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Eagles practice observations: Douglas gets an earful; Agholor in the slot; Gerry getting his

A handful of takeways from the final day of mandatory minicamp.

The Eagles held the final practice of their three-day mandatory minicamp on Thursday. Here are my observations from the session. Practice lasted just a minute less than an hour, so notes will be abbreviated.

1. The highlight of the day – or lowlight, depending upon your perspective – had to be defensive backs coach Cory Undlin's telling rookie Rasul Douglas to "shut the [expletive] up" after the cornerback kept complaining about getting called for pass interference. The play in question had Douglas guarding receiver Alshon Jeffery down the sideline. After Carson Wentz's pass sailed high and out of bounds, Douglas said to Jeffery, "You can't grab me." But when he turned around, there was a flag on the ground and a referee grabbing his own shirt to show Douglas what he had done wrong. It was his third penalty of the practice, and yet, he kept yapping. Undlin, standing about 20 yards away deep in the middle field, had seen and heard enough. "Don't grab the guy," he said after telling Douglas to shut the you-know-what up. The rookie had some strong days early this spring, but he took his lumps this week. And that's OK. The NFL isn't a sprint. Douglas' up-and-down first offseason is all part of the process.

2. Wentz carried over a strong Wednesday into the final session of minicamp. He wasn't as lights-out, but there also weren't as many opportunities to shine. He was sharp during red zone drills. On one play, he ran a naked bootleg to his right and fired to Marcus Johnson in a back corner of the end zone. The throw was there, but his receiver slipped and fell. On another, Isaac Seumalo, who was once again taking center repetitions with the first team, sent a snap over Wentz's head. But the quarterback jumped, reached for the ball with one hand, landed, and flicked a "touchdown" pass to a slanting Zach Ertz. During a later set, Wentz rolled outside after his first two reads were covered. Moving to his right, he found Torrey Smith alone in the back of the end zone, but the missile went through the receiver's hands. Wentz then hit Trey Burton and Nelson Agholor (more on him later) for successive "touchdown" passes. Wentz wasn't perfect. He threw into double coverage and was nearly intercepted when he went to receiver Mack Hollins, for instance. But Wentz had, overall, a good day and a very good week of practice.

3. Agholor looked better all spring, and he finished workouts on a high note. It's too early to say that he's a changed man and that he won't regress into the timid, mistake-prone receiver we saw in his first two seasons, but he flashed throughout camp. On this day, his best moment might have come when he beat cornerback Aaron Grymes on a 5-yard slant and leaped for a nice Wentz spiral in the end zone. Agholor has had the occasional drop, but he's done a much better job of concentrating and looking the ball into his hands this off-season. Jordan Matthews' absence over the last few weeks – he has knee tendinitis – has given Agholor the opportunity to play more in the slot and he has taken advantage of those opportunities. He's a better slot than he is an outside receiver.

4. I haven't mentioned linebacker Nathan Gerry much this spring, which can be a good thing for a rookie, but he made athletic back-to-back plays during second-team 7-on-7 drills. On both, Gerry dropped into coverage and read the quarterback's eyes. Seeing and knowing where the ball is going is one thing, but being able to get there is another, and Gerry did on both occasions. On the first, he intercepted quarterback Matt McGloin, and on the second, he got his hands on the pigskin and nearly picked off quarterback Dane Evans. The safeties don't get as many chances to make plays on the ball as cornerbacks during the spring – and they certainly don't get any opportunities to deliver bone-crushing hits – but the Eagles group appeared to have a solid camp. Starters Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod were typically where they needed to be, and backups Jaylen Watkins and Terrence Brooks were appropriately aggressive. Watkins was the defensive back who dropped the would-be Wentz interception on Wednesday.

5. And some leftovers: Jason Peters took some team snaps for the first time this week. The Eagles made sure not to push the 35-year-old left tackle, but it had to be nice to see the veteran join the rest of the starting offensive linemen. … Other than Matthews, the following players weren't at practice because of injury: defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (neck strain), receiver Dorial Green-Beckham (foot), cornerback Sidney Jones (Achilles), defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao (calf), defensive tackle Beau Allen (pectoral tendon), and center Tyler Orlosky (knee). Quarterback Nick Foles was once again excused. … The best news for the Eagles was that no players suffered significant injury this spring.