Foles back at practice after stiff neck subsides
PHILADELPHIA » Nick Foles returned to work Saturday for the Eagles’ open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.
It’s been almost a week since the quarterback felt pain free enough to do a major portion of the 11-on-11 work he had to forego after experiencing discomfort on the throwing side of his neck.
For the most part, Foles performed OK although he clearly wasn’t pushing himself to the limit while fans performed the wave and spelled Eagles over and over throughout the morning session.
Carson Wentz, on the other hand, still hasn’t been cleared for anything more than the less involved 7-on-7 drills. Nate Sudfeld and Joe Callahan shared the second- and third-team snaps.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson volunteered good news when Wentz’s throwing mechanics turned into a topic.
“Those are things we track actually with the footballs and things that we have,” Pederson said. “We can monitor that stuff. Velocity has been up, accuracy has been up. Those are the things he’s been able to work on over the course of the year. He got better last year, obviously, in games. To me it’s all about eye placement, decision making, accuracy, timing. It’s all about the eyes and where you throw it and how you see it. That’s one thing he’s continued to get better at and work on.”
Limited in practices, Wentz will run sprints on the side. That and other training exercises could help once he’s cleared for contact.
“I do feel like now, because of the injury, he’s focusing a little more on lower body strength,” Pederson said. “It’s really correlated to velocity and overall speed of the throw.”
Wentz doesn’t anticipate being cleared for 11-on-11’s this week. But he’s hopeful his surgically repaired knee has healed enough for doctors to elevate his participation the following week.
Foles, meanwhile, will have a better picture of where he is after a day of practice.
Even though it’s still the preseason there’s at least a morsel of motivation for Foles to play Thursday, for the Birds take on the hated New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady still owes Foles a congratulatory handshake, you know? There are Eagles who think Brady should do the right thing.
“I hope he does,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson. “I really hope he does.”
The Eagles estimated that 75,000 fans attended two open practices at the Linc, which rocked again Saturday.
The first practice pulled in over 40,000 fans.
It helped the Eagles raise over $100,000 for their Autism Challenge, according to the website.
The Eagles got the session in before rain hammered the Delaware Valley.
When Alshon Jeffery isn’t rehabbing, he’s watching practices.
Jeffery’s torn rotator cuff isn’t a big concern for Pederson, partly because Jeffery the receiver a huge 2017 season playing hurt.
“He is in, I would say more the strength phase with the weights and that part,” Pederson said. “He’s still doing his lower body conditioning with running and doing some things that way with his legs, making sure his cardiovascular is good. He can’t do a ton of stuff yet necessarily on the field because of the motion of the arm swing. But we can get him in the tanks, the pools … things like that and get his cardio up.”
Jeffery, Brandon Graham (ankle surgery) and Chris Maragos (knee surgery) are on the active-Physically Unable to Perform list.
Defensive tackle Tim Jernigan (back) is on the active-NonFootball Injury list.