Morning Practice Recap

Kevin Kolb after firing a pass during practice Thursday morning.

After struggling a bit in this morning’s practice, Kevin Kolb put together a few nice plays in a row, getting rid of the ball quickly to Brent Celek over the middle and LeSean McCoy in the left flat.  The Eagles running back showed off his pass catching skills in this morning’s practice, hauling one in over the middle of the field as well.

Riley Cooper continued to make big plays down the field, catching a bomb from Kolb.  That said, the defense didn’t seem to be pushing too aggressively in what really seemed to be more of a walkthrough than a practice.  Still, that didn’t stop the fans from saluting their newest training camp hero with a round of cheers.

During positional drills, the defensive line worked on dropping back into coverage, with Brandon Graham getting a good amount of one-on-one coaching.  Moise Fokou was in the group as well, and should he see playing time as a defensive end, his ability to drop back into coverage will allow the Birds to cover up their defensive schemes even more by confusing quarterbacks at the line of scrimmage.

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy makes a leaping catch as linebacker Simoni Lawrence looks on.

Head coach Andy Reid seems to like the concept of lining Fokou up with a hand in the dirt, “He’s a real good pass rusher, so we knew that coming in. He was that in college, and I think he had six sacks or something his senior year. So, he knows how to rush the passer and we want to give him an opportunity to do that.”  Reid said that Fokou would most likely be used as a pass rusher only in Nickel situations.

Odds and Ends

Andy Reid said that the right cornerback position is Ellis Hobb’s to lose.  ”It is right now. I love his attitude, too. He’s a feisty little dude, man. He likes to play th game and he’s not going to take anything from anybody, and I appreciate that.”

That leaves just two starting spots on defense realistically up for grabs.  At left defensive end, Juqua Parker tries to hold off Brandon Graham.  Akeem Jordan and Moise Fokou are still both in the mix for the starting strongside linebacker position.  Jordan seems to have the edge.  ”There’s a competition there that’s going on, but Akeem has been in games, has played.  It’s all been on the weak side, but he has played,” said Reid.  Fokou has playing experience as well though, after starting four games last year and playing in all 16.

Training Camp Coverage

Visit InsideTheIggles.com for training camp coverage, including practice recaps and scouting reports from Lehigh Valley. ITI’s Ryan Messick will be reporting from camp again August 5^th through 8^th. Check back often for updates and follow along on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Ryan_Messick and www.twitter.com/InsideTheIggles.  A live Twitter feed will be available here on ITI during practices. We’ll also have coverage of tonight’s Flight Night, which starts at 7:00 P.M.

Tags: Akeem Jordan, Andy Reid, brandon graham, Juqua Parker, Kevin Kolb, LeSean McCoy, Moise Fokou, morning practice recap, Philadelphia Eagles