Eagles training camp notes: Teammates in awe of Dickerson's toughness originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
There was a surprise after practice on Thursday morning at the NovaCare Complex.
The day after meniscus surgery, Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson walked across the practice field with a sleeve on his right leg and a cooler bag full of beers in his hand.
In a sport full of tough dudes, Dickerson’s toughness stands out.
“I was very happy to see him this morning when he walked into the locker room,” his friend and teammate Jordan Mailata said. “Was kind of shocked that he was walking. Just very happy to see his bubbly face in the building and his energy. Glad everything is going OK.”
When Dickerson went down at the open practice on Sunday night, the Eagles feared the worst. His teammates were relieved to hear the news that Dickerson’s injury wasn’t as serious as first suspected and that he’s week-to-week. He even has a chance to be ready for the regular season opener in less than a month.
“I think for Landon, nothing’s ever too serious,” Jalen Hurts said. “He’s one that’s always playing through something and has a great competitive spirit, has an edge to overcome some of those nicks that come up. Always good to hear that he’s in a good place.”
Dickerson has dealt with a laundry list of injuries dating back to his days at Florida State and then at Alabama. In fact, that injury history was the reason he was available for the Eagles in the second round of the 2021 draft. Despite all his nicks and bruises, Dickerson has been relatively durable in the NFL, starting 62 games in four seasons.
His teammates have definitely taken notice.
“I think that guy’s just made of rubber,” Mailata said. “He’s just made of rubber. It doesn’t matter what injury he’s going through during the game, he’s just going to keep pushing through and that’s inspiring.”
“That’s our guy,” Cam Jurgens said. “Never count him out. Toughest guy I know.”
A second look
DeVonta Smith is just like all of us. After watching his teammate Darius Cooper catch 6 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in the preseason opener, Smith went back to watch Cooper’s college highlights from FCS program Tarleton State.
“It’s crazy because after the game, I went and watched his college highlights because I didn’t really know much about him,” Smith said. “Man, he’s a freak of nature. He’s fun to watch.”
How did Smith watch these highlights? YouTube, of course — “YouTube got everything.”
What impressed Smith most about Cooper?
“The run after the catch ability, the strong hands,” Smith said. “All the things you see out here, he had it then. Now, he’s just putting it together. Competition is a little different out here but you still see it. He’s steady rising.”
Feeling the difference
Jordan Davis is noticeably slimmer this training camp after shedding around 26 pounds down to 330. It was a body transformation that began last season but continued this offseason.
After a couple of long joint practices in the summer sun against the Browns, Davis felt the benefits of his slimmer physique and better conditioning.
“Definitely noticed it,” Davis said. “I’m in a lot better spot than I was last year and stuff like that. Obviously, it’s one thing to be in practice shape, it’s one thing to be in game shape. But I think that’s why I love these joint practices because you get the feeling of being in game shape.
“Fortunately for us, Cleveland likes to go fast in the huddle so it causes you to move even faster and process things a lot quicker. These joint practices are really a good thing for us to assess where we are, not even just schematically, but even physically and condition-wise and stuff like that.”
Ready for anything
During the Eagles’ first preseason game, we saw a fun contingency plan take place when Braden Mann kicked a PAT with Jake Elliott holding. The punter kicking field goals isn’t much of a stretch, but what about the Eagles’ other contingency plans?
During training camp, we have seen Cooper DeJean as a holder and Grant Calcaterra as a long snapper.
How do the Eagles figure out which guys can handle those roles?
“It’s almost like you do open tryouts,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay explained. “You talk to guys. You’re just walking around talking to guys. Guys may have done it in high school, guys may have done it in practice in college and you just kind of ask them like, ‘Hey, have you kicked before? Have you held before?’ They say, ‘Yeah,’ and you just go out there at the end of practice and you get a couple of reps, and say, ‘Yeah, this guy could do it.’
“We always do ours on Thursdays during regular season. They do their contingency plans before our session, and you just feel confident with those guys going forward.”
Behind the development
Third-year defensive tackle Moro Ojomo has been one of the big stories of training camp. The 2023 seventh-round pick from Texas has shown tremendous growth and is expected to be a starter and key player on the defensive line this season.
Ojomo, 24, is a triumph of the Eagles’ developmental program.
“I think the average person doesn’t know how amazing our staff is from the top to the bottom,” Ojomo said. “From player personnel, development, the weight room, the nutrition staff, the training room, coaches. I think those people help a ton. Also, maybe how much teammates lean on one another. How much teammates can inspire and help others.
“Having vets like BG (Brandon Graham) and Fletch (Fletcher Cox), I think really helped. Having guys like (player development assistant) Matt Leo, (player development assistant) Patrick McDowell, (DL coach) Clint Hurtt, (former DL coach) Tracy Rocker, all those guys, they kind of help you. They have experience and they have seen what it takes to get there and they kind of just push you in the right direction.”
Built-in support system
Jihaad Campbell was the Eagles’ first-round pick and he gets all the headlines. But the Eagles also have a couple other rookie linebackers in training camp. Fifth-rounder Smael Mondon from Georgia and UDFA Lance Dixon from Toledo have been playing well too.
And the three have been able to help each other during their rookie training camps.
“We lean on each other a lot,” Mondon said. “We kind of just help each other out. It’s kind of like a one hand washes the other thing. We’re all stronger together. Two minds are stronger than one. Just being out there, having other guys that’s experiencing the same thing I’m experiencing at the same time, we kind of just go through it together.
“To have them to lean on, it feels real good vs. me being the only rookie in there. I feel like it would be a lot harder mentally. But having them in there to share some of the experiences I have. And for them to learn from my mistakes that I make when I’m out there and for me to learn from their mistakes. It’s just everybody helping each other grow. It’s been great.”
from NFL News, Scores, Fantasy Games and Highlights 2020 | Yahoo Sports https://ift.tt/HOIG0Qw
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