Zach Ertz Shining And Bryce Brown Struggling At Eagles-Pats Practice

The Birds had another spirited practice against the New England Patriots yesterday.

First of all Tom Brady shows every day why he is headed to the Hall of Fame.  First his command of the game at the line of scrimmage and in the pocket, then his accuracy and ability to put the ball where only his receiver can get it.  He was working his magic on the Eagles defense for most of the workout, but I’ll give the Birds credit for competing.

The Eagles need to stop throwing the ball to running back Bryce Brown.  He can’t catch and that’s going to open the door for Chris Polk to get opportunities to be the back up to LeSean McCoy.  He will be definitely the guy asked to catch the football out of the backfield behind McCoy.

I don’t know how Brown is going to be able to maintain his backup running back position behind McCoy when the guy can’t catch a cold if he was butt naked in the South or North Pole.  He has dropped more balls than just about any running back I have ever seen at a training camp.

I thought rookie tight end Zach Ertz looks great especially in the red zone.  He always seems to be open and the big guy comes down with the football.  Ertz has a great feel for the game and he runs his routes very smoothly.  He approaches his cuts without giving the defenders any inclination that he’s getting ready to change his direction.

He’s one of their top weapons in the red zone.  They’re going to split him out down there and get him matched up on a linebacker, who probably won’t be quick enough to defend him. or a defensive back, who probably won’t be big enough to muscle him.

Finally, they be able to dictate somethings to the defense with Ertz on board and Jason Peters back in the lineup.  Peters will allow to run on the left-side of their offensive line against anybody.

Wide receiver Ifeanyi Momah is starting to show some improvement, but he’s still got a long way to go.  He has definitely shown everybody that he is worth investing some time and money in because he’s got tremendous potential.

I like the way Nate Allen competed yesterday in the one-on-one drills.  Yes he was beaten a few times in the one-on-ones, but that’s an offensive drills because you get no help from any of defenders and you have no pass rush on the quarterback.  He was jumping in there and competing whereas it didn’t seem like a lot of the other defensive backs were as eager to get those reps against Tom Brady and the Pats receivers.

Guys like cornerback Cary Williams are always coming up with this injury or that injury.   You get better by practicing not missing practice.

In the one-on-0ne pass rush battle, first round right tackle Lane Johnson didn’t move his feet and got caught lunging forward on his first rep.  He was beaten outside by outside linebacker Rob Ninkovich.

I do like the fact that on the second time around, Johnson knew he wasn’t going to get bullrushed by the smaller Ninkovich, so he was ready t move laterally.  He easily stoned Ninkovich on the second battle.

Guard Danny Watkins is doing a good job of standing up strong against the bull rush.   The improvement of Watkins will mean that the Birds have good depth at the guard position, which could come in handy with the long season.

Offensive tackle Allen Barbre has also had a very good camp.  H’e’s getting better every day with his fundamentals.  Like Watkins he’s going to give the Eagles depth on their offensive line.  The strongest area on the football team is the offensive line and it’s a good thing that Chip Kelly believes in the running game.