PHILADELPHIA – The official training camp portion of the Philadelphia Eagles’ summer is over after the team’s 16th open practice, one of which took place against the New England Patriots in Foxborough.
The pause in fully watchable sessions means it’s time to hand out the Philadelphia Eagles’ annual camp awards on SI.
This includes the winner of the 2024 Mr. NovaCare award, the player who will be honored with the mythical “Paul Turner Trophy,” although this piece of trophy could change its name in the future. More on that later.
And so, without further ado, Price Waterhouse handed us the envelopes:
Biggest improvement: Edge rusher Patrick Johnson – The fourth-year edge rusher, who can also play off-ball linebacker and remains one of Michael Clay’s most important special teams players, dedicated his offseason to reshaping his body.
Johnson came back bigger, stronger and more explosive. The numbers game is tough, with Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith and third-round rookie Jalyx Hunt all 100 percent players, but Johnson has fought his way to the 53.
Best rookie: CB Quinyon Mitchell – The chalk holds.
Mitchell looked like the best cornerback in the draft and was even more versatile than expected, showing the ability to move inside and handle slot work. Mitchell will start on day one and likely play alongside Darius Slay when there are only two CBs on the field and move inside when a third cornerback is needed, with Isaiah Rodgers or Kelee Ringo stepping in.
Mitchell has been extremely competitive in training camp and hasn’t shied away from 1-on-1s with star receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. After Brown beat Mitchell with a long touchdown on Tuesday of this week, Slay said he couldn’t wait to get revenge on Brown, which he did in a 1-on-1 toward the end of Wednesday’s practice, punctuating the play with his arms crossed and a long look at the Eagles’ best player.
Biggest disappointment: TE CJ Uzomah – Initially, it was thought that the experienced tight end could step in as a replacement for Jack Stoll at TE2, but that never came to fruition as Grant Calcaterra had that role firmly under control.
From there, Uzomah wasn’t even able to secure the TE3 job over the inexperienced EJ Jenkins or the injured Albert Okwuegbunam, as the Eagles released the former Cincinnati starter on Wednesday.
Toughest rookie debut: WR Ainias Smith – The fifth-round pick lost his confidence in the spring and that continued into the first few weeks of the summer when the former Texas A&M quarterback struggled with the football.
The good news is that Smith has turned things around over the past week and even ended camp on Wednesday with a brilliant one-handed catch on a seam route that was arguably the second-best of camp behind a one-handed circus snare by Brown on a back-shoulder 1-on-1 replay against Slay.
It will be interesting to see if Smith’s late life will be his downfall, as Howie Roseman clearly doesn’t want to pass on the 152nd overall pick.
Best undrafted rookie: tie between RB Kendall Miltin and S Andre Sam’ – Roseman warned that this would be a weaker year for undrafted players, and that sentiment has held true.
There are no UDFAs who have put themselves in a position to make the top 53. However, Milton brings size to the running back room at 6’1″ and 235 pounds and has shown more wobble than listed as both a runner and receiver. Sam’ is an older rookie at 25 and has shown that maturity and proven to be a tenacious player who battles in coverage. Both are sure candidates for the practice squad.
Most serious injury: RG Tyler Steen (ankle) – Steen was at right guard for the Eagles’ third practice of the summer when a sprained ankle forced him to the sidelines. When Steen returned just over a week later, likely too soon since the second-year player had left the second preseason game with New England, it was Mekhi Becton’s job he could lose.
And Becton hasn’t lost it.
Hardest to figure out: RB Saquon Barkley – Barkley has the reputation of a superstar, but has not shown any signs of it so far, aside from a nice play on a wheel route against soon-to-be-transferred Matthew Judon in joint practice against New England.
With Barkley, the excuse machine is usually in overdrive, and a common refrain is that RBs tend to show up only when things go live. And while that’s the case, both Kenny Gainwell and rookie Will Shipley have managed to make more plays with far fewer meaningful reps.
Biggest failure: WR Johnny Wilson – Some had the 6’6 rookie, who was picked in the sixth round, earmarked for the WR3 spot early in training camp before he suffered a concussion in a joint practice against the Pats.
With the Jahan Dotson trade, WR3 is off the table and Wilson can now fly under the radar and continue his development in a more relaxed environment.
Best late starter: OL Nick Gates – Dotson was a day late.
Gates, a veteran offensive lineman who likes to fight with his stomach facing out during practice, was signed on July 30 and has quickly replaced fellow defensive tackles Matt Hennessy and Max Scharping as the Eagles’ safety net on the inside.
Gates has started 39 NFL games with Washington and the New York Giants and can play all three positions on the interior line. It was notable that when Becton joined practice over the weekend and Steen was out, Gates had already made some first-team appearances at RG despite his late signing.
The Lane Johnson Award for Best Quotation: That goes out to trash-taking extraordinaire CJ Gardner-Johnson, who didn’t hold back on a struggling Ainias Smith when the rookie came up empty-handed in a 1-on-1 replay with Sam in an end-of-practice session earlier this summer and said, “Man, you haven’t done shit all camp.”
Mr. NovaCare: QB Tanner McKee – The mythical “Paul Turner Trophy” has a new sponsor with McKee, the first consecutive winner.
There is no controversy within the organization over the backup quarterback. The Eagles signed 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett as a low-cost replacement for the next two seasons, but McKee has looked better at times and fueled many fantasies.
The most popular player is the backup QB – that’s a well-known saying in the NFL. But that’s only true if you don’t have a star like Jalen Hurts. In Philadelphia, the most popular player has become the backup to the backup.
Ironically, McKee wasn’t particularly good at NovaCare, but his fourth-quarter play in New England secured his title defense. The No. 1 favorite was Wilson, but he had significantly faded before the concussion took him out of the running completely.
MVP-QB Jalen Hurts: The headline read: No interceptions for 15 training sessions before Slay finally provoked Hurts in No. 16.
The most impressive thing about Hurts’ summer, though, was his consistency. If you played the thumbs-up, thumbs-down game with Hurts, you might have gotten a thumb or two in the middle, but no negative ones.
It was an extremely tough summer for the QB1.
Favorite tweak: Balcony Vic – The Eagles normally hold one or two practices at Lincoln Financial Field, but Pink’s Summer Carnival concert prevented that from happening last week, prompting Nick Sirianni to try to recreate the game-day coaching feel by putting the coaches who normally spend game-day time in the booth on the facility’s balcony overlooking the practice field.
Something about Balcony Vic Fangio makes me smile.
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