Eagles training camp observations: Jalen Reagor responds to early criticism | 6 takeaways from practice No. 8

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles were in shells and shorts on Thursday during their eighth practice of training camp at the NovaCare Complex.

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Taking a break from the “thud” of padded practice allowed the Eagles’ playmakers to shine in the passing game.

PREVIOUS PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Here are six observations from Thursday’s practice:

Jalen Reagor bounces back

Reagor received a verbal onslaught from head coach Nick Sirianni on Wednesday. Thursday, it was a different story, as Sirianni celebrated Reagor’s successes in the passing game, during his best training camp practice to date.

Reagor went up against cornerback Darius Slay in 1-on-1 drills to start practice. The red-zone-specific matchups led to a Reagor winning record of 2-1-1 during their four battles.

On the first rep, Reagor beat Slay on a slant route for an easy win. On the second rep, Reagor made an outstanding one-handed catch over Slay on a fade in the end zone. That catch made nearly every spectator in the area say “whoa.” It was probably the catch of camp thus far.

On the next play, Slay broke up a pass to Reagor over the middle. On the final 1-on-1 matchup, Reagor beat Slay with a double-move to get wide open but dropped the pass. Following the error, Reagor screamed out a word that rhymes with “luck” in frustration. While some might think that reaction was poor, Reagor never put his head down, he just seemed to be frustrated that he couldn’t finish on the play, which is understandable.

Reagor then had two impressive moments in team drills. First, he beat a corner deep on a “go” route and QB Joe Flacco hit him in stride for a touchdown. Sirianni slapped him on the helmet in celebration following the play. Later on, he was covered tightly by cornerback Steve Nelson on the sideline, and he made a leaping catch to haul in the pass from QB Jalen Hurts.

Sirianni received both criticism and praise for how he handled Reagor with accountability in the previous practice, but Reagor clearly responded with a much better day in the next workout.

Quez Watkins continues to impress

Reagor’s draftmate, Watkins, had another positive day as well. Watkins’ speed and route-running have been on display all week, and his work in 1-on-1 drills has been a highlight of camp. Thursday, Watkins made a few nice plays in the individual drills.

The big standout rep in this practice was against nickel corner Lavert Hill. Watkins began to commit to an inside move, then retracted like he was moving outside, forcing Hill to essentially pause like he was Robin, frozen by Mr. Freeze. Watkins then made an easy catch in the middle of the end zone.

READ MORE: New Eagles punter Arryn Siposs offers self-aware assessment of his training camp outlook

No flak for Flacco

Thursday was easily Flacco’s best practice of camp. He took deep shots throughout practice and looked very accurate as he worked the middle of the field. Flacco had the aforementioned deep sideline pass to Reagor for an impressive highlight. He later came back with an excellent throw on the run to Greg Ward for a touchdown. Ward got free in a busted coverage down the middle and Flacco hurled a beautiful ball downfield for the open receiver, who ran to the end zone.

During the first batch of training camp practice, Nick Mullens looked unquestionably better than Flacco. During the second batch, Flacco absolutely has run away from any talk of a No. 2 competition.

Miles Sanders’ ball security issues are still worth monitoring

During 11-on-11 drills, LB Eric Wilson stripped RB Miles Sanders on a handoff. While it’s probably going to be shrugged off by some as a blip on the radar, remember that Sanders struggled with fumbles and drops last season. Sanders has had multiple drops this summer, so this fumble compounds that concern, at least a little bit.

That said, Sanders, otherwise, has looked very good as a runner in camp. His vision is fantastic in traffic and he’s running fast and confident. Again, the fumble is just one play, but it’s a notable play given his history.

A roster move was made

Cornerback Shakial Taylor was waived before practice. Taylor missed the entire first week of practices with a lower-body injury. After taking part in two practice sessions, the Eagles clearly saw enough of him. The Eagles still have nine cornerbacks on the roster: Slay, Nelson, Hill, Avonte Maddox, Zech McPhearson, Craig James, Michael Jacquet, Kevon Seymour and Josiah Scott.

Taylor’s waiving comes with LB Alex Singleton likely to be taken off the reserve/COVID-19 list this weekend. Singleton has spent the past two days on the field working with trainers. Safety Andrew Adams, who was taken off the list Tuesday, worked with trainers on another for two days before he was activated.

Defensive end Matt Leo, who is with the Eagles on an international player exemption, remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list as well.


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Injury updates

Wide receiver John Hightower walked with a trainer to the medical tent midway through practice and didn’t return to the field. NJ Advance Media didn’t see what happened that caused Hightower’s departure, nor was it clear what he injured.

Rookie linebacker JaCoby Stevens -- a day after scoring his first interception -- was added to the injury list with a hamstring injury. The team is listing him as week-to-week.

Defensive end Ryan Kerrigan (thumb) worked with a trainer on another field during the workout.

Wide receivers DeVonta Smith (knee) and Michael Walker (foot), linebacker Davion Taylor (calf), right guard Brandon Brooks (hamstring), tight end Jason Croom (knee) and left guard Isaac Seumalo (hamstring) missed practice again with injuries.

FS Rodney McLeod (knee) and OT Le’Raven Clark (Achilles) remained on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, but were seen working on another field during practice. Second-round lineman Landon Dickerson remains on the non-football injury (NFI) list.

QB EVALUATIONS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

QUICK HITS

- It appears the tight end experiment with Hakeem Butler is over. He has been used as a wide receiver throughout the week.

- RT Jack Driscoll stonewalled rookie DE Tarron Jackson during a 1-on-1 drill. LT Andre Dillard had a solid rep against DE Josh Sweat. LT Jordan Mailata won a bout against DE Derek Barnett.

- CB Zech McPhearson had a nice pass breakup over the middle during 1-on-1 drills against WR Andre Patton.

- Once again, LB Eric Wilson and LT Jordan Mailata worked together for several minutes after practice.

- TE Zach Ertz worked on his hands with the JUGs machine for roughly 20 minutes after practice.

- The Eagles will be off on Friday but will return to training camp practice on Saturday at the NovaCare Complex. NJ Advance Media will have full live coverage on Eagles Extra (sign up for two weeks FREE now) throughout the day.

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