PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles held their longest day of training camp on Thursday, going more than 2.5 hours long at NovaCare Complex with a heavy emphasis on red zone drills.

In a long practice, there was plenty to learn.

As always NJ Advance Media tracked every throw from Carson Wentz, Nate Sudfeld and rookie Clayton Thorson, though we’re changing up the overall formula here a bit from past breakdowns.

Here are six of my thoughts from Thursday’s practice.

(Note: You’ll notice for the first time that DeSean Jackson isn’t mentioned, and that’s because he received a much-deserved veteran’s rest day.)

1. Miles Sanders has juice: I’m slowly backing up into a nearby bush Homer Simpson-style on the idea I’ve been pushing that Jordan Howard will be the lead running back for most of this season. I still think Howard will open the season as the No. 1 back — he has looked solid in camp, decent as a pass-catcher and productive on goal line runs — but the Eagles are going to have a tough time keeping Sanders off the field. He’s extremely shifty and it feels like there’s a chance he might break off a long run every time he touches the ball. He left the field with a foot issue toward the end of practice, but Eagles coach Doug Pederson didn’t sound concerned after practice.

2. Up and down day for Carson Wentz: The final numbers don’t look great (you’ll get those in a bit) but he finished with 15 incompletions and two interceptions. It is easy to fall into a habit of dinging a quarterback for a rough day without crediting the defense, but to my eyes I think some of Wentz’s struggles on Thursday had more to do with stellar defensive play from the secondary than all-out inaccuracy from Wentz. He wasn’t on the money like has been for most of training camp, but I don’t necessarily think he was bad either.

One interception came in the red zone on a throw to Richard Rodgers where Rodgers didn’t turn his head in time to make a catch, so Sidney Jones picked it. The other was quite bad, though, as it looked like he was basically targeting linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill. By my count, Wentz started the day only completing 2 of his first 10 passes. Notably, 2-3 of those came on red-zone targets to Charles Johnson, for some reason.

Also: There was a bad throw on an attempt to a wide-open Dallas Goedert in the end zone, but I wouldn’t expect Wentz to miss that too many times in the future.

He had a couple of nice throws on touchdowns to Darren Sproles (slant across the middle) and two touchdown passes to tight end Zach Ertz, who made a couple of remarkable catches to complete those plays. There was also a nice touchdown on a fade thrown to receiver Greg Ward.

Final stats: 21 of 36, 4 TD, 2 INT

3. Rutgers Raves: One of the surprises of camp has been under-the-radar wide receiver Carlton Agudosi, who went undrafted out of Rutgers, spent his rookie season with the Cardinals but was cut last year. Nobody signed him, then the Eagles scooped him up in January. The 6-foot-6 receiver is a legitimate red-zone weapon who knows how to use size to his advantage and seems to thrive on 50/50 balls and sideline plays. It’s unclear if his skillset expands far beyond that, but it might not have to. By my count, he had three red zone touchdown catches, and all three were impressive. Pederson shouted him out after practice. He’s still a longshot to make the team, though practice squad seems like a logical destination for him.

4. Sudfeld’s day: Sudfeld has had back-to-back solid days of training camp. He wasn’t spectacular on Thursday, necessarily, but he was solid. His best throw was on a deep pass to Greg Ward that he threw up in Ward’s direction, who went up and got it. It wasn’t the prettiest of deep balls — that’s been a problem area for Sudfeld — but it was an improvement. He threw touchdowns to Richard Rodgers, two to Carlton Agudosi and one to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

Final stats: 8 of 18, 4 TD

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5. Mailata’s mess: The Eagles are committed to developing Jordan Mailata into a starter-quality offensive lineman, though he’s hit a rough patch of late. He’s had issue with Joe Ostman throughout camp, and then got beaten pretty badly by defensive end Josh Sweat — who’s been a standout — when he sacked Nate Sudfeld on Thursday. Mailata is far from a lock to make the team, though I think the Eagles still want to give him a chance to develop. Remember, he only started playing football last year. The Eagles knew what they were getting into when they used a draft pick on a 21-year-old rugby player.

6. Thorson’s improvement: After a couple rough days, Clayton Thorson looked much better on Thursday. He didn’t throw any interceptions, and completed three of his four completions for touchdowns. He had a nice throw down the sideline to Agudosi during 7-on-7, but Agudosi couldn’t come down with it. He found Agudosi during 2-on-2 red zone drills earlier in the day in the corner of the end zone, only throwing it high enough so the 6-6 receiver could grab it. The only way to go from his earlier performance was up.

Final stats: 4 of 6, 3 TD

Extra point: Corey Clement returned to team drills — only 7 on 7, though — for the first time this training camp. He had one bad drop on a Nate Sudfeld pass, and one touchdown from Thorson. It’s too early to judge how he fits into the running back mix, but he’s obviously behind the eight ball.

Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt. Find NJ.com on Facebook.