Getty The Eagles brought in former Miami Dolphin Keaton Sutherland for a workout on September 15, 2022.
The Philadelphia Eagles went into Week 1 with a clean injury report. They wound up losing Derek Barnett in the first game, but everyone else seemed to make it through in tip-top shape. Credit a light training camp for keeping them healthy.
The Eagles returned to the practice field on Thursday to prepare for the Minnesota Vikings. The team listed six starters as “limited participants” heading into that Week 2 matchup: DT Fletcher Cox, C Jason Kelce, G Landon Dickerson, T Lane Johnson, G Isaac Seumalo, DE Josh Sweat. None of them were slowed by injury.
The Eagles gave all six guys veteran rest days to soothe whatever aching bones they had from Sunday. However, there was one legit injury on the report — backup tight end Jack Stoll is dealing with an ankle issue. If he can’t go, look for the team to make rookie Grant Calcaterra available.
Nick Sirianni nailed it: “The best teams I’ve been on have a great relationship between the head coach and the GM. The crappiest teams I’ve been on had a bad relationship between the head coach and the GM.” #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Head coach Nick Sirianni addressed the mood of the locker room during his media availability prior to practice. His message to the team? Connect and grow.
“We talked a lot about connecting today. Really, we always go through the same process each week,” Sirianni told reporters. “Then we are going to have a theme of the week, message of the week and this week it’s about connecting, which just so happens to be our first core value. Again, with that, you always want them to grow with their relationships with each other.
“It’s not only going to help them off the field, but it will help them on the field. That’s what the discussion was. It’s not the best individuals that win in this sport. It’s the best individuals as a team. It’s the best team that wins. So that was the main message this morning.”
Thursday injury report.
Eagles Work Out 2 Offensive Line Projects
Philadelphia is in the market for a new offensive line project after losing Kayode Awosika to Detroit. They started the process of filling his roster spot by working out Keaton Sutherland (not to be confused with Kiefer Sutherland) and Parker Ferguson. Both players went undrafted coming out of college (Sutherland in 2019, Ferguson in 2021).
Sutherland is the more polished prospect having appeared in six games, including two starts, during stints with the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers. The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder is very versatile — with right guard, left guard, right tackle experience at Texas A&M — and was labeled a “priority free agent” after the 2019 NFL draft. Here is a scouting report, via NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein:
Well-built guard prospect who plays with good upper and lower body power, but is inconsistent as both a run blocker and in pass protection due to inconsistent knee bend and mirroring. The size and strength are NFL-caliber and he’s been able to help himself at Shrine game practices and his pro day. His issues in pass protection are more physical than technical so they will be difficult to correct long-term. Sutherland has some limitations and needs more work, but the traits could land him on an NFL roster in the future.
Tonight’s #49ers starting quarterback-center combo:
Nate Sudfeld and Keaton Sutherland
Meanwhile, Ferguson was released by the New York Jets on August 9 after spending the 2021 campaign on injured reserve. The 6-foot-4, 306-pounder started 12 games at left tackle as a senior at Air Force while moving around the line in unbalanced sets.
He saw time at right tackle, right guard, and left guard in college, too. Ferguson is more skilled at run-blocking than pass-protection, according to Gang Green Nation.
“During Parker Ferguson’s three-year career with the Falcons, Air Force averaged less than 10 pass attempts per game,” wrote David Wyatt Hupton. “So as far as pass-blocking goes, Ferguson is still raw and inexperienced. However, he also plays with excellent leverage and balance, and has vast amounts of experience with zone-blocking in the run game.”
So tough to project OL prospects out of Air Force Academy. So much of the offense is this from Jets UDFA Parker Ferguson (77)…crash down inside to neutralize DL and run the ball a million times. Can’t see any way Ferguson gets a look at OT and probably kicks inside to OG.
Sirianni Evaluates New DE Janarius Robinson
The Eagles stole defensive end Janarius Robinson off the Minnesota Vikings practice squad on Tuesday. He’s an insane athlete, loaded with potential. On Thursday, Sirianni joked that he hummed the Florida State fight song as he walked by Robinson who was eating lunch with Josh Sweat in the cafeteria. Both players are proud alums.
Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman watched a lot of Robinson’s tape prior to the 2021 draft.
“I liked him and Howie liked him, and his staff and we saw a way to improve our roster,” Sirianni said of Robinson. “He is big. He is a big man. It was nice to see him and Josh eating lunch together the other day, so I may have hummed the Florida State fight song chant when I walked by him, but he’s a big dude.”
New defensive end Janarius Robinson is at his first Eagles practice, wearing the number 59.