Monday, August 1 is when the Eagles reported for their second week of training camp. There’s no better time for a fresh start than that.

The Philadelphia Eagles were back at it today at the NovaCare Complex for practice in pursuit of the 2022 season. Last week’s initial practices showed a lot of promise and improvement on both the offense and defense – which raised a level of concern among fans and the media.

But this week is another week.

In the first two practices this week, the offense fixed some issues that plagued their ability to create plays last week. Jalen Hurts is getting the ball out quicker and showing the ability to make on-schedule plays and throws, something he had a hard time with last season.

Like on Day 1 of training camp, Hurts had a great day of practice both on Monday and Tuesday. Hurts made improvements in ball efficiency, and more importantly, accuracy. He’s still more efficient on short throws, but Hurts is getting to where he needs to be in time for the regular season. On Tuesday, however, he threw a bomb to Jalen Reagor, who beat double coverage on 11v11, for about 35 yards.

The new guys from Georgia are adjusting nicely to the city of brotherly love. Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis are showing signs of being huge assets to the team alongside the other pickup during the draft, A.J. Brown. 

Davis, who took first-team reps and plowed through his fellow teammates on Monday, showed a great deal of promise as one of the missing pieces the Eagles need in order to succeed.

“I strive for improvement. So when I’m able to go against really good guys, guys who have been All-Pro, Super Bowl Champions, and then also guys that are coming in as a rookie, I can ask him how he feels after the end of the day. It kind of gives you the best of both worlds,” Davis said, on talking about playing with centers Jason Kelce and rookie Cam Jurgens.

The Eagles were criticized for years for not drafting a linebacker, and now that they have one, fans couldn’t be happier with the choice. Nakobe Dean was selected by the Eagles after Dean fell in the draft boards due to apparent injury concerns. Nonetheless, you should never doubt someone who has a reputation as “college football’s best linebacker.”

Dean didn’t have as much football knowledge as a freshman, but soon learned and became the great football player he is. Now, Dean is a force to be reckoned with, having graduated with a 3.55 GPA and a degree in mechanical engineering.

“I’m more of a football-savvy person. When I came to Georgia, I didn’t know every coverage from Cover 1 to Cover 9. Now I know all the coverages. I’m playing how the Eagles want us to play,” Dean said.

Though Dean is an impressive player, he also has to fight for a roster spot against other newly acquired players with years of experience. Haason Reddick and Kyzir White are two players that are battling for a spot, and Dean needs to make the most of his first-team reps in order to have a shot, which started on Tuesday.

We are, however, starting to see issues with something the Eagles faced a lot of last season: injuries. As of Tuesday afternoon, Isaac Seumalo and Quez Watkins were both injured. Where Seumalo’s injury was reported as “not serious,” Watkins’ day was cut short. Hopefully, only cut short for precautionary reasons.

Football is around the corner. It feels so good saying that. The Philadelphia Eagles look to be less rusty than last week, with the offense and defense having a chance to shine over the course of the two weeks of practice.

Eagles preseason football is a little more than a week away. The first preseason game will be Friday, August 12 at 7:00 p.m. The Eagles will host the New York Jets.

Stay tuned throughout the season as I provide more Philadelphia Eagles coverage in my column, “Birds’ Eye View.”