Walter Thurmond is on pace to be the starting FS for the Eagles. But wait!!! He’s been practicing with the second string for the past few days. If you think Thurmond has disappointed the coaches and this is their way of sending him a message, you’re wrong.

Malcolm Jenkins talked recently about the coaches wanting to shuffle players up and down to see them working with different groups. Chris Maragos and Eric Rowe have been working with the 1’s while Thurmond and Nolan Carroll have been working with the 2’s. The coaches want to see how the different groups perform.

Jenkins gave the example that with the 2’s, Thurmond is the leader on the field and has to make the calls and adjustments. That’s not something he is used to doing. Thurmond has played CB or Nickel. Safeties are the ones who run the back end of the defense.

By moving up, Rowe is now facing starting players and getting to see he does against them. Jenkins pointed out that it is important for Rowe to learn how to deal with getting beaten. Every DB is going to get beaten in the NFL. QBs and receivers are just too good. DBs have to develop short memories.

The other benefit to moving players around is to get them out of their comfort zone and see how they handle different lineups. Thurmond is probably a lot more comfortable when he’s on the field with talented veterans like Byron Maxwell and Jenkins. What happens when he’s there with Earl Wolff and Jaylen Watkins? You can’t count on having all your starters healthy all the time. Playing different lineups now is a way to build chemistry across the depth chart. You need to get all the DBs on the same page.

Jenkins is very high on this year’s secondary. He thinks they already have a good chemistry and said a lot of good things about his teammates. Some of that is PR fluff, but Jenkins is a veteran leader and his comments feel genuine, whether they are fully accurate or not.

Jenkins, just like Chip Kelly and Bill Davis, spoke very highly of Thurmond. He said Thurmond fit in right away as a Safety in terms of making plays and being on the “inside” of the defense. He pointed out that is because Thurmond played so much Nickelback (slot), which is also on the inside. That means there are different angles between the QB and receiver. There is infinitely more traffic to deal with. Players also have a two-way go (inside or out). On the outside, the sideline acts as a 12th defender. Jenkins did an excellent sales job on his new teammate.

The Eagles made a terrific signing when they brought in Jenkins. He is a good player, not great, but has added value because he’s a smart veteran and good leader. The Eagles have been lacking that presence on the back end for several years.

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The secondary isn’t the only group seeing some movement. The RG battle had been between Matt Tobin, Andrew Gardner and John Moffitt, but today Julian Vandervelde lined up with the starters. This really surprises me. I didn’t think he would have any chance at that job. Maybe he has gotten the attention of the coaches with a good showing thus far in Training Camp.

Ideally, the coaches wanted someone to step up and really stand out in the RG competition. There have only been a few padded practices so you don’t want to make too much out of this, but adding a fourth person to the competition is expanding things and not honing down the list.

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Now let’s get into some practice notes. First up is Brandon Lee Gowton from BGN.

Bradford looked good during the short practice. The thing that stood today was his command of the team’s high tempo offense, especially in the red zone. He looked in control out there between plays: getting everyone to the line quickly, having everyone lined up, making pre-snap adjustments, and then running the play.

Bradford hit Jordan Matthews on a short pass in the end zone for a touchdown at one point with a defender tightly covered the receiver. Matthews has done a great job of making contested catches and holding on this summer. The Bradford to Matthews connection has been red hot lately.

I look forward to the day when I’m tired of hearing good things about Bradford.

What about the rookie CBs?

Matt Barkley struggled in the red zone. JaCorey Shepherd contributes to his woes. The rookie cornerback shut down Rasheed Bailey on one play, causing Cory Undlin to run up and give him a pat on the back.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s other rookie sixth round cornerback, Randall Evans, has struggled a bit. He’s been a little too physical while in coverage. On Saturday, he was called for defensive holding in the end zone.

Evans sounds like he might be practice squad material. He has NFL potential, but needs work. The only question with Shepherd is whether he is the Nickelback or a backup.

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Jimmy Bama got to say nice things about Donnie Jones so you know he’s on cloud nine.

The Eagles did some directional / short field punting drills today. Among the players getting work as gunners were Eric Rowe, JaCorey Shepherd, E.J. Biggers, and Seyi Ajirotutu. Over the last two seasons, whenever the Eagles were punting from around the 50 yard line, Donnie Jones almost always punted to the right side, where Brandon Boykin resided as the one of the best gunners in the game. Boykin did a tremendous job getting down the field quickly, locating the ball, and downing it inside the 10.

I thought Rowe did a nice job getting down the field quickly. However, he’s certainly not Boykin yet. On one play he stepped out of bounds on his way down the field. That is a huge no-no. If you step out of bounds you cannot be the first person to touch the ball. That would be “illegal touching,” which can cost your team a great punt. Those are the kinds of small things that need to be corrected, and Boykin will not be easy to replace as a gunner.

Sometimes the Eagles don’t even need gunners. I write about Donnie Jones more than every other reporter on Earth combined, but to be serious, he really is incredible at directional and short field punting. On one punt today, he landed it at the one foot line, with backspin, and it rolled back the 3. Incredible punt. It’s like Donnie has a pitching wedge for a left leg.

Make sure you read his piece. You must see today’s stick figure version of Donnie Jones. Classic.

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Sheil Kapadia offers his QB thoughts from today.

Seven-on-seven time. Ertz immediately makes his presence felt, hauling in a pass over the middle from Matt Barkley and then another from Tim Tebow, who later connects with Kenjon Barner on a wheel route. Solid day for Tebow overall. Sam Bradford was sharp again. He throws a perfect dart to Jordan Matthews on a crosser. There is going to be plenty of opportunity for the receivers to rack up some YAC if Bradford is this precise with his ball placement come the fall.

Matthews — a clear standout at camp — makes a diving catch along the left sideline on a throw from Bradford. Mark Sanchez follows that with a beauty down the seam to Jeff Maehl for the touchdown. Sanchez has been a little up and down the last two days, but that one was money.

Last summer it was Matthews and Sanchez who made a strong connection in camp. That helped propel Matthews to a terrific rookie season and Sanchez posted the best passing numbers of his young career. Matthews and Bradford are quite the duo this year. How will that pay off for them in the regular season?

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Good stuff from Jeff McLane on the QBs/passing game.

The Eagles worked on blitzes during team drills. The defense had various inside linebackers and safeties blitzing off the edge. QB Sam Bradford looked comfortable in the pocket against extra pass rushers. He overshot WR Jordan Matthews on his second throw, but connected with WR Josh Huff on back-to-back plays. Both were anticipation throws and right on the money. The second completion – just as Huff came out of his break — seemed to even surprise the receiver. Bradford took every first team snap. He found Matthews in the end zone during red zone drills. He tossed a quick hitter to Ertz, but the tight end dropped the pass. I believe it was Ertz’ first bungle of camp. All in all, it was another positive day for Bradford.

QB Mark Sanchez was 3 of 4 during short yardage third down, 7 on 7 drills. He hooked up with WR Jeff Maehl in the back of the end zone during team red zone drills. CB Jaylen Watkins was in coverage, but he bounced back later and broke up another Sanchez throw to Maehl. QB Matt Barkley was 4 of 4 in short yardage. He overthrew WR Rasheed Bailey on a red zone fade, but came back on the next play and found RB Raheem Mostert for a “touchdown.” QB Tim Tebow appeared to hit one of the “fly swatter” thingamagingys during 7 on 7s. He threw a wobbler wide to WR G.J. Kinne on a short dig and he threw short to WR Quron Pratt’s shoelaces, but his receiver used his hands to pull it in.

More talk of Bradford and anticipation throws. It is great to hear that. Good QBs don’t wait for receivers to come open. They anticipate that and have the ball there as the guy comes out of his break. This was not a strength of Foles or Sanchez so it is encouraging to read about Bradford making those throws on a regular basis.

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On the injury front, Kiko Alonso is still working through the concussion protocol. That should last a few more days. Chip Kelly said he didn’t think Alonso had a history of them so that’s good news. Safety Jerome Couplin recently underwent an appendectomy. He’s due back next week. That is a tough break for him. Couplin wanted to solidify a roster spot and challenge for playing time. He can still get that done, but coming back from an appendectomy makes the task all the more difficult.

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