Eagles practice observations: Jordan Davis’ conditioning; DeVonta does ‘Smitty’ things; the other rookie LB

The Eagles held their second practice of training camp for the 2025-26 season on Thursday at the NovaCare Complex. Link to Day 1. Here are my observations from Day 2:

Jordan Davis is in the best shape of his NFL career. Seriously, he is. I’ve heard countless players make the same claim in previous seasons. It’s a camp cliché that many writers — including myself — have overplayed only for actual games to show that fitness had little to do with why a player wasn’t performing up to expectations.

But Davis has clearly done the work and it’s visible. He said he lost 26 pounds in the offseason and weighed in at 330 pounds at the start of camp. The Eagles have long listed him at 336 pounds — and still do.

Davis’ weight loss factored into the Eagles’ decision to pick up his fifth-year option. The question now is if it will help his conditioning, and most importantly, his production on the field. Based off the first two practices, he seems to have a higher motor. He doesn’t rest his hands on his hips as much in between plays. And he’s been able to complete the post-team drill sprint — unlike most of last year. Davis may still seemingly take a play off here or there, but he’s on the right track.

In terms of improving his pass rush, time will tell. But it would stand to reason that better fitness should lead to more agility. I don’t buy the notion that he may lose strength.

» READ MORE: Eagles DT Jordan Davis has transformed his body. With improved conditioning, he aims to do more.

Speaking of the post-team-drill sprint, Jalen Carter participated in the exercise even though he’s still out with a shoulder injury. He even got in fellow defensive tackle Gabe Hall’s ear and got Hall to finish his run when he appeared ready to bail halfway. Carter shouldn’t be sidelined for long.

His absence has allowed other interior defensive linemen to get more snaps with the first unit. Milton Williams’ offseason departure has opened a starting spot, at least at one of the 4i-technique positions in the 5-man front. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said there won’t be one defensive tackle who will take all of Williams’ snaps. The snaps will be divvied up between Moro Ojomo, Davis, rookie Ty Robinson, and maybe one of several players vying for the fifth spot — Thomas Booker, Byron Young, and Hall.

Ojomo can rush the passer — that we know. He had a few pressures on Thursday.

DeVonta Smith was a receiving workhorse a day after he had few, if any, catches. He did a bunch of “Smitty” things to get open on short option routes, and quarterback Jalen Hurts, in turn, hit him in rhythm. Hurts might have gone to that well one time too many when he forced a pass to a covered Smith over the middle. There was pressure, but Hurts’ pass was late and linebacker Zack Baun deflected it to the ground.

Jahan Dotson was a busy bee, as well. He caught a number of short passes as the first-team offense slot receiver, but his best grab might have come on the outside with the second unit. He ran a slant route and quarterback Tanner McKee knifed a pass in between two defenders for a nice gain. Dotson might have been underused a year ago, but he’s consistently shown that when the ball comes his way, he’s likely to catch it.

A day after Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo got first nods at safety and outside cornerback, rookie Andrew Mukuba and Adoree’ Jackson were first up at those respective positions. The players eventually shared reps and will likely do so for the next several weeks. There has been no obvious separation. Jackson and safety Andre’ Sam seemed to get mixed up when passing off responsibilities in a zone coverage at one point, but Jackson hasn’t looked overwhelmed playing in a new scheme.

» READ MORE: Cooper DeJean is learning safety when the Eagles are in base. In other packages, competition is wide open.

Ringo bounced back from one of his lesser efforts on Wednesday. I’m still waiting for Brown or Mukuba to make a play on the ball, but Hurts simply hasn’t attacked the deep middle much, which suggests those guys are doing their jobs whenever in two-high shells. Fangio places great emphasis on instincts when it comes to playing middle field positions. Hurts’ longest completion came during seven-on-sevens when he hit tight end Dallas Goedert at the second level — over Ringo and before Brown.

Fangio said he was just as surprised that Jihaad Campbell (shoulder) was cleared for practice at the start of camp. “The trainers had been telling me all spring that it would be at some point in August when he’d be out there,” he said, before jokingly adding: “So I’m learning that our trainers like to understate and overachieve so they look good.” Campbell was listed again as limited, but there didn’t appear to be many constraints. That may change when the full pads come out next week.

Campbell has been paired with fellow rookie Smael Mondon as the second unit inside linebackers. Both have stood out in the first two days, but Mondon had impressive moments on Thursday. The 6-foot-2, 224-pound Mondon might be slightly on the smaller side, but he has held up vs. O-linemen run blocks at the second level. He easily disengaged from tight end Nick Muse and made a stop vs. one rush. Later on, Muse struggled to contain Campbell, who got around him to touch up Dorian Thompson-Robinson on a designed quarterback run.

As promising as the rookie linebackers may seem, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. shouldn’t be overlooked as he enters his second season. He’s still running with the first-team defense. He may not be as flashy, but he’s typically in the right spot. Fangio values football intelligence, so Trotter may still find a role on defense.

But being even a nanosecond away could hinder his chances of starting. Trotter had Goedert in man coverage during one seven-on-seven drill, but the tight end pulled away for the grab at the last moment, which left the linebacker slapping his hands in frustration. Trotter clogged the middle on a few Saquon Barkley/Will Shipley runs, but did seem to be out of his assigned gap on an early designed draw play for Hurts.

» READ MORE: Sielski: Jalen Hurts can’t be labeled as a quarterback. It’s what makes him and the Eagles great together.

Hurts went to A.J. Brown early on a couple scramble drill passes, but he missed the wide-open receiver during seven-on-sevens when he rolled to his left. Tight end Grant Calcaterra got involved with both the first and second unit offenses. The other tight ends seemingly battling for the third spot had their moments. Kylen Granson pulled in an early toss from McKee. There was a pass play dialed up to get Granson the ball off a naked bootleg, but outside linebacker Nolan Smith was draped all over him when he dropped into coverage.

Harrison Bryant had grabs both early and late into practice. E.J. Jenkins was schemed wide-open down the right sideline, but rookie quarterback Kyle McCord overthrew the tight end.

Thompson-Robinson threw behind running back Keilan Robinson on a throw that was broken up. Running back AJ Dillon flashed soft hands on a swing pass out of the backfield. McKee threw behind Jenkins when he was pressured off his spot. Receiver Terrace Marshall got some first-unit reps. Receiver Danny Gray was a popular target for McKee. Second-year receivers Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson haven’t seen the ball much yet.

Outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt disrupted a zone read run when left unblocked. Shipley let one pass from Hurts on his fingertips drop. Barkley had several rushes and looked capable of breaking each one off into the secondary. Ho-hum. The left side of the defensive front collectively snuffed out a misdirection screen that Hurts had to eat. McCord bounced back with strikes to Jenkins on an out route and to receiver Darius Cooper on a slant to end practice.

The Eagles officially announced the return of Joe Douglas to the personnel department earlier this week. The former New York Jets general manager’s new title: senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager. Douglas was formerly Howie Roseman’s right-hand man, and he’ll likely have some sway with the Eagles GM in his new role. But during camp, the former Richmond tackle has lent a body to offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland during individual drills. … Former Eagles defensive end turned podcaster Vinny Curry was in attendance. … The Eagles opened practice with song selections from the recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne. … There’s a closed walkthrough on Friday, followed by a return to practice on Saturday.