‘Level Of Elite’

The Philadelphia Eagles wrapped up training camp with a fiery joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts ahead of their preseason finale.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher provided intel on the last official week of camp.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts shined through the entire training camp period

Freddie Swain

Adam Caplan: “I talked with someone who knows about Swain’s background. He called him an intermediate, run-after-catch receiver who can return and cover on special teams. He is a back-end of the roster guy as a number five, but honestly he is better than any potential number five that they have on their roster.”

Geoff Mosher: “He was recently waived by the Dolphins. He had an earlier injury and got waived-injured. He must be healthy now because he signed with the Eagles. This is an opportunity for him to get lots of reps against the Colts. Maybe he does something, return some punts and elbow his way here late.”

Fred Johnson

Caplan: “He was cut, not waived. If they want to bring him back, here is why they did it now: if he is on the Week One roster as a vested veteran, his base salary would be fully guaranteed. Plus, if he played in this game and got hurt, they don’t want to be on the hook for his salary.”

DeVonta Smith

Mosher: “I truly believe, and I try not to put too much into what we see in camp, more about the context of who Smith is, I believe he is on the doorstep of being considered top five. When you watch him, he does everything so precisely. He has so few flaws in his game, if any.”

Jalen Hurts

Caplan: “The best quarterback I have ever seen here was Carson Wentz in 2017 before he got hurt. I really believe Hurts is approaching that level of elite. He has become a cleaner thrower, he sees everything. He’s not bailing anymore much.”

Zach Cunningham

Mosher: “There was a time where they were in a split zone, (Nakobe) Dean was on the left side, Cunningham was on the right. The Colts ran a slant right between them…it was the only time the Eagles looked at each other like they were embarrassed…because Cunningham is more of a run guy than a pass guy and they were split, he got caught a little flat footed in pass coverage. We know Zach Cunningham is going to be out there to stop the run and opponents key in on that.”

Caplan: “Cunningham has won the weakside linebacker job. When he is on the field on first and second down, they are going to target him. That is a way to beat the Eagles defense.”

Tanner McKee

Caplan: “They want to have a developmental quarterback, that’s why they drafted McKee. He is really different from Hurts and Mariota, doesn’t have their mobility, but he threw the ball well.”

Justin Evans

Caplan: “This is legitimate. He is absolutely pushing Edmunds. Right now, I would call Edmunds No. 1, Justin Evans 1A for the starting job opposite Reed Blankenship.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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