Getty Javon Hargrave celebrates with a teammate.
Eagles nose tackle Javon Hargrave is dealing with a minor pectoral strain, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He should be back “in a few weeks.”
Hargrave mysteriously appeared on the team’s first injury report on Monday with an upper-body injury as the Eagles conducted their first day of “live” padded practices. He was one of four players to sit out the afternoon session, along with defensive end Derek Barnett lower body), receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (lower body), right guard Jason Peters (lower body) and linebacker Duke Riley (illness).
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared that both Hargrave and Barnett should be available for the season opener against Washington on Sept. 13. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz told reporters that he didn’t see any issue with either player getting up to speed in time for Week 1.
“Young vets tend to get up to speed really quickly when it comes to that kind of stuff, Schwartz told reporters. “We’ll see where we get with those guys. Injuries of a part of the game. We’ve seen it. We’ve had to deal with it.”
Eagles’ DT Javon Hargrave has a minor pectoral strain and, in the words of one source, “should be back in a few weeks.”
Andre Dillard is also being eased into things as the starting left tackle deals with an undisclosed day-to-day injury. He split the first-team reps there with swing tackle Jordan Mailata, per The Athletic’s Zach Berman, and Matt Pryor took on the first-team reps at right guard with Peters out. Interestingly, rookies Luke Juriga and Jack Driscoll saw significant time with the backup offensive line.
Dillard has been a huge topic of conversation in recent weeks, including drawing a rave review from Lane Johnson. The Eagles starting right tackle called him a “special athlete” and revealed Dillard had gained about 20 pounds.
“He’s looking good, more filled out,” Johnson said of Dillard. “He’s a specimen as far as an athlete. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”
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Early WR Depth Chart Coming into Focus
Alshon Jeffery was on the field, off to the side where he chatted with Carson Wentz. The lanky target is on the PUP list as he continues to rehab from foot surgery.
It’s way too early to predict the depth chart but interesting to note that Jalen Reagor (X), DeSean Jackson (Z), Greg Ward (Y or slot) were the starting receivers for the first-team offense. Wentz heaped praise on Reagor and called him an “explosive athlete” after practice.
#Eagles QB Carson Wentz LOVES playing with Jalen Reagor: “Having Jalen has been a lot of fun, he’s an explosive athlete. You can see it with his route running ability, down the field presence, I mean you turn on his game tape and you see what he does with the ball in his hands.”
“I know what he brings as a threat to the defense,” Wentz said, “and I know he’s really picked up on things really well. He’s always listening and always curious about why we’re doing certain things a certain way. Having Jalen has been a lot of fun, just to work with him. He’s an explosive athlete, you can see that with his route running ability, with his down the field presence.”
Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts was chucking dimes in the red zone and hit John Hightower for a touchdown. He worked as the third-stringer while Nate Sudfeld worked on his check-down throws with the second-team offense.
#Eagles quarterbacks: Carson Wentz, Nate Sudfeld, Jalen Hurts
Avonte Maddox, Darius Slay Get First-Team Reps
The most competitive battle of Eagles training camp is at the cornerback spot. The starting spot opposite Darius Slay is up for grabs, along with the starting nickel job.
On Monday, Slay partnered with former fourth-round pick Avonte Maddox on the outside and veteran Nickell Robey-Coleman manned the slot. Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas rolled with the second unit, with Cre’Von LeBlanc at nickel.
Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas with 2nd unit at CB. It was Slay and Avonte Maddox with 1st unit. #Eagles
Jalen Mills and Rodney McLeod were the starting safeties, as expected — and newcomer Will Parks was the third man up. T.J. Edwards and Nathan Gerry were the first-team linebackers, although one of the highlights of the day went to rookie Shaun Bradley after he crushed Dallas Goedert making a catch over the middle.
Pederson singled out the linebacker competition during his morning press conference, but the overall point he stressed was just seeing the guys move around. Remember, this was the first time the players had put the pads on since their wild-card playoff loss last January.
“I just want to see these guys move around. They have to get used to the equipment again,” Pederson told reporters. “Practice is a little bit lighter today but at the same time, we are going to fly around and work on some of these situations that I’ve been talking about and really get a feel for where we are as we begin to ramp up and really get into the meat and potatoes of our schedule here in the next couple weeks.”
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