Head Coach Nick Sirianni met the media on Friday afternoon following the first practice of the team’s Rookie Minicamp at the NovaCare Complex. Here are some takeaways from what he said:
1. While Sirianni wouldn’t comment on “who stood out” after one practice during which players wore helmets, shells, and shorts with no contact, he did talk about quarterback Carson Strong, whom the team signed following the 2022 NFL Draft. Strong had a brilliant career at the University of Nevada, where he tossed 74 touchdowns and just 19 interceptions. At 6-foot-3 and 226 pounds, Strong showed up on the field.
“I thought he did a good job today. It’s a lot. He’s reading plays differently and running different plays, to have to go back there and manage everything,” Sirianni said. “One thing I’m impressed by is when a guy can come out and just call a play because there are a lot of guys that don’t call plays, right, and they are looking to the sideline. We call plays in the huddle. He was pretty smooth at that. That means he studied hard. He got ready for this day today. He was really sharp, and he knew what to do and he knew where to go with the football. He has a big arm, and you definitely can see that. Those are tools to work with. His size and arm strength is noticeable when he’s out there.”
2. Third-round draft pick linebacker Nakobe Dean is known as an intense, fierce competitor and the coaching staff has already seen that kind of mentality in him on display.
“I can sense he’s all ball all the time, whether we are in a meeting or on the field, he’s locked in,” Sirianni said. “You definitely felt that from him, and we knew that about him before we even drafted him. He definitely showed that today, and he showed that yesterday in our meetings.”
3. This is a two-day camp designed to get the players – 42 of them present – accustomed to the way the Eagles do things and to give them a taste of the playbook. Sirianni and his coaching staff are keeping it simple for the rookies this…