Observations: Jean-Gilles, Graham and Avant
The Eagles took the field for an afternoon practice Friday, with all their veterans in attendance. Here's what I saw.
Observations: Jean-Gilles, Graham and Avant
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles took the field for their first practice since veterans reported to camp on Thursday. Here are my observations:
* Everyone was here. That's the first thing I noticed. That wasn't the case last year when there was a mad scramble to figure out where Shawn Andrews was. And of course, Jeremy Maclin had not yet agreed to a contract.
* Todd Herremans is still not participating in practice, meaning Max Jean-Gilles filled in at left guard. The rest of the first-team offensive line was just what you'd expect, with Nick Cole at center and Stacy Andrews at right guard. Andy Reid talked about Jean-Gilles and his offseason lap-band surgery.
"He looks like he’s ready to pose for Esquire," Reid said. "He’s looking good. He looks good and that will help Max. Max is a good football player, and I know about weight problems, so he’ll be more effective, even more than what he was before. I think from a life standpoint, it’ll help."
* I'm keeping my eye on the backup tight ends throughout camp to see how they fit in. Today, when the Eagles went to two tight ends, it was Cornelius Ingram on the field with Brent Celek. As we learned from the 2010 Football Outsiders Almanac, the Eagles went with two tight ends on 30 percent of their offensive plays last year, which ranked 30th in the league.
* The second-team offensive line had Austin Howard at left tackle, Fenuki Tupou at left guard, Mike McGlynn at center, Dallas Reynolds at right guard and King Dunlap at right tackle. The Eagles are thin at tackle, as I've mentioned before, specifically after the draft when I was surprised they didn't select one. We'll have to see which of the backups stand out over the next three weeks.
* Brandon Graham seems like a fun-loving guy. Here's what he said about the weight he wants to play at.
"The goal was to just stay where I was and just to get a little bit more muscle and work on my core," he said. "That’s the biggest thing, because my stomach, I just wanted to cut it up a little bit more, and I told coach in there that I’m going to be in the weight room a lot, every day, after practice, trying to get extra abs in, because that’s a goal of mine. I’ve got a bet with some of the players at Michigan, because they call me fatboy."
I will not be calling him fatboy. Graham still outweighs me by about 130 pounds.
* Seventh-round pick Kurt Coleman was on the field with the second-team defense. The Eagles have five safeties on the roster, so Coleman should see plenty of reps.
* Nate Allen had a couple picks during 7-on-7 drills. Significant? Not really. But if he dropped them, I'd write about it, so might as well give credit.
* Kevin Kolb connected with Jeremy Maclin on a bomb down the middle of the field. By my count, the ball traveled about 40 yards in the air.
* The catch of the day was by Jason Avant, who is apparently in midseason form. Avant stretched out and reeled in a Michael Vick pass with one hand in the end zone, much to the delight of his teammates.
* DeSean Jackson is here, but he's not chatting. Jackson declined to speak with the media for the second day in a row.
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Sorry folks, professionals in public occupations learn that avoiding the press creates its own story; he just needs to work with his PR people and agent to come up with a talking point regarding his contract and then just repeat it over and over. At some point, even the biggest pain in the a** reporter gives up.— chesapeake- P Even, he's man enough to go over the middle in the NFL that takes a lot more man than talking to the media— brs50
Comment removed.- chesapeake, go swim out into the middle of the river and get your brain back...he's not talking so he doens't have to answer any questions about his contract and then have all of his comments manipulated by the philly writers, hence he's quiet and reserved, the exact opposite of your oh-so-accurate-assessment of 'pouting and spouting'. And no, Arizona is not trading Fitz, you should never comment again, EVER! Now i got to read the rest of the comments because I couldn't make it past your nonsense without immediately pointing it out as a perfect example of why sometimes, the people who say eagle fans are stupid are actually right, cause you'll always proof them right with thoughts like that.— Bleue
- goeagles87, I will be taking your wisdom and adding it to my "Professional Reminders for Better Living" and jmk1512, you are absolutely correct sir, those backups had better be ready to be red-light performers should they be needed to step in.— The Reddgie
- P Even, he is the opposite of immature, and that is smart. One Yard, stay away from the media, they absolutely DO NOT have your best interests at heart and will manipulate anything you say to get people like me to click on the article. You will get paid, just keep being smart and keep your d@mn mouth shut.— The Reddgie
- Yikes, that back-up OL is scary...not so much for talent (I mean, who knows how good these guys are, really?) but for inexperience. Here's hoping the starters stay healthy and Herremans and Jackson come back real soon.— jmk1512
- Aww, c'mon give Djax a break. I think he's handling this contract matter just fine. Actually, for those who haven't learned yet, we can learn a lot about our own lives from these guys. When we have troubling matters on hand, the people who blabber off about are usually the ones who end up losing out. The people who shut up and continue to do their work are the ones who succeed. DJax is doing just that, as opposed to some losers on here who think he should be posing for the cameras every day, just to enlighten your own hopeless lives.— goeagles87
- Djax, be a man and talk to the media. Maybe he's not a diva, but immature?— P Even
- Exactly, kcruel. I might suggest he only take football questions.
It's not just the contract, remember the media ran with his out of context comments about McNabb. Peake, how is that a diva? T.O. and Ocho cannot shut up to the media.- WOW! KK threw a pass 40 yds in the air!! WTF? Honestly, if that was written about #5, BHOP and the rest of you "knownothings" around here would be all over the player---you know it too! He is an NFL QB right? The less we have to hear from DJax, the better. I hope his "self-induced" gag order lasts all season.— somertonspartan
- Yes, lay off DJax. He's fine. He'll have a great season and get paid very well soon enough.— LAPhillyPhan
- Chesapeake, don't assume too much about Jackson. Its always in the players best interest to avoid the media when they know any question about contracts can be taken out of context. Westbrook did the same when he had contract issues, as do most Eagles who stay on the roster. The problem childs are those who want the camera and mic when they feel they are undercompensated (TO, Lito, Duce, etc)— kcruel
- Uh oh...you saw this coming with Jackson; first day of camp and already he's pulling the diva s**t. Can we trade him straight up for a solid citizen like Larry Fitzgerald? I know this would never happen but I can see a season of pouting and spouting; I hope Kolb is confident enough to keep him centered.— chesapeake
Jean Gilles is the backup to Todd Herremans and Stacy Andrews. I hope Todd is fine and Stacy has a bounce back year because the offensive line has to block for Kolb and I believe they will dominate on the offensive line because they are big, strong, talented and smart and everybody on that offensive line has heart.— briandawkins20
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