Monday marked the eighth Philadelphia Eagles training camp practice ahead of the 2024 season. The Birds were back in pads for their hottest practice so far this summer. Here’s what I observed at the NovaCare Complex.

• JALEN HURTS UPDATE: Another day, another good Hurts practice.

Hurts started strong with some good completions to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in WR vs. DB 1-on-1.

Hurts did fail to complete deep attempts to both Brown and Smith in 7-on-7. But the ball placement appeared to be good and Darius Slay just had even better coverage in both instances.

During an 11-on-11 goal-to-go situation, Hurts ripped a quick throw to DeVonta for a touchdown with Reed Blankenship in coverage. Not much the safety could have done against a crisp route and a perfect pass.

Hurts was part of a Play Of The Day contender. He rolled right and threw into traffic to hit Johnny Wilson for the touchdown over Kelee Ringo. Hurts did a good job of throwing behind the rookie receiver as opposed to leading him and giving the defense a chance at picking it. Hurts also had a good connection with Wilson for a chunk gain in an 11-on-11 series where the first-team offense practiced against the second-team defense.

We’ve already written that Hurts looks way faster than he did last year. But that much was apparent again when he took off running up the middle on a rep where Baun tried to chase down (to touch him down) from behind and Hurts hit a second gear to break away. Hurts’ speed looked effortless.

On a negative note, Hurts did lose control of the ball during this ball protection drill:

• EAGLES INJURY UPDATES: Cam Jurgens exited practice with a trainer later in the session. Brooks Kubena reports that Jurgens is OK. We’ll see if he’s able to practice or not on Tuesday.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson left practice early and entered the team facility. Nick Sirianni told Jeff McLane that CJGJ is OK.

Mekhi Becton (illness) was upgraded to limited participation. He did some work in team drills but wasn’t able to finish practice. It looked like he may have been dealing with some kind of issue.

Tyler Steen (ankle) returned to practice in a limited capacity. He did not take part in team drills.

Eli Ricks (illness) was limited for the second day in a row. Ditto for fellow Alabama alumnus Josh Jobe (concussion).

Parris Campbell (groin) missed his second straight practice.

Brandon Smith (concussion) missed his second straight practice.

Mekhi Garner (hamstring) missed his third straight practice.

Oren Burks (knee) still hasn’t practiced since the first day of camp.

Austin Watkins left practice early with a trainer by his side.

Sydney Brown is still on active/PUP and Cooper DeJean is still on active/NFI.

• Circling back to Johnny Wilson, it’s a great sign for the rookie that Hurts already trusts him enough to make a risky throw his way. Wilson’s touchdown catch also shows the value of having a 6’6⅜” wide receiver with a massive wingspan (99-percentile) for red zone situations. It was encouraging to see Wilson shine in an 11-on-11 setting since his previous highlights were in 1-on-1. If he continues to look good in full team drills, he’s only going to strengthen his case to be WR3. At the very least, he looks like he might be a rotational player.

• Jordan Davis had his best day of camp so far; the big man was often active in the backfield. Early on in practice, Davis got to Saquon Barkley in the backfield for a “TFL.” He also played a part in stuffing multiple rushing attempts after that. Davis was in good position for a “sack” on a rep where Hurts tried running out of his own end zone.

• EAGLES ROSTER NEWS: In case you missed it, the Eagles signed linebacker (and career special teams contributor) Shaquille Quarterman. He’s wearing No. 37. In a corresponding roster move, they waived Jason Poe. Poe had an … interesting … frame for an NFL offensive lineman.

• RIGHT GUARD TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: Mekhi Becton was up first with the first-team offense at right guard. But that development hardly means Becton’s overtaken Steen since the latter didn’t participate in any team drills. It’ll be interesting to see if Steen retakes his place with the starters when he’s fully back. Becton being unable to finish practice allowed Brett Toth to get more reps at first-team right guard. Toth switched to center late in practice after Jurgens left … and Matt Hennessy (!) finally got a first team look for once by playing at right guard. The book on Toth is that he looks a lot better in the 1-on-1 setting than he is in actual team drills.

• CORNERBACK TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: Isaiah Rodgers took the first first-team cornerback reps across from Darius Slay in 11-on-11. That’s now five days for Rodgers (four in a row) and three for Kelee Ringo. Still plenty of time left before Week 1 but it’s looking like the veteran is gaining a lead. Quinyon Mitchell saw first-team nickel cornerback reps yet again. I saw some reactions that framed Mitchell playing in the slot as a bad thing. I don’t agree. Just because you draft a cornerback in the first round doesn’t mean you HAVE to start him on the outside in Week 1. That the coaching staff wants to find a way to get him on the field is a good sign. And it’s still entirely possible he does eventually win the outside job anyway.

• LINEBACKER TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: For the eighth day in a row, Devin White and Zack Baun were the first first-team linebackers in 11-on-11. Baun made a really good play when he sniffed out a screen to Saquon Barkley to “tackle” the running tackle immediately as the ball was caught. Had that been a real game scenario, Baun could’ve absolutely lit Barkley up to force an incompletion or fumble. When asked about that rep in his post-practice presser, Baun brought up how he also had a bad rep when he bit on play-action to allow a touchdown. The honesty and humility doesn’t make up for that mistake but the self-awareness is still good to see, especially if he’s able to learn from that rep. Nakobe Dean had a really good blitz where he bullied Will Shipley by shoving the rookie running back into Kenny Pickett for a “sack.” That being said, it’s clear that Vic Fangio isn’t absolutely in love with Dean.

• QB2 TRAINING CAMP BATTLE: Kenny Pickett had a pass over the middle broken up by Avonte Maddox but later hit Grant Calcaterra for a first down while being backed up against his own end zone. Not a super notable day for him. By contrast, it wasn’t the best day for Tanner McKee. The second-year passer got picked off clean by Tyler Hall in a 1-on-1 drill. That was just the second interception this entire camp. He got a bit unlucky later with a ball bouncing off Will Shipley and into the hands of Shon Stephens for a pick-six. Even if that wasn’t his fault, McKee had a bad pass later on when he had a wobbly ball sail over an open Calcaterra’s head up the seam. McKee did at least finish practice strong by rolling right and hitting an open Tyrion Davis-Price (who actually caught the ball!) in the front right corner of the end zone.

• While Slay bested A.J. Brown in 7-on-7, it was Brown who got the better of him in 1-on-1. The star receiver routed Slay up so bad that the cornerback fell to allow a wide open completion.

• Other 1-on-1 notes: Dallas Goedert failed to bring in a good back shoulder throw from Jalen Hurts with CJGJ playing tight coverage. Johnny Wilson made a nice catch with his arms extended up on a ball thrown high but not high enough to be out of his range. John Ross made a good back-shoulder catch despite facing defensive pass interference from Eli Ricks, who got flagged. Shaquan Davis almost Moss’d Tyler Hall but couldn’t control the ball as he went to the ground. Quinyon Mitchell couldn’t stop DeVonta Smith, but, who can? Kelee Ringo had good downfield coverage on Brown to prevent a touchdown pass. Ringo contacted him right as the ball arrived to disrupt the receiver’s positioning while avoiding a DPI call.

• It looked like Ringo committed DPI on Wilson in a 7-on-7 series but the refs didn’t throw a flag. Still kinda want to see Wilson make that play anyway since he has the size advantage.

• James Bradberry saw first-team safety reps next to Reed Blankenship with CJGJ leaving early. I’m beginning to think he might make the roster after all? But would really love to see proof of concept when it comes to tackling well and being able to help on special teams before fully committing to that idea.

• Nolan Smith lost contain to allow a positive Barkley run. Not the first time that his aggressiveness has worked against him in that specific regard.

• With the exception of the third-team units, the Eagles don’t actually do “live tackling” in padded practices. That said, the coaches do drill them to work on their form with the help of dummies. There was a multi-station tackling drill that players were rotating between to practice different kind of forms on Monday morning:

• Both Jake Elliott and Braden Mann participated in the tackling drills. Certainly not used to seeing kickers and punters do that in an Eagles practice. But Elliott and Mann both repped kicking off when the Eagles practiced the NFL’s new kickoff format.

• The Eagles practiced kick returns with two players back to return on each attempt. The first pairing: Kenny Gainwell and Isaiah Rodgers. The second pairing: Will Shipley and John Ross. The third pairing: Britain Covey and Ainias Smith. Parris Campbell, who did not practice, was standing with the returners so he could also factor in there. As could Cooper DeJean once he’s healthy.

• Ainias Smith just hasn’t had a very good camp. The rookie dropped another pass today. He might not make the roster at this rate.

• Darian Kinnard had a false start. Mental mistakes surely don’t help a fringe roster player’s chances of making the team.

• Speaking of mistakes, Lew Nichols had multiple fumbles in this ball security drill. Not ideal. (Didn’t get a view of his reps because a bunch of players were standing in the way at the time.)

• Good to see Jason Kelce back. Both Kelce and Fletcher Cox have now stopped in at camp despite retiring earlier this year.

• Fun post-practice moment: Hurts and Sirianni riding off the field together with Big Dom in the back on Big Dom’s cart. Sirianni has arguably given the Eagles an edge in the culture department in the past but that obviously wasn’t the case during last year’s collapse. So far, the vibes seem to be pretty good.