The Eagles this spring had six days of voluntary OTAs and one mandatory day of practice before summer break.<\/p>\n
The team won\u2019t be back together at the NovaCare Complex until late July, when players report for training camp.<\/p>\n
Over the last few weeks, reporters got a chance to talk with select players and coaches. While there were plenty of big takeaways from those media availabilities, there are plenty of nuggets left over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to empty the spring notebook:<\/p>\n
The leader of the secondary<\/p>\n
A few years ago, Reed Blankenship was fighting to earn a spot on the Eagles\u2019 roster as an undrafted rookie out of Middle Tennessee State. Now, he\u2019s the veteran leader of an extremely young secondary.<\/p>\n
Blankenship is the guy veteran Darius Slay identified as the potential leader before his departure this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor,\u201d Blankenship said. \u201cI came here with Slay, into the room with Slay. Just seeing how he operates, seeing how he leads. Just trying to model my leadership role like that. You come in to the league and he\u2019s been here for years and you don\u2019t know how he\u2019s going to be but he just came here with open arms, took me under his wing. Like I said, I learned a lot from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHim saying that, it\u2019s a huge honor. I try my best to teach these guys what I\u2019ve been taught. It\u2019s just one of those things, they can take what I teach them or not. But I always let them know that I\u2019m a strong shoulder to lean on if they need anything. Just to be that guy with the open door policy type of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blankenship is still just 26 years old but he might be the oldest and most experienced defensive back in the Eagles\u2019 starting secondary this season. Not only will the Eagles start second-year players Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, but the other starting cornerback could be Kelee Ringo, who will be just 23 to start the season. And the safety spot next to Blankenship will likely be filled by a relatively inexperienced player \u2014 perhaps even rookie Drew Mukuba.<\/p>\n
Blankenship admitted it was \u201ctough\u201d to see his buddy C.J. Gardner-Johnson get traded this offseason. Blankenship said he wishes CJGJ the best in Houston but is ready to lead the Eagles\u2019 secondary. He also said he isn\u2019t worried about any sort of swagger deficit in Gardner-Johnson\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have to step up,\u201d Blankenship said. \u201cYou can\u2019t wait on somebody else to step up. I\u2019ve been here the longest and it\u2019s time to take the reins. What Slay said on the podcast, it\u2019s my time. I want everybody to come along with me. Nobody\u2019s left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Quinyon Mitchell travel?<\/p>\n
The Eagles\u2019 cornerbacks stayed on their respective sides of the field last season \u2014 Darius Slay on the left, Quinyon Mitchell on the right. So it seemed pretty notable this spring that every day reporters were present, Mitchell lined up on the left in place of Slay, who left this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working on both sides,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cJust getting my feet wet on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, Mitchell played over 1,000 snaps as the Eagles\u2019 right cornerback and played exactly zero on the left side. Could this perhaps be the first step in using Mitchell to travel with the opponent\u2019s best receiver? Maybe. Mitchell will be the Eagles\u2019 CB1 in 2025 and there\u2019s a good chance there will be a big drop-off to their next-best outside cornerback.<\/p>\n
Even if Mitchell wouldn\u2019t travel into the slot \u2014 although he did play there last training camp \u2014 this could set up a situation where he flips from side to side to stick with the best receivers in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Is that something that interests Mitchell?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see all the corners doing it,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cRight now, just one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new ideas<\/p>\n
After the Eagles promoted Kevin Patullo to replace Kellen Moore as their offensive coordinator this offseason, the Eagles\u2019 two outside hires were Scot Loeffler as QBs coach and Parks Frazier as passing game coordinator.<\/p>\n
The Eagles are hoping those two can bring some fresh ideas to Philly.<\/p>\n
\u201cScot’s been great. I mean, he’s got a wealth of knowledge,\u201d Patullo said this spring. \u201cHe’s been a quarterback coach forever, coordinator forever and a head coach. He ran a diverse system in college, which has been really cool.<\/p>\n
When you have a guy in your staff that’s got all this wealth of knowledge, it’s great to lean on him and just kind of hear what he has to say and it’s good.<\/p>\n
You don’t always want the same things from your coaches just like I am.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want somebody different to bounce ideas off of and give me some kind of new information. He’s been really, really good so far. Super detailed guy, very energetic and works hard and he’s passionate about football, he’s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frazier is new to Philly but not new to Patullo or Nick Sirianni. Before working for the Dolphins and Panthers, Frazier began his NFL career with the Colts under Sirianni and Patullo. But he has had a couple different stops since then.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo really from the time we were with him at the Colts until now, his offensive knowledge has grown, right?\u201d Patullo said. \u201cBeing in Miami last year, he learned all this new stuff and then being at Carolina kind of on his own, doing his own thing and coaching up Bryce [Young] there, he’s really expanded his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
A glimpse into Sirianni\u2019s coaching<\/p>\n
As far as success stories go, Zack Baun is a pretty great one.<\/p>\n
Baun was pretty much an afterthought when the Eagles signed him to a one-year deal in March of 2024. But the former New Orleans Saint ended up being a starting linebacker in Vic Fangio\u2019s defense, was an All-Pro and then cashed in on a three-year, $51 million contract this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn team meetings, Nick (Sirianni) kind of mentioned my story with all the one-year deal guys we have now,\u201d Baun said this spring. \u201cNick mentioned my story earlier on in OTAs. I love it because it uses me as an example to kind of prove yourself, especially in this organization. This is an organization that\u2019s going to give you a shot, an honest try.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to Josh Uche especially. He\u2019s really inspired and trying to take that same trajectory, that same path. And with that, it\u2019s a lot of hard work and dedication to making it your best year.\u201d<\/p>\n
A standout newcomer<\/p>\n
Baun wasn\u2019t the only star Eagles player to mention Josh Uche unprompted on the final day of spring practice. When asked for an edge rusher who was standing out this spring, Lane Johnson quickly mentioned Uche.<\/p>\n
\u201cUche. I remember playing him (with the) Patriots,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cReally quick. He\u2019s very versatile with what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
After that, Johnson talked about Azeez Ojulari, Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. But it seemed notable that Uche came to his mind first. That\u2019s not indicative of the depth chart or even expectations but Uche could perhaps end up being a nice surprise.<\/p>\n
The Eagles signed Uche to a one-year deal this offseason after he was a healthy scratch against them with the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. Uche was a second-round pick out of Michigan back in 2020 and spent the first 4 1\/2 years of his career in New England before getting traded to Kansas City in the middle of last season. His best season came in 2022, when he had 11 1\/2 sacks \u2014 but he has just 9 1\/2 in his other four seasons.<\/p>\n
While Uche had just three sacks in 2023, he did have one nice move against Johnson that the All-Pro didn\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made a good inside move and beat me,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe ball was gone but \u2026 just really quick. I think he plays really low for a taller guy so he can get under you if you let him. I think he\u2019s great in coverage, just a multi-tool player. So I think he\u2019s going to help us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucky No. 7<\/p>\n
Kelee Ringo has always liked the No. 7. He wore it in youth football and might have worn it in college but linebacker Quay Walker had it at Georgia. And then when Ringo got into the NFL, Haason Reddick was already wearing No. 7 in Philly. And then last year, it went to Kenny Pickett. But after Pickett got traded this offseason, Ringo pounced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to make the most of the opportunity,\u201d Ringo said.<\/p>\n
Ringo will be the 19th Eagle all-time to wear the No. 7 in a game and the first defensive back thanks to a real change in 2023 that made defensive backs eligible to wear single digits. The No. 7 has mostly been a QB with the Eagles. Of the 18 players to wear it all-time, 13 have been quarterbacks.<\/p>\n
While Ringo wore 37 his first training camp, he took over 22 after RB Trey Sermon was released. Ringo has worn No. 22 for his first 39 career games, but was always eyeing No. 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I wasn\u2019t,\u201d Ringo said.<\/p>\n
The perfect time for the Axe<\/p>\n
One of the coolest moments of Super Bowl LIX was watching Jeremiah Trotter Jr. tackle Chiefs return man Nikko Remigio on a kickoff in the fourth quarter of the win. Because after the tackle, Trot hit the Axe Man celebration.<\/p>\n
It was a long time coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I was kind of saving it for the right moment when I felt like it would have been right,\u201d Trotter said. \u201cAnd also, the guys knew that was something I was doing in college and they knew my dad did it when he was playing for the Eagles. The whole season, even in the Giants game where I made some plays, they were like, \u2018Man, why didn\u2019t you throw it?\u2019 But I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know. I just gotta have a feeling for it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I came on special teams and I made that tackle and I just feel like it was right with it being the Super Bowl and everything. So I threw it and got everybody hype. Everybody was just kind of waiting for it the whole season I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trotter Sr. played in 11 playoff games but just one Super Bowl and the Eagles didn\u2019t win that one. But he\u2019s happy for his son to finally get a ring and told Trotter Jr. that at least his name will still get on there.<\/p>\n
Dealing with newfound fame<\/p>\n
It seems like Cooper DeJean is everywhere these days. Nothing wrong with enjoying your newfound fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a little different,\u201d DeJean said. \u201cJust walking around, I try to hide as much as I can. But it gets harder and harder. But it\u2019s still not going to change who I am as a person. Just be myself, treat people the same way. I haven\u2019t changed but things around me have changed a little bit. But I\u2019m still the same person.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeJean turned 22 on Super Bowl Sunday and had his first career interception (a pick-6) against the Chiefs in the Eagles\u2019 40-22 Super Bowl LIX win. Even before then, DeJean was a popular player but he\u2019s been more popular since.<\/p>\n
He seems to be handling it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think whether I become more popular in the city or whatever, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s changed who I am as a person,\u201d DeJean said. \u201cI\u2019m still continuing to work and to try and be the best that I can be in my job. There\u2019s a lot of things I can get better as coming off last season, that I can be ready for this season. Those are the things that I\u2019ve been working on this offseason. Just becoming stronger, faster, being more comfortable out on the field and working my techniques. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s changed me as a person at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eagles this spring had six days of voluntary OTAs and one mandatory day of practice before summer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[4904,13174,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-142836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-eagles-blog","9":"tag-eagles-notebook","10":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114711327175403367","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}