fast pace,” Brown said, “but we have time to really get in our playbooks during our rest and break times. I think that’s what’s going to separate those who do well from those who don’t.”
For Brown, everything about training camp is quicker, starting with quarterback Mike Vick. “It’s definitely been good working with Vick,” Brown said, “because he’s a lot different. I can think back to minicamp and he seems a lot faster [now]. He calls plays a lot faster, and it just feels different with him being out there. So I have to adjust to that, which is good, because he’s the starter and it helps getting those reps with him.”
Polk’s desire was enhanced by falling out of the draft. “I feel like I have something to prove,” he said. “It’s just a little extra motivation.”
It helps that, like McCoy, Polk is tough, with a high pain threshold. “It just dislocates,” Polk said of his shoulder, matter-of-factly. “Thank God nothing is broken. At the absolute worst, if I hurt it, it would be swollen for two days. And two days after, I’m right back to normal.”
No exaggeration there. Polk started every game in his final three seasons at the University of Washington, where he finished with 4,049 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 799 carries. He is the second leading rusher in the history of the program. His style is to first try to run through defenders rather than around them, so he’s used to taking major hits.
The biggest adjustment for Polk is the blocking required in this system. The good news is that it’s a technique change only with his hands and feet. The recognition aspect, far more important, is not a problem, he claims…
Meanwhile, in the final practice before contact:
Tackle Demetress Bell handled himself well in the one-on-one drills against defensive end Trent Cole but also jumped offsides on the first play of the 11-on-11 scrimmage…
Rookie defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, their first-round draft pick, lined up with the second-team defense in the scrimmage. Surprisingly, veteran Derek Landri replaced injured Mike Patterson with the starters.
Quarterback Trent Edwards got only one rep during the scrimmage. He completed a short pass to fullback Jeremy Stewart over the middle.
If the season started today —- Clay Harbor would be the starting tight end. Brent Celek did not practice Friday after suffering a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during Thursday’s brief workout. Celek and coach Andy Reid indicated the injury was not serious, however, and he is expected to miss only a few days…
Play of the day—-Vick drew a standing ovation from the fans in the afternoon session when he dropped into a slide during a drill with no defense on the field.
Bumps and bruises—-DeSean Jackson got sick and barfed during the afternoon session, which was conducted in searing heat. Celek was the only available player who did not practice Friday. Mike Patterson (brain surgery) and tackle Jason Peters (torn Achilles’ tendon) will miss the entire training camp. Safety Colt Anderson (knee surgery) may also sit out the entire camp.
Brandon Boykin had a nice day at cornerback—jamming everything he covered at the line of scrimmage, including Chad Hall and Damaris Johnson…
TE Clay Harbor had a nice day, making some difficult catches look easy…
WR Riley Cooper had a difficult day, missing catches on some challenging throws that got him all tangled up in defenders’ efforts…
K Alex Henery was perfect from 36, 42, 45 and 48 yards…
DE Brandon Graham showed signs of new life, and seemed to have great burst off the edge on many plays…
The OL was guilty of a few false starts… not to be overly critical at this point in the preseason, but Demetress Bell missed a count…as did Evan Mathis… plenty of time left to get that stuff ironed out…
Fletcher Cox had a much better day at DT than the previous day, as he showed a quick first step in busting up the C/G gap… Cox is showing improved recognition of offensive line movement. And he did not get winded or out of breath yesterday, as he did on Thursday…
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