Eagles defense passes first test vs. Flacco

Some of the toughest tests for the Eagles defense during the last two summers came when they trained with the New England Patriots.

There are no joint practices with the Patriots this summer, so there is no opportunity for Tom Brady to pick on Curtis Marsh. But the Baltimore Ravens are in Philadelphia this week, and Audubon native Joe Flacco provides a good measuring stick for the Eagles' new-look secondary.

The results were promising Wednesday - at least on the first of three days of work.

"We had no deep balls caught on us," said cornerback Byron Maxwell, the biggest addition to the defensive backfield. "That's the main focus this year. . . . So we did pretty good."

It wasn't perfect, but the upgrade in the Eagles' secondary was noticeable during the workout. The Eagles held their coverage better, forced turnovers, and remained competitive against Flacco, who passed for 3,986 yards and 27 touchdowns last season.

Flacco said the Eagles played more man-to-man coverage than they usually do, and there were some periods in which they gave the Ravens some coverages that Baltimore requested. There were other periods in which the Ravens ran plays the Eagles wanted to work on, such as play-action passes.

But the Eagles mostly used one press cornerback with a single-high safety and different combinations of coverages.

Flacco did not single out any player when asked about the Eagles defense. "I have no idea who I'm looking at out there," Flacco said.

Linebacker Brandon Graham had an interception off a deflected pass, and safety Walter Thurmond also picked off Flacco. The coverage helped the Eagles' pass rush - during one red-zone drill, Flacco needed to roll out and throw the ball away because there was nowhere to go with it.

This is not to say the story was all about the Eagles' defense. Cornerback Eric Rowe likely learned a few lessons from veteran wide receiver Steve Smith, who left Rowe chasing him a few times.

There was value in playing against the Ravens for the entire defense. In addition to the competition element of practice, linebacker DeMeco Ryans said they benefited from being exposed to different looks from Baltimore.

The Eagles defended a two-man backfield for the first time in practice - they don't even have a fullback on the roster - and that could help them when they play fullbacks in the regular season. The Ravens also ran more deep play-action than the Eagles' defenders are accustomed to.

"It's always good when we get a chance to go against a different team like we've done in years past going against the Patriots," Ryans said. "Now, this year the Ravens, it's good for us to get different looks from a different offense, a different quarterback, see different styles of play. That really helps our defense, helps our communication and our calls."

For Flacco, the practice was right across the Walt Whitman Bridge from his childhood home, but it was not necessarily a homecoming. His wife drove back to spend time in the area, but he didn't bring anyone to practice to root him on. Plus, the team is staying in Philadelphia - not South Jersey.

"It's totally foreign as far as coming over here and playing football goes," Flacco said. "As close as I grew up to the city, I'm not really, really familiar to it."

It was simply a football practice - albeit one that was different for both teams. The Eagles huddled and didn't play music, a departure from a typical practice. The Ravens made a concession on the length of the practice. They usually go three hours, so a 21/2-hour session was a change.

"Have you heard about our practices?" Smith said. "This is like apple juice. It's great."

@ZBerm