Philadelphia Eagles: More news and notes from OTAs
Following their June 8th workout, the Eagles have one more day remaining on their OTA schedule , and there are no shortage of stories.
Wow, this year is flying by. In some ways, that’s okay. That just means we’re one step closer to the start of the 2017 NFL season. Before you know it Fall will be here, and we’ll be preparing for the Philadelphia Eagles to begin training camp and their preseason.
Still, none of that can happen until we get through OTAs, and with two days remaining (including June 8th), another sunrise on Thursday morning meant, at least, two things. Head coach Doug Pederson would meet with the Philadelphia media around 11 A.M. The Eagles would continue to make tweaks to their offensive and defensive gameplans.
Here a few of the things we’ve found to be most interesting:
1. Rookie running back Donnel Pumphrey is spending quite a bit of time working out as a slot receiver.
Philadelphia Eagles
If this one doesn’t interest you, you just aren’t interested in this team. While Pumphrey isn’t, in any way, staring at a position change, the NCAA‘s all-time leader in rushing yards has had some questions come up about whether or not he’s an every down back and whether he can consistently tote the rock between that tackles. Still, he’s too gifted in space to be ignored.
Pumphrey, if used effectively, can be motioned out of the backfield. That can create some mismatches and force linebackers into some uncomfortable positions. Hopefully, that will, more often than not, put the offense in an advantage.
2. Jason Peters, Marcus Smith and Donnie Jones are all still absent, and everyone’s resigned themselves to the fact that they won’t be showing up on the final day.
Is anyone else bothered by this, or would that fall into the category of overreaction? Who cares if OTAs are voluntary? Peters makes a ton of money and wasn’t willing to restructure his deal to create cap space. His presence would be invaluable for some of the younger Eagles. We’re not calling him selfish by any means, but if the term started getting tossed around, could you blame someone for using it?
3. The June 8th practice was open to the media.
Mandatory minicamp begins June 13th. Players will be available to the media once workouts conclude at around 2 P.M. EST.
4. No one’s complaining about what they’re seeing from Derek Barnett.
The rookie defensive end continues to show a high motor, is working hard and no one’s going to complain about any of that. He’s bending past tackles quite nicely. Philly.com‘s own Les Bowen stated it the best. “Somehow, Derek Barnett keeps his balance…He’s turning the corner past an offensive tackle, Barnett bent to his left like a short-track speedskater whipping through a turn, his head and left shoulder almost brushing the ground.”
Next: Did the Eagles need to sign Torrey Smith?
5. LeGarrette Blount isn’t present.
This one isn’t that big of a deal. The Eagles stated Monday that he was out sick, and he just may still need some recovery time. Again, this one isn’t that big of an issue.
Yes, things are definitely continuing to get more interesting.