Intro the Eagles got some key players back at practice today who are going to make a major difference on defense and despite the pouring rain some of the winners from Friday's preseason game continued their meteoric rise to the roster plus one Eagle I'm starting to really regret giving up on and another who got the best of jayen Carter in one-on ones Thomas M this is the Thomas M [Music] show there's no rest for a team in the Eagles Rainy Practice middle of training camp that's just 20 days away from a season opener and while the birds were just what two days removed from a very physical preseason win in New England on Friday the guys were back in pads in the rain yet again today for a very interesting practice at the NovaCare complex and while the morning was spent working on tackling drills or I guess better yet having fun on a makeshift slip and slide Philly also made a few roster tweaks by signing tackle got Le Iden placing Tyler Hall on ir and waving McKai Gardner pair that with a long list of banged up backups today in terms of the overall practice report that included no Joseph andata Kon Sterns John Ross Tyler Steen or joh Wilson and the middle of training camp bumps and bruises were definitely rearing their ugly heads the good news is though there were a couple of key Eagles we have not seen in a long time who were back and seemingly are getting really healthy very quick I mean for the DeJean and CJGJ BACK! first time in terms of Team drills in like what weeks we saw both Cooper Dee and how about CJ Gunner Johnson in pads actually participating still limited but still a big deal this signals a major shift back towards what the original Eagle secondary was supposed to look like entering camp and also has the added security and depth that the group has been looking forward to dominating 2024 like we've talked about safety depth a lot the past couple of weeks and it always is oh they got to go sign somebody because of injuries they need depth but in reality a healthy CJ Gunner Johnson and a healthy Reed blanket ship and throwing Cooper deene in the mix it makes the unit about as strong as it's ever been and the depth behind the starting two it's I looking pretty good Dee being back is a big deal and getting him back up to game Speed playing in a preseason game maybe next Saturday is all very good things they'll take it slow though according to Nick serani Al though after practice today Dee again did a pretty good job yeah you know we'll see we'll see where he is as far as um you know you don't ever want to overload a guy right at the beginning I'm looking forward to watching him practice today you know doing ramping it up a little bit even more today um and then you got to take each guy each guy as you know its own case right and so uh you look at the situation that the team has and then you also look at where what the guy can do and so um time will tell and look forward to seeing him go out DeJean’s New Role there and roll to now in terms of where to play the rookie DB he started out in team drills as second team nickel of course behind Quan Mitchell but eventually did get some work as the starting nickel because Philly also gave Quon Mitchell some work at the starting outside cornerback spot for just a few reps got to remember though Dee arguably looked better than Mitchell at least during early OTA and mini camp practices not saying he's going to turn out to be better than Mitchell because Mitchell has had an incredible training camp and a really good preseason more than that in a second but don't think that Dee missing all this time means he's not going to gain actual playing time in the 2024 season I really think he's going to be a factor maybe not as a full-time starter but mixed in in vic fangio's defense in some way somehow oh and again today for quinan nice pbu on Devonte Smith seems to be a common theme wash rinse repeat quinan Mitchell having solid reps battling against our top receivers and overall through two preseason games how about 29 coverage snaps eight yards allowed one pbu give me a thumbs up for that also if you Latest Giveaway missed yesterday's show I'm giving away this kelly green white eagle sideline hat to one subscriber who commented back up link down below to go to that video and of course get your entry in now winner announced on Monday show but in case you're wondering we're about what 2500 subscribers away from 60k which gives away the signed right there Brian Westbrook Jersey that's going to be to one of you guys and I'm also giving away two tickets to the Eagles Monday night opener versus the Falcons the Nick folz retirement game we're almost a 60k hit that sub button now of course the big McKee vs Pickett storyline from the Patriots game was the backup quarterback play and of course the Brewing question of whether or not to demote Kenny pick it from quarterback two to quarterback three and today's practice well didn't really help piet's case with Brandon Lee gout noting that picket may have just thrown the worst pass of training camp totally sa to throw to a Wide Open Wheel Shipley along the left sideline no pressure saring the running back down just missed fall shortly by and even worse Tanner mcke getting rid of the ball a lot faster than Kenny picket who got sacked on a blitz where he held it too long now again I told you on Friday picket should be quarterback to but the Eagles themselves were not going to give up on their third round draft pick basically what they gave up for Kenny picket that quickly and Nick serani well he echoed that today during his presser I'm really pleased with our you know I'm really pleased with our quarterback room obviously jaylen's had an unbelievable camp and and uh and he's done an unbelievable job but I really do feel like we have two guys um you know I love the whole room you know will will got in and made and made some plays but I really feel like with Tanner and and Kenny um that we have guys that we have guys that a lot of teams would like to have and be in this situation where you have two guys that you feel really good about um you know there in case in case they need to play hopefully they never need to play right that's that's the plan um but we know you know so but and and will like I said will had went in for a series and he and he went down and showed what he could do um so really just excited about the entire room um and really pumped that we have that that Becton vs Carter group other really interesting moments today from practice included Makai beckon holding his own on not one not two but three straight one-on-one drills versus jayen Carter that's pretty impressive for the starting Right Guard who again give a lot of credit to somebody changing positions from tackle to guard and really winning the job he's basically secured that from Tyler Steen seems to be building confidence with each practice and his teammates seem to be really pumped for him and are really impressed by the massive tackle switch to Right Guard man I'm so glad we got Makai man he's such a great player um it's come a long way from his days from playing left tackle to now playing right God I think he's done a great job of just saying you know of taking taking a hold of that opportunity that is presented before him and running with it I mean it's a perfect situ scenario it's a perfect situation um you know I think he's just a hungry dog we we have that saying in in the o line room and it's really just like you hungry dogs run faster and makai's just running with it he's hungry he wants you know he sees the connections that we have up front and he's done a great job of you know just fitting in with us like we love Mai Dean Coming Alive now I want to take this moment to apologize to an eagle player who I basically gave gave up on a couple of weeks ago and a lot of you guys have two and that is noobe Dean Dean struggled in OTAs he struggled in mini camp and really struggled early on in training camp which made me kind of inch closer and closer to using the actual b word or bust but recently something has definitely changed there's no denying it after two straight fantastic preseason games including being the highest graded PFF eagle and both of those instances with a 91.6 he's been decisive he's made a lot of tackles he's been flying around and as Devon white mentioned has been the hammer looking for nails all throughout training camp today now his head coach he also has noticed that Dean seems different and has been impressed I think he's had a nice Camp I'm excited about that linebacker group um you know we got some guys that have haven't played at all we have some guys that are veterans and I'm excited about that group and noob's had noobi played really well in the game you know I know Bo you asked me about who played well I thought noobi played a really really good game for instance today Dean set the practice tone early with a very big hit on will Shipley which almost started a brawl again Hammer looking for nails now I'm not saying that Kobe Dean is going to win the starting linebacker job or that he's just you know the best linebacker on this roster but he's not looking like a bust anymore the past couple of weeks have been very very good and myself as someone who talks about the Eagles every single day I have to be honest with you when I'm wrong about something I got to come tell you I mean Nick serani last year I was defending him defending him defending him and then finally I was like guys I can't defend him anymore he's been really bad I think the same goes for noobe Dean now again doesn't mean dean is some sort of you know perfect linebacker he's going to win the starting job but he's at least looking good right now and I got to give credit where credit is due and I think Dean has noticed all the social media criticism I mean how can you not and he's really starting to internalize that and turn it into some good play on the field he told the media today that he's hungry and really excited for this season of course I want to play and I want to be the first ones out there to uh that that play but of course I know I can't control only thing I can control is what I come out here and do every day um and and work hard and continue to get better and you know I feel like I didn't had the uh the type of camp that I was supposed to have got a few weeks of camp now mobe what's uh what's it like playing for bet oh I like the scheme I love the scheme I love the defense uh everything he do how he like to mix it up um uh and I I like the the action that he gives the uh and the the action and the the um let's see versatility that he give they bring to the linebacker position as far as uh taking on 350 and uh um running with 43 now as for your Fangio Blitzing Hurts daily jayen Herz stat tracking 18 of 29 not as sharp today but still one touchdown to AJ Brown and of course you already know he didn't throw a single interception still perfect so far during training camp he was blitzed a ton today reportedly almost every single snap early on something that apparently Vic fangio wanted to work on from a defense perspective but I also think Kell Moore watched Kenny picket struggle against the blitz on Friday and said okay let's make sure that jaylen's real big struggle in 2023 is in a struggle in 2024 and so ramping up the blitzes today bringing the Heat against Jaylen Herz it's a good thing and Herz not perfect but again still had a strong day obviously going up against Vic Fango for the last know what feels like eternity um has been frustrating cuz Vic is the most exotic you know defenses in the world and um you know to finally see a new look was fun to figure out those answers and and see a fresh fresh new faces fresh new scheme um so for was just kind of testing how much of the the new playbook and how much of our protections and game planning around the blitzes the Hotes the saw Blitz everything everything you want that's that's what we tested and I think we did okay practice makes perfect and if you thought Philadelphia was going to play a preseason game and then get a little bit of a break that's not the case practice today they practice tomorrow they practice Monday it's going to be non-stop before their first break on Tuesday be sure to subscribe we'll cover it all here everything you need to know about the Philadelphia Eagles and of course a whole bunch more I'm Thomas M this has been the Thomas M show [Music] [Music]