Deiondre’ Hall happy to taste victory with the Eagles – even if he wasn’t exactly there

Deiondre' Hall said Carson Wentz was "one of the first faces I saw when I got into the building," after Hall was acquired from the Chicago Bears for a conditional seventh-round draft pick on cutdown day.

Hall practiced Monday for the first time with the Eagles, a week late because of an NFL suspension. Hall, a safety who will wear No. 36, took the roster spot of Tre Sullivan, who got pulled into a bouncing, live punt Thursday night, creating a turnover in the season opener.

Hall said he is happy to be Wentz's teammate after competing against him for Northern Iowa, when Wentz was at North Dakota State, and in Wentz's second NFL game, a 29-14 Eagles win in 2016. Hall did not say whether Wentz gave him any information regarding the quarterback's return from knee surgery.

"I haven't stopped smiling since I've been here," said Hall, who is 6-foot-2, 206. "A little bit different culture, but it's a winning culture, and that's really good for me. I think I have eight total wins [in 10 Bears games over two seasons], to come in and already have a win under my belt – even if I wasn't a part of it, I was still on the team, so it counts."

Hall said he watched the Eagles play Atlanta on TV from his room in the team hotel. After taking his physical, he wasn't allowed in the facility until after the opener, when the substance-abuse suspension was over.

Shelton Gibson's first NFL kickoff return was a 30-yarder, on which he showed the speed that got him drafted in the fifth round in 2017. But his only other return opportunity in the season opener didn't go so well – Gibson elected to try to bring a kick out of the end zone when it was apparent coverage was closing in. He was swarmed at his 10, and the Eagles ended up getting the ball on the 5 after a holding penalty to Avonte Maddox was assessed.

"Just gotta be better, play smarter. Definitely playing fearless, but just gotta be smarter," Gibson said Monday. "I definitely should have stayed in. But you live and learn. Everybody makes mistakes."

Rookie tight end Dallas Goedert said he'd watched his catch-turned-interception "about 100 times," but really, there isn't that much a receiver can do when a helmet hit to the ball is timed as well as Damontae Kazee timed his hit Thursday. The ball popped into the air and Deion Jones intercepted it. … DeAndre Carter said he didn't keep the ball from his first NFL catch. "You keep touchdowns," he said.

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