{"id":227123,"date":"2026-06-24T19:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/227123\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T19:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:43:16","slug":"17-idks-from-the-eagles-spring-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/227123\/","title":{"rendered":"17 IDKs from the Eagles\u2019 spring practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Eagles officially wrapped up their spring workout program earlier this month<\/a>. Now we\u2019ll take a look at the winners<\/a>, losers<\/a>, and I don\u2019t knows (t0day\u2019s focus) that stood out from four media-attended practices.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: These were non-contact drills (no pads) and four practices is a pretty small sample size. There\u2019s still plenty of time for players to change their outlook \u2014 for better or for worse \u2014 over the course of training camp and preseason games. For historical context, here\u2019s a look at the \u201cIDKs<\/a>\u201d from this time last year.<\/p>\n

There are reasons to be encouraged about the Eagles\u2019 new offensive coordinator. Everyone he works with seems to think he\u2019s a pretty smart guy; Jordan Mailata went as far to call him an \u201cevil genius<\/a>.\u201d Mannion had some good things to say during his sole spring press conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are signs that Mannion is going to help truly evolve the Eagles\u2019 offense. We saw a lot of under-center looks, play-action, motion, etc. during spring practices.<\/p>\n

Is Mannion definitely going to help the offense be significantly better in 2026? I do think it\u2019s possible. But I don\u2019t know that I feel confident about it at this point in time. I\u2019m more in the camp of keeping an open mind.<\/p>\n

Vic Fangio got the better of Mannion in these spring practices. Does that matter much? Maybe not. It\u2019s probably unfair to expect an offense undergoing schematic changes to be firing on all cylinders in OTAs. Especially when it\u2019s going up against a defense entering Year 3 under one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Based on what we saw, though, I do think it\u2019s fair to suggest the offense is a work in progress and could take some time to click. Fortunately, there\u2019s still an entire training camp to help work out the kinks.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get the disclaimers out of the way:<\/p>\n

Hurts is adjusting to (yet another) new offensive coordinator\/play-caller.Hurts is going up against a high-quality defense.Hurts didn\u2019t have some of his top receivers in spring practices.DeVonta Smith missed the last day of minicamp, Makai Lemon missed three of four spring practices due to a hamstring injury, and Dontayvion Wicks missed the first media-attended OTA practice.<\/p>\n

All of this acknowledged, I don\u2019t think Hurts had a sharp spring. I don\u2019t think he looked terrible. He was somewhere between those two extremes, hence the \u201cIDK\u201d placement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good that Hurts seems to be embracing the changes, based on what he\u2019s said and what\u2019s been reported.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d also argue that it\u2019s good that he\u2019s in a spot where questions have been raised about his future in Philly<\/a>. He tends to thrive when the pressure is on and his back is perceived to be against the wall.<\/p>\n

I think Hurts could have a good year. But, as is the case with the offense as a whole, it might not be about instant success as much as there\u2019s a build over the course of the season.<\/p>\n

I promise I\u2019m not trying to make a mountain of a mole hill … but this Sirianni quote from his final spring press conference just does not sit well with me (bold emphasis mine):<\/p>\n

Q. You\u2019ve preached since you got him about the importance of winning the turnover battle and protecting the football. Do you have to loosen that at all given that QB Jalen Hurts\u2019 is going to be learning a new offense and there may be some sloppiness and some growing pains early on. Do you have to kind of tolerate maybe the possibility of some more turnovers to get him to where he needs to be?<\/p>\n

Nick Sirianni: You\u2019re speaking of just interceptions, right? Because I think fumbles are a different story. Fumbles [have] a fundamental approach to it. I don\u2019t look at fumbles the exact same way as interceptions. Interceptions are happening with decision-making as he goes through reads and stuff like that. So fumbles, never will I ever budge on that because that\u2019s something that\u2019s the backbone of what we do fundamentally. I say to the guys an awful lot that this program and everything we\u2019re built on is built off fundamentals and the most important fundamental that we have is the ball, and it\u2019ll be treated as so. With the way we drill, with the way we coach it, with the way they emphasize it as players, we\u2019re going to continue to pound that and make sure that we\u2019re diligent there.<\/p>\n

As far as interceptions, I don\u2019t look at it that way. Jalen knows how important it is for us to take care of the football and we\u2019re going to continue to preach that. That doesn\u2019t mean interceptions don\u2019t happen. Of course they do. It\u2019s a part of the game. But no, as long as I\u2019m the head coach here, we\u2019re going to be very diligent about winning that turnover battle and winning the explosive play battle. I know it\u2019s like, \u2018Okay, that sounds simple,\u2019 but there\u2019s an art to it because you\u2019ve got to be able to create explosives in different ways and sometimes that puts the ball at risk, but at the end of the day, that ball is still the most important thing. We\u2019ll know how to create explosives in that time, but taking care of the ball is the most important thing and we\u2019ll talk about this all the time, can we come out of a game with every drive ending in a kick? Whether that\u2019s an extra point, hopefully, whether that\u2019s a field goal or whether that\u2019s a punt.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the mission of how we want to go about our fundamentals.<\/p>\n

You can say I\u2019m reading too much into coach-speak but we just witnessed a season where the Eagles led the NFL in three-and-out percentage. We\u2019ve witnessed the offense merely give up on third-and-long with coward\u2019s draws. We\u2019ve seen Sirianni pass on scoring opportunities in end-of-half scenarios.<\/p>\n

No one disagrees that turnovers are bad. But if Sirianni continues to emphasize avoidance to the extent that it neuters offensive upside, that would be really disappointing. Especially if Mannion turns out to be pretty good but he\u2019s hampered by the head coach\u2019s overly conservative approach.<\/p>\n

I liked the Wicks trade for the Eagles but I was hoping to see more from him this spring. He missed the first media-attended practice (unclear why) and then it didn\u2019t feel like he was active until the final day of minicamp, when neither Smitty nor Lemon were practicing.<\/p>\n

Given the way Sirianni talked about him (the head coach said there\u2019s some Keenan Allen to the receiver\u2019s game) and the way the practice reps worked out, Wicks is clearly a top three wide receiver on this team. So, he\u2019s a winner in terms of his standing on the team. But it would be good to see more on-field results.<\/p>\n

Carter wasn\u2019t present for the Eagles\u2019 media-attended OTA practices. He did attend two days of mandatory minicamp … but did not participate in team drills. I don\u2019t know if this is a \u201chold in\u201d for a new contract and\/or an effort to preserve him for the regular season. It\u2019ll be interesting to see if Carter fully participates in training camp without first signing a contract extension.<\/p>\n

McKee belongs in the \u201closer\u201d category in terms of his standing on the team. Entering the spring, no one expected him to be in a battle for QB2. Everyone thought Andy Dalton was QB3. Heck, even the team (through PR channels) suggested the Dalton acquisition had nothing to do with McKee. But that much clearly isn\u2019t true after watching Dalton take the majority of backup quarterback reps during spring practices. Sirianni is insisting that they\u2019re rotating reps … and we did see McKee as Hurts\u2019 primary backup during the Eagles\u2019 final spring practice. But that he\u2019s not already the undisputed QB2 is weird and sort of a concern? McKee did look better than Dalton and I do expect him to prove he\u2019s the top backup quarterback option on the team.<\/p>\n

Kendall was a limited participant during spring practices due to an undisclosed injury. The Eagles need him to stay healthy because 1) it remains to be seen if Landon Dickerson and\/or Cam Jurgens can avoid injury issues and 2) he might be the top backup at all three interior offensive line positions, like Brett Toth was for the Eagles last year. Kendall has shown glimpses of promise in a small sample size but the second-year blocker clearly lacks experience. This summer will be a big one for him as it relates to earning the coaching staff\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n

JTS originally signed with the Eagles on March 30, didn\u2019t attend their offseason workout program, and then retired. Not sure what happened here.<\/p>\n

The Eagles signed Epenesa right after the conclusion of minicamp. I don\u2019t know what to expect from him after his one-year, $5 million contract agreement with the Cleveland Browns was voided due to a failed physical. He\u2019s joining the Eagles on a deal worth about $1.2 million with just $500,000 guaranteed. BGN\u2019s Jonny Page notes that his film is good<\/a> but the health is a real question mark.<\/p>\n

Moore had some good moments in the spring and the coaching staff seems to like him. The question is, how does he fit on the roster? He\u2019s probably behind at least four players (DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown). And he\u2019s barely played on special teams in his career.<\/p>\n

My guy DC had a very quiet spring, which is weird because there was opportunity for him to step up when the likes of Smitty\/Lemon\/Wicks missed time. Nick Sirianni lumped Cooper into the Johnny Wilson \u2018dirty work role\u2019 bucket and Wilson had the superior spring. Cooper really came alive in training camp and preseason games last year, so, I wouldn\u2019t count him out just yet. But I wish we had seen more signs of a Year 2 leap to this point.<\/p>\n

The Eagles\u2019 in-house entertainment published a video that includes Nick Sirianni and Jeffrey Lurie praising Payton<\/a>. That itself seems like a good sign for him. The rookie quarterback had some struggles during very limited spring reps but he also showed some promise as well. He looked a little more advanced than I expected him to be as a one-year starter from North Dakota State. I don\u2019t know how he fits on the team. Are the Eagles really going to keep four quarterbacks? Do they risk putting Payton on the practice squad? Does Payton flame out like Kyle McCord did last year? We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

By the way, to this point, there\u2019s no evidence to believe the Eagles are going to use Payton like Taysom Hill, as has been speculated. (And that\u2019s just because they\u2019re hiding it from everybody!!! But probably not.)<\/p>\n

The Eagles were training a rookie Hinton as a tackle last year. Now they\u2019re having him work at left guard. Is this development a good sign for his stock? Maybe it\u2019s a sign that the team is trying to find him a spot to stick around. Or maybe it\u2019s a last ditch desperation effort. I lean towards the former but it is worth noting that Jeff Stoutland seemed to be a big Hinton fan … and he\u2019s no longer around.<\/p>\n

Spring marked the first time we got to see Lampkin participate in team drills with the Eagles since they acquired him after training camp last year. He sure is small! Just looking at him lined up next to his fellow offensive linemen, it\u2019s difficult to envision him having success in the NFL. Maybe he\u2019s the exception, though. Will be really interesting to see how he fares in the preseason games.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if Bernard will ever play a regular season snap for the Eagles. He clearly has a long way to go before he\u2019s ready to do so. But I can also totally see why the Eagles took a chance on him. He seems like a good kid and his frame\/athleticism is super intriguing.<\/p>\n

I also don\u2019t know how the Eagles are going to handle his roster situation this year. If they stash him on injured reserve, he can\u2019t get much-needed practice reps. If they keep him on the 53, he can practice, but then it\u2019s effectively a 52-man roster since he can\u2019t be expected to play as a rookie. Would they risk losing him to waivers? If he clears them, they can keep him on the practice squad as an international exemption who doesn\u2019t count towards that 16-player limit.<\/p>\n

By making a few nice catches and showing some YAC potential, this undrafted rookie tight end did just enough this spring to justify my irrational excitement for him. Wright\u2019s going to be my camp crush this year, just like Darius Cooper was last season.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s going to return punts for the Eagles this season?<\/p>\n

Cooper DeJean, James Proche II (a minicamp tryout player who wasn\u2019t signed to the roster), and Elijah Moore were the three guys returning punts (in that order) during the Eagles\u2019 final spring practice. Neither Britain Covey nor Lemon were practicing, so, it\u2019s possible they could be in the mix.<\/p>\n

But Covey is hardly a lock to make the team. The Eagles could probably keep him on the practice squad and temporarily elevate him to the game day roster, as they\u2019ve done in the past, if they want to go that route.<\/p>\n

Lemon is probably too important on offense and he only returned six punts in college, albeit for a quality 11.6 average.<\/p>\n

DeJean is too important on defense, especially now that he\u2019s projected to play 100% of the defensive snaps by serving as the nickel cornerback and a safety in base defense. DeJean might be an option if it\u2019s a desperate situation.<\/p>\n

Moore is no lock to make the team and has returned just two punts in the NFL, both back in 2023. He did return 27 punts in college … but just for a 4.9 average, which is bad.<\/p>\n

So, I don\u2019t know who\u2019s going to handle these duties. It\u2019s obviously not the most pressing question for the Eagles but it is a situation they\u2019ll have to figure out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Eagles officially wrapped up their spring workout program earlier this month. Now we\u2019ll take a look…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,32972,71,70],"class_list":["post-227123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles-analysis","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}