Eagles practice observations: Bryce Huff’s absence; cornerback and safety competitions; Cooper DeJean to the outside?

The Eagles opened their second organized team activity (OTA) of the offseason to reporters on Wednesday at NovaCare Complex. Here are my takeaways from the practice:

Bryce Huff wasn’t at practice. In fact, the defensive end hasn’t attended Eagles’ workouts this entire spring, an NFL source said. That doesn’t necessarily come as a huge surprise since he is unlikely to be part of the Eagles’ plans for 2025. General manager Howie Roseman, when asked about Huff in early February, might have said his story “is yet to be written,” but the fact that he was inactive for the Super Bowl said more about his future in Philadelphia.

Huff is still under contract and is owed $16.75 million in guaranteed money this season. Workouts are voluntary, but his absence suggests it was mutually agreed upon. The Eagles don’t want him getting injured in case they can still unload him after June 1 — when it would make more fiscal sense — and he certainly doesn’t want to be where he isn’t exactly wanted.

Can the Eagles trade him? Probably not with that price tag. Maybe they eat a large portion of his salary just to cut bait. Or they swap “your underperforming, overpaid free agent” for mine. Or maybe they suffer some injuries at edge rusher this spring and have no choice but to have him in uniform when training camp starts. But my guess is Roseman is eventually forced to waive one of his few bad moves from last offseason.

I assume this will be the last time I write about Huff in my observations this spring, but his early mention here shows why it might make sense to move on sooner rather than later. He’s a distraction from the otherwise positive momentum the Eagles have going on. I’ll have more on who was at edge rusher later in my notes, but there were a few other healthy no-shows at — again, voluntary! — practice: wide receiver DeVonta Smith, tackle Lane Johnson, safety Reed Blankenship, and receiver/returner Avery Williams.

Smith and Johnson likely took a “veteran day.” They’ve been participants in other offseason workouts, from what I’ve been told. Blankenship was dealing with a minor medical issue, a source said, but he should be fine.

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The Eagles had several injured players who did not participate Wednesday. Linebackers Jihaad Campbell (shoulder) and Nakobe Dean (knee) were spotted leaving the indoor facility before practice, but returned late into the session after presumably receiving treatment. The Eagles haven’t given much information on Campbell’s timetable following offseason surgery, but the expectation is that the team’s top draft pick should be able to practice in some form by camp. Dean’s return from the patellar tendon tear he suffered at the start of the playoffs remains unclear. Both hung with inside linebackers coach Bobby King toward the end of practice.

Guard Landon Dickerson, who underwent offseason knee surgery, also wasn’t at practice, along with converted fullback Ben VanSumeren, who tore his ACL last season. Center Cam Jurgens (back surgery) was present, but he was only an observer.

OK, enough with roll call. Let’s get to positional competitions and the depth chart. It’s super early, but Adoreé Jackson took the majority of starter snaps at outside cornerback opposite returning starter Quinyon Mitchell. Kelee Ringo got some reps with the ones, too, as he and Jackson are likely the top two candidates for that position. It may be just a part-time role, however, if slot cornerback Cooper DeJean starts on the outside in base personnel. He took a few snaps there, and I think it’s only a matter of time before the former second-rounder ends up outside. It may be another year, and he may always ping-pong between inside and outside, but it makes sense to eventually have DeJean on the field for as many snaps as possible.

On offense, there’s pretty much just one spot up for grabs: right guard. Tyler Steen took the first-unit repetitions there in team drills. The Eagles’ 2023 third-rounder lost out to Mekhi Becton rather early in that positional competition a year ago. But with Becton gone to the Los Angeles Chargers, now may finally be the time for Steen. He won’t be handed the job. Kenyon Green, who arrived in the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade with the Texans, slotted in at second-team right guard. Veteran Matt Pryor, Trevor Keegan, Darian Kinnard, and Brett Toth could also be in the mix.

Here’s how the rest of the offensive line depth chart looked based upon team drills. Regular starters are in parentheses, and rookies in bold, from left to right:

Blankenship’s absence meant that both safety spots were filled by nonstarters from last season. There was a lot of shuffling, but Sydney Brown and rookie Andrew Mukuba were the first two up at safety, with Tristin McCollum eventually mixing in. Lewis Cine and Andre’ Sam also took first-team snaps during various drills.

Brown and Mukuba project to be the main two combatants to fill Gardner-Johnson’s vacancy. Neither did much on the ball, but both players kept the deep middle protected with quarterback Jalen Hurts often forced to check down. I’ll have more on Hurts’ reluctance to throw it deep later on. It should be noted that Sam had a pass breakup when he ripped the ball from tight end Grant Calcaterra’s hands just shy of the sideline.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. spent most drills alongside Zack Baun at inside linebacker. Depending upon how Dean recovers and Campbell adapts to the pros, Trotter could open the season as a starter. He saw a lot of action with Hurts feeding his running backs. Will Shipley caught a number of passes. He has an opportunity to step into the No. 2 spot behind Saquon Barkley with Kenny Gainwell’s departure.

Free agent AJ Dillon had some grabs, as well. He missed all of the 2024 season due to a neck injury, but looked fairly nimble running against air. Practices with contact will offer more information on his health, but the “Quadfather’s” quads lived up to their billing.

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Nolan Smith was held out of seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills. He tore his triceps in the Super Bowl and probably has yet to be cleared. A year ago, the Eagles’ top four edge rushers at this stage were Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Huff, and Smith. The first two are gone via free agency and retirement, respectively. Huff’s absence was explained above. So that leaves Smith as the top returnee of the group.

Jalyx Hunt returns after a promising rookie season that saw his production increase the more time he was given. He was first up at edge rusher opposite free agent Azeez Ojulari. Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo were the starting defensive tackles in the Eagles’ four-man front with Jalen Carter on the sideline during team drills. He doesn’t have a known injury. Coordinator Vic Fangio would probably disapprove of putting his best defensive player in Bubble Wrap until the Sept. 4 opener, but the guess here is that Carter will practice less than he did ahead of his first two seasons.

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Dallas Goedert didn’t miss a beat in his first open practice since he signed a restructured contract following an offseason of uncertainty. He was Hurts’ favorite target and caught more than a handful of passes on a variety of routes. Goedert later acknowledged that he thought he could end up traded or cut in the months leading up to his return. With the Eagles unwilling to pay the remaining, non-guaranteed $14.25 million on his contract, Goedert was given the chance to shop his services to other teams. There were offers, but when the draft came and went without the Eagles drafting a tight end, the two sides worked on a new deal that trimmed Goedert’s salary to $10 million with a possible $1 million more in incentives.

“There were definitely days that were filled with emotion, just kind of sat on the couch and stared at the TV blankly like, ‘What’s going to happen?’” Goedert said.

Well, he’s back, and if Goedert can avoid injury, there’s no reason to think he can’t be as productive as he enters his eighth season. Backup Calcaterra might not have been able to hang on to that earlier pass vs. Sam, but he ran a crossing route that seemed to switch up Trotter, who impeded his path. Calcaterra made a holding sign after the play, but there weren’t any referees on hand to throw a flag.

Receiver A.J. Brown was another starter held out of most drills. As the Eagles saw last season in Tampa, missing Brown and Smith can make the pass offense less vertical, and that was certainly the case for the first-team offense. Hurts was sharp and hit on most of his attempts, but Jahan Dotson was essentially the only receiver he hooked up with on more than one occasion. Dotson did well to work back to his quarterback with Mitchell in coverage on one play. Second-year receiver Johnny Wilson was also missing from drills.

Quarterback Tanner McKee, promoted to No. 2 this offseason, was more prone to target his receivers. Danny Gray had a drop, but he beat Ringo with a double move on the next play for a nice gain downfield. Darius Cooper, an undrafted rookie out of Tarleton State, got behind undrafted rookie corner BJ Mayes on a fade route that resulted in a touchdown.

Retired Eagles center Jason Kelce was at practice assisting O-line coach Jeff Stoutland. … Despite rain that forced the Eagles into the confined bubble, coach Nick Sirianni had his squad practice for approximately an hour and 20 minutes. … The Eagles have four more OTAs (Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and next Thursday). They are required to have one more open to reporters — likely Tuesday. A one-day mandatory minicamp is slated for June 10.