Eagles rookie CB Zech McPhearson gets ‘excellent’ preseason experience | Early Birds

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Good morning, Eagles fans! Greetings from North Jersey, where the Eagles are holding joint practices with the Jets ahead of the preseason finale Friday at MetLife Stadium.

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— Josh Tolentino (earlybirds@inquirer.com)

Rookie Zech McPhearson had a rough outing last Thursday against the Patriots. He started in place of cornerback Darius Slay and gave up a couple of big catches and also whiffed on a tackle that would’ve prevented a touchdown.

However, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon views McPhearson’s performance as “tough duty” and an “excellent” experience.

“I don’t think that he’s struggled,” Gannon said Tuesday. “He got a couple balls caught at him where he’s in tough duty. We put a lot on our corners as far as mentally and physically in this defense. What he knows is he has a couple things that he’s going to work on and improve when we come out of [this week vs. the Jets].

“So his thing was just eyes and really alignment assignment, key technique. He just needs to clean up pre-snap. He just needs to control that, which he’s done a good job. But we put him in some tough spots in the game. He’ll learn and rebound, and he’ll have a good week of practice.”

McPhearson, who was drafted in the fourth round out of Texas Tech, is expected to get more snaps against the Jets, especially if starters Slay and Steve Nelson sit out or receive limited reps.

“We like to see our guys that are going to be playing against the other team’s best people,” Gannon said. “And that’s a really good evaluation tool for him, and he had a good week of practice vs. them, and he got a couple balls caught on him but that’s not out of the ordinary for that position.”