Inside the Iggles
FanSided

Eagles Practice Recap: Sam Bradford “looked elite” on Friday

By Anthony DiBona

facebooktwitterreddit

Another day of training camp is in the books for the Philadelphia Eagles. Here’s a recap of the practice with tons of insight from reporters that were at the NovaCare Complex earlier today.

Sam Bradford “looked elite” on Friday

Just a day after putting on a show at practice, quarterback Sam Bradford somehow performed at an even higher level. Since being traded to the Eagles, Bradford has had his fair share of doubters. Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com may be one of Bradford’s biggest skeptics and he has his reasons. Yet even “ESP” couldn’t hold back from praising Bradford following his performance during practice earlier today.

Here’s what Shorr-Parks had to say regarding Bradford’s showing in his latest installment of “Eagles Quarterback Report Card”:

"If you have been reading NJ.com this offseason, you know this reporter has been skeptical of the team’s acquisition of Bradford.Although it was just one practice, Bradford finally looked elite on Friday.Bradford picked the Eagles’ defense apart all day Friday, putting the ball down the field, across the middle and taking what the defense gave him when nothing was there. When Bradford is in his zone it is something to see, as he throws the ball down the field with great anticipation and timing.One day after struggling to get the Eagles in the endzone, Bradford had four touchdown passes, and he could have had six if Miles Austin didn’t drop one, and his receiver would have stayed in bounds on another.There are still plenty of questions for Bradford to answer, but he finally showed flashes of having “it” on Friday, which should have Eagles fans very excited."

It’s nice to see Bradford proving his doubters wrong thus far. But we do have to remember to maintain some sort of perspective since this is only practice. Bradford is donning a red jersey for a reason, he cannot be touched. The true test will come during preseason action, starting on August 16th against the Indianapolis Colts. If Bradford can make it through a preseason game, while taking a couple of hits and still playing at a high level, then the hype could rightfully get out of control.

Two more key players sit out practice

While Kiko Alonso, DeMarco Murray and Jerome Couplin missed practice yesterday, they were joined by two new faces on Friday. Tight end Zach Ertz and inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks also missed practice earlier today. While it isn’t exactly clear why the two of them sat out, it’s worth keeping a close eye on. It’s especially worth watching the inside linebacker position if Alonso and Kendricks both continue to miss time.

Although both Alonso and Kendricks should be just fine for the regular season, if either is forced to miss an extended period of time, that could be a tough blow for the Eagles. Then there’s Ertz who is battling veteran Brent Celek for the starting tight end job. Ertz cannot help his case for being the team’s starting tight end by missing practice, especially after all the work he’s put in during this offseason. It’ll be important for him to stay healthy and on the field if he truly wants to have a breakout season in 2015.

There’s an open competition at right guard

It appeared just days ago that Matt Tobin had the starting right guard spot locked up. But then the Eagles gave first team reps to veteran John Moffitt at the position during yesterday’s practice and today they gave reps to Andrew Gardner there as well, according to Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation.

It appears as though the right guard spot is up for grabs. Jason Peters, Allen Barbre, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson all have their starting spots secured, but there’s certainly an open competition at right guard with quite a handful of suitors battling for the spot. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the team’s undrafted rookies will throw their hat into the mix there as well. Brett Boyko is a name to watch considering the Eagles threw some extra money at him to get him in midnight green.

That’s all for today’s practice recap, the team gets back at it with another practice tomorrow morning.

Next: Chip Kelly has an unexpected supporter

More from Inside the Iggles

Home/Eagles News