Eagles Day 4 Overreactions: UDFA Lineman Rises To Shoulder Pads Occasion

Jalen Hurts threw his first interception of camp. And it’s still July. Day 4, to be precise. That kind of qualifies as newsworthy since it was the final day of camp last year when Darius Slay picked off the Eagles quarterback's first interception.

Hurts went on to be the Super Bowl LIX MVP months later, so no big deal, really, but as mentioned – newsworthy.

Quinyon Mitchell had the honors when A.J. Brown seemed to accelerate on a deep throw but Hurts didn’t recognize that, and the throw was probably more back shoulder and came up short. Whatever the case, it was an easy theft for Mitchell.

Nothing to overreact to, but here are six things to overreact to that occurred during Monday’s practice on what was easily the warmest day of camp so far.

Cooking. Elijah Cooks is making a good case to be in the mix for a roster spot. He will probably be the victim of a numbers game, but he will make the decision difficult. If he shows up in the preseason games, starting with next week’s exhibition opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, the way he has the last couple of practices, the coaches will have a lot to talk about.

Cooks made a catch during Monday's one-on-one drills on the left sideline against Adoree Jackson that required a nice throw from Tanner McKee. It was so sweet that Jackson got up and applauded. Cooks also ended Saturday’s practice by catching a laser from Kyle McCord, also on the left sideline, with decent coverage by B.J. Mayes.

Cooks is 6-4, 215. He was originally an undrafted free agent signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. He played 11 games over two seasons with the Jags, making three catches for 38 yards.

Trotter trending. There’s still time for first-round rookie Jihaad Campbell to make a run at the starting job when the season opens on Sept. 4, but right now, Jeremiah Trotter is the one trending toward being that player. The second-year linebacker made a nice pass breakup on a throw from Hurts intended for Ainias Smith by leaping high to swat it down.

In the field? Tariq Castro-Fields gave his coaches something to look at when he intercepted McCord on a throw intended for E.J. Jenkins that wasn’t a very good pass. Still, the Penn State product did his job. It was an uneven first few days for Castro-Fields, who spent most of the second half of last season on the Eagles’ practice squad, but depth at cornerback after Quinyon Mitchell, Kelee Ringo, and Quinyon Mitchell, is very much wide open, with Eli Ricks trying to win a job, too.

Man, Moro. With the practices that Moro Ojomo has had, especially against Tyler Steen, the second-year defensive tackle is either really good and will be a Pro Bowler or Steen is not up the starting job and will be parked on the bench before the end of September.

Punt returner. Cooper DeJean won’t do it this year. The Eagles signed Avery Williams to maybe be that guy, but he hasn’t shown as much as Ainias Smith, who is getting the first opportunity to do it. It’s been rare that DeJean fields punts when the Eagles throttle back into special-team work.

Pierce sighting. The Eagles gave their backup offensive linemen plenty of work on Monday, looking to identify their depth and whoa, Hollin Pierce, took out two players when he got some right guard work. The undrafted free agent from Rutgers, took a few third-team reps at that spot and on one play alone, he pushed a defensive tackle away, then got the next level and drilled a linebacker.

Pierce also got some work at third-team left tackle. The kid is huge (6-8, 341) and athletic, and really stood out for the first time. Maybe that was because the Eagles donned shoulder pads for the first time. It will be really interesting to see if he stands out again when full pads come out for the first time this summer on Tuesday.