👋 Good morning! Put those phones away, Giants fans!

This was just one day after Jaxson Dart’s first training camp pass was a pick-six, Dude Perfect style. You gotta do everything you can to support the young man. All class as always, Mr. Mara.

The Friday links. Spread the word, spread the word:

In honor of Happy Gilmore 2, I thought we would do some “Philly sports in television/movies” trivia.

Answers at the bottom.

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As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Training Camp Notes, Day 2: Some takeaways from the practice facility…

It was very much a Jordan Davis day. Not really because of anything he did on the field, but because Davis went up to the podium and showed off that he in fact exercisedexercisedexercisedexercisedexercised.

The “best shape of his life!” trope is one that we are all hyper-aware of at this time of year. As we have learned time and again, it often does not mean all that much. And as the guys talked about the pod here, career-best fitness might not matter in practice even if true. Davis’ relatively underwhelming play, at least compared to his first-round expectations, has almost universally been blamed on his lack of conditioning. Maybe, but what if this is just who he is at the NFL level?

All that said, Davis looks comparatively svelte. He said that he lost 26 pounds and is down to 330 ell-bees overall. Right after Davis got drafted, I was covering a Sixers playoff game and he rang the bell with Nakobe Dean and Haason Reddick. This one, when Tyler Herro taunted Davis for some odd reason. At the time, I thought to myself, “This is the biggest dude I have ever seen.” He looks much different from that night, and it is not just the admittedly-slimming haircut. Hopefully that weight loss leads to better production. After getting to the QB just once in his first 19 games last season, Davis did have a sack in both the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.

The other reason Davis is of interest to everyone is that he is an important swing piece for the Eagles. That is in the short term, as there are more interior pass-rushing snaps available after New England paid Milton Williams a billion dollars. And that is also in the long term, as the decision to exerciseexerciseexerciseexerciseexercise Davis’ $13 million fifth-year option was a curious one. Some thought the Eagles might decline that option, or decline it and extend Davis at a lower AAV. But nope, the decision was to exerciseexerciseexerciseexerciseexercise. We will see if it was the right one.

Jalen Hurts played well, which I do not care about. And if he plays poorly, I am not gonna care about it either. When you go 37-50 for 467 yards and throw/run for seven touchdowns combined in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl, I do not care about his training camp. He has earned that right. To quote Stephen A., “I’m here to tell you right now… We don’t care.”

It does sound like Jalen has become a better practice player, though. And one play that Fran described here felt more instructive about the defense than the QB: Jalen rolls to his left and feathers a throw over Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to Dallas Goedert. Nice touch pass over the zone defense, and Trot Jr. jussstttt missed getting his fingertips on it.

Nothing against Axe Man Jr., but he is 6-feet tall with a 74.75-inch wingspan. You can still be good at that position with those measurables, since linebacker is more about instincts and processing speed. But Jihaad Campbell is 6’3” with an 80-inch wingspan. Especially in Vic Fangio’s zone schemes, that additional length is probably gonna matter in closing throwing lanes.

Uncle Vic, you will be stunned to know, thinks the Eagles are not practicing enough. I just love that crusty old man. Someone should ask him his thoughts on the Phillies’ base running.

Quinyon Mitchell could travel this year. During OTAs, we noted how Quinyon Mitchell was getting reps on the left side of the defense (the offense’s right). That was a big change from last year, when Mitchell exclusively played on the right side of the defense and Darius Slay on the left.

Well, Slay is in Pittsburgh. So, Vic mentioned that they are training Quinyon on the left because they might have him travel with No. 1 receivers this year. That would be a change from last year, but also one that makes sense. Gotta see how he does, right?

Coop at safety. One other small thing: A lot has been made of Cooper DeJean playing in base coverage, because the Eagles understandably want Coop on the field at all times. Listening to Vic, it sounds like Coop can play either safety or outside corner. Which spot Coop does line up at might tell you about Vic’s confidence level at those other spots. I will let ZB’s practice notes explain…

Basically, Drew Mukuba is not just competing against Sydney Brown. He is also competing against Kelee Ringo and Adoree' Jackson for base snaps.

And if you want to read more practice notes from Zach, or all of the other writers we have on the site (Fran Duffy, Charlie O’Connor, Alex Appleyard, Kyle Neubeck, Derek Bodner, Jim Salisbury, etc.), we have a Diehard deal going for a short time. You get a shirt from the store included, plus we have this crazy Discord community where people are talkin’ ball and a bunch of other stuff all day, every day.

Some position notes: From the second day…

Jeff Lurie wants a Super Bowl and Final Four: One stadium drama ends in Philadelphia, and another starts up.

After sitting out the Farg II drama across the street, it sure seems like the Eagles have started poking around about a new stadium. Or, at the very least, some renovations to The Linc.

We have reached the point with stadiums where most of them are nice. The Linc is 22 years old, but unlike its predecessor, it is not a dump at 22 years old. I am sure Mr. Lurie cares very little about that.

It is too early to get worked up about this, especially because I did not see the survey. But I might start a No Domes protest, if it comes to that. I can live with a retractable roof if you must have the Super Bowl and Final Four, but Northeast football is meant to be played IN THE ELEMENTS.

Hockey Canada verdict: Big news out of London, Ontario yesterday. After a three-month trial that was super high-profile and had a bunch of twists and turns (including two juries being dismissed), all five defendants from the Canadian World Junior team, including Carter Hart, were found not guilty of sexual assault and acquitted of all charges.

Some probably are wondering, what does that mean for Hart potentially returning to the NHL? We do not know yet. But remember, the Flyers did not issue Hart a qualifying offer last year. He is an unrestricted free agent.

That is really all I got on this one. Again, we just do not know yet. As Charlie mentioned, this is unchartered territory. The NHL’s statement is here.

The Phillies berate Rob Manfred: In yesterday’s newsletter, I said the following: Rob Manfred, maybe not so bad? Good thing I did not say that to any of the Phillies. I would have been punched in the face.

Manfred meets with every team during the season, and this year’s meeting with the Phillies was “especially heated.” Nick Castellanos, likely before he was cutting a rug during the post-game Nelly concert, talked to Hannah Keyser of The Bandwagon about that meeting.

One thing I have not written about much is that the MLB collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026. So, 1.5 more seasons until they gotta do something about it. And it sounds like in this meeting, Manfred was dancing around the idea of a salary cap in a clubhouse full of dudes who want nothing to do with a salary cap.

The money line from Casty, via Keyser:

Progress for Andy P: Six innings pitched, and just one hit in Andrew Painter’s latest Triple-A start. Unfortunately, that hit was a home run by Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who was on a rehab assignment. Painter threw a bunch of ground balls, four strikeouts and three walks.

I have seen enough, call him up.

Kidding, but this represents progress for Painter. Baby steps, at least. This season has obviously not been a smooth ride for him. If it had been, he would be pitching tonight in the Bronx. But I have not given up all hope of Painter providing the Phils with something down the stretch. Hear me out: David Price, 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.

Good luck to our guy Shake Milton in Europe. The people of Belgrade have no idea the level of Bucket that they just got.

The weekend schedule, with the Phils taking on the Yanks…

Go Phils. Your tentative Friday schedule at ​PHLY​:

And oh, the trivia answers:

Have a great weekend. Let’s make it a good one today.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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