Eagles practice: Quinyon Mitchell snags another pick; Jordan Davis’ pass rushing; Smael Mondon’s ‘good stuff’

The Eagles held their ninth open practice of training camp for the 2025-26 season on Monday at the NovaCare Complex. Links to Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Here are my observations from Day 9:

Zack Baun missed practice again with a back injury and has now been out for over a week. The linebacker’s injury isn’t considered serious, from what I’ve been told. Baun doesn’t have as much to prove this camp after an All-Pro season and a subsequent contract. His absence has also allowed for young inside linebackers like Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Jihaad Campbell, and Smael Mondon to get more repetitions.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring) sat out his second straight day. The Eagles aren’t stressed about his return. The following players were also sidelined: safety Lewis Cine (hamstring), running back Montrell Johnson (hamstring), offensive lineman Trevor Keegan (back), receiver Terrace Marshall (knee), and defensive tackle Byron Young (groin).

» READ MORE: Cooper DeJean will ‘be a good safety’ if the Eagles need him there, Vic Fangio says

Fullback Ben VanSumeren (ankle) returned to practice and was limited. The following were also held out of certain drills: outside linebacker Nolan Smith (concussion), safety Andrew Mukuba (shoulder), cornerback Mac McWilliams (hamstring), long snapper Charley Hughlett (neck), and VanSumeren.

Receiver DeVonta Smith (back) and Campbell (shoulder) no longer received injury designations and were full go.

Quinyon Mitchell has had one of the best camps of any Eagles player. Whether it’s shadowing Brown in man defense or playing his usual left side in zone coverage, the second-year cornerback has mostly locked down receivers. He looks poised to ascend into the hierarchy of the NFL’s best at his position. And that may be selling him short.

I asked defensive backs coach Christian Parker if Mitchell could become one of the all-time greats. His one-word answer — “Yes.” — caught me by surprise. Not because the cornerback isn’t capable, but because you rarely see coaches set such a high standard for a young player. But Parker wouldn’t have said as much if he didn’t think the 24-year-old could handle it.

On Monday, it was DeVonta Smith’s turn to get the Mitchell treatment. The receiver bested the cornerback a few times in team drills, but Mitchell was dominant in one-on-one drills. Smith just couldn’t shake him, and in both matchups, quarterback Jalen Hurts’ passes were off target. Mitchell snagged his second interception of camp during team drills when he jumped an Ainias Smith route in zone coverage. Quarterback Tanner McKee didn’t appear to see the corner waiting in the weeds. Mitchell’s ball skills haven’t always been great, but he’s secured both catchable picks this summer.

Smith’s return from injury has made an obvious difference. The Eagles worked on “backed up” situations and the receiver pulled in a low throw from Hurts to convert with Mitchell over him. Later on, in a similar scenario — third-and-6 from the minus-5-yard line — Smith beat slot corner Cooper DeJean to the sideline for a first down.

His longest catch came on an intermediate crossing route in which Hurts found him in the soft belly of a zone defense. Could this finally be the season that Smith breaks from Brown’s shadow and earns national recognition? Locals know he’s a stud.

» READ MORE: Can Eagles corner Quinyon Mitchell develop into an all-time great? His position coach thinks so.

Vic Fangio’s defense has seemingly outplayed the offense, overall, in the last week. That’s nothing new. Defenses are typically ahead of offenses early in camp. That said, I gave new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s unit the edge on Monday.

Hurts got defensive tackle Moro Ojomo to jump offside with a hard count during a backed-up scenario. The quarterback connected with receiver Jahan Dotson in front of cornerback Adoree’ Jackson in another. The pair hooked up later on for a conversion. A play after Hurts hit Smith for a long completion, he found tight end Kylen Granson over the middle after going through his reads.

The run offense got going when Hurts motored into the second level on a zone-read keep. Running back AJ Dillon cut back against the grain for good yardage, and later got north-to-south through a gaping hole. Dillon got more carries with Will Shipley seemingly MIA. I briefly saw Shipley working with special teams, but not after.

A lot happened during one-on-ones between the O-line and D-line. Nolan Smith didn’t exactly look engaged during one-on-ones last week, but that was also the day he suffered a concussion. Maybe there was a correlation. He looked great on Monday during his two rushes vs. Matt Pryor, who has juggled both guard and tackle responsibilities recently. Pryor had a wicked trap block on outside linebacker Patrick Johnson during team drills.

» READ MORE: Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell embraces his roots at his back-to-school event: ‘The Jersey pride is real’

Tyler Steen has all but wrapped up the right guard spot. He’s taken every snap there and has shown obvious improvement. He had two strong reps against Ojomo in one-on-ones. Steen fell to the ground and rolled over on his back during team drills. It looked bad for a second, but he was soon up and ready for the next set. General consensus from the sideline was that he got dinged in what we’ll call the “midsection.”

Defensive tackle Jordan Davis toasted guard Brett Toth on back-to-back rushes. He got by him with a swim-slap move on the first and a push-pull move on the second. Davis isn’t just trying to run over guys anymore. The lost weight has seemingly made him more agile. Guard Kenyon Green predictably struggled vs. defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Green later took a knee and upchucked his breakfast.

Left tackle Jordan Mailata was a human vacuum machine who sucked up outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt on each of his one-on-one rushes. Rookie center Drew Kendall held up against defensive tackle Gabe Hall. Kendall is not exactly athletic, but he has nimble feet. Kendall stood next to legendary former Eagles center Jason Kelce after his reps. Smart kid.

Ty Robinson has looked like a future Hall of Famer … when matched up against offensive linemen Laekin Vakalahi. Can we get the rookie defensive tackle better competition, please?

While Trotter and Campbell continued to get the bulk of first-team snaps at inside linebacker, Mondon still rotated in frequently. I asked Fangio what he’s seen out of Mondon. “Good stuff. He is having a good camp,” Fangio said. “He is progressing well. The [inside linebacker] position has a lot on their plate and he’s sorting through that, but I think he’s making good natural progress at all that.” That isn’t faint praise from the old ball coach.

Mondon was the building block in a wall that shut down running back Saquon Barkley on a run to his right in team drills. Trotter stopped a run, hunted down Barkley in the flat, and rammed through a Dallas Goedert block. He’s not going away.

Receiver Elijah Cooks has probably caught more passes than Johnny Wilson and Ainias Smith combined, but he still faces an uphill climb to the roster. He flashed soft hands on a McKee throw with Jackson in coverage. During one-on-ones, ,

» READ MORE: Elijah Cooks is turning heads at camp as he battles for a roster spot: ‘I’m ready to be an Eagle’

Hurts went to an open Wilson on a slant, but it took a bobble before the receiver grasped the ball. McKee linked up with Smith on a quick out to convert a third down. The quarterback felt the pressure, sidestepped to his right, and fired a strike.

It sounds like Josh Uche has poked ahead in the race for the third edge rusher spot. Fangio was asked about him and Azeez Ojulari, and he spent most of his time talking about Uche’s improved performance over the last week. If you’ve read all my notes, that’s been the feeling here.

Uche penetrated inside tight end Harrison Bryant’s block and diverted Barkley on a run play. He then pressured Hurts into stepping up and scrambling.

Fangio said Eli Ricks could enter the outside cornerback competition that is primarily being waged between Kelee Ringo and Jackson. But the notion was prompted by a reporter. Ricks had two more pass breakups on Monday — on passes thrown to receiver Darius Cooper and tight end Granson.

Granson has been the most reliable of the tight ends behind Goedert and Grant Calcaterra. He has to show he can be a consistent blocker if he’s to win the third spot, though. He caught a Kyle McCord dart on a slant route.

» READ MORE: Jalen Carter gets ‘a little thud’ on Saquon Barkley in a friendly battle at Eagles training camp

Receiver Giles Jackson had the catch of the day when he lost cornerback Parry Nickerson deep and pulled in a Dorian Thompson-Robinson heave over the shoulder. On the two-point conversion, Thompson-Robinson threw high to tight end EJ Jenkins in the back of the end zone.

McCord hit receiver Taylor Morin on a slant for a touchdown. Barkley ran out onto the field to celebrate with the third-unit offense, but Brown yelled at him to hold off because there was still the conversion. Alas, running back ShunDerrick Powell, who broke a tackle on an early carry in live football, was stopped short on the attempt.

With Hughlett less than 100%, the Eagles signed another long snapper on Sunday: Christian Johnstone. Hughlett snapped the ball some a day later, but Johnstone looked efficient on his reps. Who wants a long snapper competition? … If you want to know the emergency snapper, holder, and kicker — at least based off Monday’s practice — I got you covered. Calcaterra was the snapper, DeJean the holder, and punter Braden Mann (duh) the kicker. … Mann was booming his punts in open field scenarios. … The Eagles resume practice on Tuesday and have a closed walkthrough on Wednesday.