Eagles practice observations: Jalen Hurts has a happy birthday; Johnny Wilson contests; What’s up with Willie Lampkin?

The Eagles held the seventh practice of their 2026 training camp on Friday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. Here were my observations from Day 7 (and links to Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6):

Lane Johnson returned after an excused four-practice absence for a noninjury related reason. The right tackle will need a ramp-up period and didn’t participate in team drills. Johnson didn’t speak with reporters after practice.

» READ MORE: Lane Johnson returned to Eagles practice on Friday. His teammates were grateful to welcome back their ‘cornerstone’

The Eagles didn’t have additions to their list of players out after Wednesday’s light session and Thursday’s walkthrough. The following were sidelined: Wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), receiver Makai Lemon (hamstring), receiver Britain Covey (hamstring), outside linebacker Keyshawn James-Newby (ankle) and safety Cole Wisniewski (hamstring).

Linebacker Chance Campbell, who left early two days ago, was limited with a groin injury. Guard Micah Morris (shoulder) was also a partial participant.

Players were back in full pads for what was the hottest day of camp thus far. Eagles coaches continued to amp up the intensity with one-on-one drills between offensive and defensive linemen. Not many top-liners partook, but edges Nolan Smith Jr. and Jalyx Hunt had impressive pass rushes.

The former bested tackle Myles Hinton with back-to-back inside-outside moves. Hinton rebounded in a later turn. Tackle Cameron Williams flashed his hands too early vs. Hunt and never stood a chance. He held up on the next turn, though.

Center/guard Drew Kendall had a couple of strong blocks against defensive tackle Moro Ojomo. The Eagles currently have Kendall as the first guard off the bench, and it seems deserved. Could Morris push Kendall? He stood out in his two reps, although defensive tackle Ty Robinson isn’t quite in Ojomo’s class.

I’ve yet to write much about second-year offensive lineman Willie Lampkin. The Eagles signed the undrafted North Carolina product last August after camp and he spent all of last season on injured reserve. So we never got to see Lampkin practice. He’s clearly undersized at a generously-listed 5-foot-11, 290 pounds. But it’s easy to see why the team felt he was worth developing.

Lampkin stoned undrafted rookie defensive tackle Zion Wilson in one-on-ones. He lined up mostly at center in the first week of camp, but he was at right guard on Friday. He’s a technically sound run blocker. He was able to move defensive tackle Byron Young. But he also didn’t cede much ground in pass protection.

Lampkin may be too small to play guard. At center, he’d have problems against bigger nose tackles in pass pro. The Eagles would have to often slide help his way. But I’m not discounting the mauler’s chances of making the roster.

Birthday boy Jalen Hurts continued to show steady improvement in Sean Mannion’s new offense as the installation proceeds. The quarterback was especially sharp early in team drills. He got things rolling with what should be a staple of the scheme: a naked bootleg off under-center play action that is married with an outside zone-run fake. Elijah Moore was the target on the shallow crossing route and picked up an easy 10 yards or so — just as he did later on the same play.

» READ MORE: Eagles wide receiver Darius Cooper takes pride in doing the dirty work. Will he be rewarded with a roster spot?

Moore has been the primary slot receiver since Lemon got hurt almost a week ago. Later in the set, Hurts hit tight end Dallas Goedert on a hitch route in front of cornerback Riq Woolen. The Eagles ran more hitch routes than any team last season. The number is sure to decrease in the new system, but there’s always a time and place for an easy five yards.

Later vs. the second-unit defense, Hurts didn’t have much on the first two reads to his left. But he checked to his third outlet on the right — receiver Hollywood Brown — for a short gain underneath. That might not sound sexy, but it was a successful play considering the coverage and Hurts going through his progression reads.

Markel Bell was in Johnson’s place at right tackle once again. Fred Johnson spelled left tackle Jordan Mailata on occasion as did Kendall for Landon Dickerson at left guard. When Cam Jurgens left with an unspecified injury midway though the workout, Jake Majors stepped in at center. At one point that meant that right guard Tyler Steen was the only starter on the offensive line. It showed.

I’m not sure what happened to Jurgens. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis had a would-be run stop and sack on consecutive plays early on — and beat Jurgens soundly on the second — and that was the last I saw of the center in team drills.

The missing pieces up front made it more difficult on Hurts and Co. A faulty exchange between Majors and the quarterback interrupted the flow of a Saquon Barkley run. Ojomo used a swim move to penetrate into the backfield for a tackle for loss on the next Barkley carry.

Smith split Fred Johnson and Kendall and notched a sack. Edge Arnold Ebiketie pressured Hurts out of the pocket. Ojomo jumped offside at one point. But Jalen Carter batted a Hurts pass after Ebiketie beat Bell once again from the outside.

» READ MORE: More than a week into Eagles training camp, Jalen Hurts and the new-look offense are ‘calibrating’

I asked coach Nick Sirianni who he liked from his receiver group on contested balls. The subtext there could have been that the Eagles lost one of the strongest catch-point receivers in the NFL when A.J. Brown was traded. But they do have candidates beyond DeVonta Smith, who won in the air differently than Brown, who can pull in Hurts’ best throws.

Sirianni mentioned Darius Cooper first before getting to Dontayvion Wicks, Lemon and Smith. Cooper probably is the closest to Brown in terms of his body shape. It wasn’t exactly a 50-50 ball, but Cooper hauled in a Hurts pass over the middle with cornerback Quinyon Mitchell in close quarters. The second-year receiver caught another pass near the hashes after Hurts escaped the pocket and threw across his body.

Johnny Wilson wasn’t mentioned by Sirianni, but he has obvious size traits that should aid him on contested balls. The 6-6 receiver caught a deep pass from quarterback Andy Dalton after beating and boxing out cornerback Mac McWilliams. Wilson’s best moment of camp came when quarterback Tanner McKee went to him on a corner route in the end zone. He went up and over cornerback Jonathan Jones and got both feet inbounds.

McKee had maybe his best day in Mannion’s offense. He was first up with the second unit offense and connected on his first three passes — the best a pinpoint toss to receiver Danny Gray just out of corner Kelee Ringo’s reach. McKee would have gone 4 for 4 had receiver Erik Ezukanma not dropped one in his bread basket.

In a later period, McKee found Cooper on a hitch route. He threw wide of Gray near the sideline, but had better luck with the same route when Cooper beat McWilliams and late-arriving safety Michael Carter II.

Dalton didn’t necessarily have a bad day, but McKee may have closed the gap in the backup competition. Dalton heaved a pass to Samori Toure in traffic, but Carter ran step for step with the receiver and was awarded with a pass breakup. Tight end Eli Stowers was the check down on a few occasions.

Dalton exposed Ambry Thomas when he completed back-to-back sideline tosses to Ezukanma and Brandon Hayes after each receiver turned the cornerback around. Rookie quarterback Cole Payton hasn’t gotten as many snaps over the last few practices. He nearly tossed another interception when Ringo jumped a route.

Running back blocking has been sharp of late. Barkley, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley all had successful blitz pickups. … Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. drew a false start when he feigned a blitz pre-snap. … Linebacker Smael Mondon tipped a ball at the line when he rushed. … Linebacker Deontae Lawson ripped the ball from tight end E.J. Jenkins for a fumble. … The Eagles sang “Happy Birthday” to the 28-year-old Hurts during the post-practice team huddle. … There was a Boston flavor to VIP guests at practice. Former Red Sox (and Cubs) general manager Theo Epstein, who is a friend of Eagles GM Howie Roseman, took in the action. New 76er (and former Celtic) Jaylen Brown showed up to the delight of many in attendance. … The Eagles return to practice on Saturday and will be off on Sunday.

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The Eagles are grinding their way through the second week of training camp. Some parts of the team have looked good, others remain very much a work in progress. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg assess quarterback Jalen Hurts’ play, how some of his targets are faring, and why, regardless of how the offense is coming together, the defense could be elite enough to help the Eagles contend for another title. Listen here.

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