Eagles-Patriots joint practice observations: A.J. Brown shows out, running game finds momentum, Riq Woolen and Jake Elliott struggle

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Eagles held the 13th practice of their 2026 training camp — and the first of two joint practices with the Patriots — on Wednesday at the New Balance Athletics Center. Here were my observations from Day 13 (and links to Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12):

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The Eagles arrived in New England relatively healthy, especially their first units, and managed to exit the first day of scrimmages without any significant injuries. Receiver Dontayvion Wicks got dinged at one point, but he returned. Tackle Fred Johnson apparently got hurt and didn’t finish. But the Eagles did accomplish one of their goals on Day 1 and that was to avoid injury.

They were missing about a dozen players. Defensive tackle Byron Young (shoulder) was the latest to be sidelined. The following were also out: cornerback Jonathan Jones (shoulder), tight end Grant Calcaterra (back), wide receiver Johnny Wilson (knee), cornerback Jakorian Bennett (knee), tackle John Ojukwu (pectoral), running back Dameon Pierce (hamstring), and cornerback Shaun Wade (eye/shoulder).

DeVonta Smith (hamstring) was limited for a second straight practice. He didn’t participate in 11-on-11s or seven-on-sevens. The Eagles have been careful with their No. 1 receiver. Cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields (heel) and outside linebacker Keyshawn James-Newby (ankle) were also limited. The Eagles listed receiver Makai Lemon (hamstring) as limited, but he wasn’t in full uniform and did almost nothing.

While the Eagles seem to have their top receiver in bubble wrap, new Patriots receiver A.J. Brown was full-go in facing his old team. Brown had a strong performance and, quite frankly, looked rejuvenated. The first competitive play of the session pitted the receiver vs. cornerback Quinyon Mitchell in one-on-ones. Brown ran a go route and had a half step of separation, but he couldn’t reel in Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s pass. He joked afterward that Mitchell held him and it sure looked like Mitchell grabbed the back of Brown’s pants just before the ball arrived.

Nevertheless, Brown’s burst off the line was impressive. Maybe he hasn’t lost a step. I spent most of the day focused on the Eagles offense, but every time I looked over to the far field, Brown seemed to be hauling in another pass. He beat cornerback Riq Woolen on a deep crosser in team drills and later got behind him on a fade into the end zone. Social media replays seemed to indicate that Brown didn’t get both feet in. Still, he gave the Eagles secondary fits — as did the Pats pass offense apparently on many occasions — and he caught all three targets in seven-on-sevens.

Afterward, Brown mostly dodged questions about last season and why he wanted out of Philly. It’s understandable why he didn’t want to look back, but he avoided media obligations for the last month of the season. “It’s love. I won a Super Bowl ring with them. … I love Philly and I will always love Philly,” Brown said. When I asked him if he had spoken to Jalen Hurts since the trade, he said no. Would he catch up with his so-called friend later this week? “I’m sure if our paths run across,” Brown said.

There is still a lot of uncertainly about the Eagles’ pass offense without Brown and if Sean Mannion’s new system can scheme open receivers consistently enough. And those questions remain after an inconsistent day through the air from Hurts and Co. The bigger issue may be how the Eagles handle blitzes and simulated pressures. But the run game came out firing and really set the tone in the first two periods.

Saquon Barkley ran inside and out on his first two carries and picked up modest gains. But he reached the second level on a rush up the middle, followed by a nice pickup off right tackle, and turned the corner into space on an outside zone run. Later on, Mannion added a few new wrinkles, once motioning Barkley into the backfield for a Hurts handoff from the shotgun. Center Cam Jurgens exploded into the second level and sealed off a lane for the running back.

It wasn’t just Barkley on the ground, and it wasn’t just the first unit that saw daylight. Tank Bigsby, who returned after missing one day with a toe injury, got north to south on back-to-back rushes. Will Shipley found a seam on a stretch run with the backups and then chugged through a huge hole opened by Jurgens and right guard Tyler Steen with the starters.

The Patriots’ run defense struggled last week in joint practices with the Colts according to some New England-area reporters I spoke to. On this day, New England was also without a few key pieces in defensive tackle Christian Barmore and linebacker Christian Elliss, who were limited to passing downs. But the Shanahan-style scheme needs early down run production to thrive and the Eagles had some positive signs of it in this outing.

The early ground success set up some play-action throws downfield, in particular a bomb from Hurts to receiver Elijah Moore on a corner route. The pass arrived just before the post safety arrived and Moore made the grab just short of the goal line. Earlier, Hurts hooked up with receiver Hollywood Brown on a naked bootleg off outside zone action — one of the core base plays of the Shanahan offense.

He went back to Brown on a short hitch. There was also a nicely set up screen to Barkley in which left guard Landon Dickerson kicked out to seal the perimeter and sprung the running back. And then Hurts found Shipley wide-open on a mesh-wheel concept. The quarterback was “hot” vs. an “A” gap blitz, but he got the ball off for a big play down the sideline.

Hurts tossed an interception in the team period, but his pass clanked off Wicks’ hands to Patriots and former Eagles safety Kevin Byard. In seven-on-sevens, a throw intended for receiver Britain Covey went directly to a Patriots defensive back who went the other way for a pick-six. There had to be a miscommunication there. Hurts had another turnover, though, when he sailed a middle-field pass on a crossing route.

The Eagles’ starting offensive line all scored wins in their one-on-ones by my count. Right tackle Lane Johnson stoned Patriots edge Elijah Ponder. Steen anchored well against a Barmore bull rush. Jurgens was all over defensive tackle Cory Durden. Dickerson held on vs. former Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams. Patriots edge Dre’Mont Jones was able to get left tackle Jordan Mailata on his heels, but not enough to affect the pocket.

Key reserves stood out, as well. Tackle Markel Bell blocked edge Jesse Luketa to the ground. Guard Drew Kendall used a strong initial punch to ward off defensive tackle Joshua Farmer. Center Willie Lampkin briefly lost his balance against nose tackle Isaiah Iton. But Lampkin rebounded and brawled to victories vs. defensive tackle Casey Rogers and Eric Gregory. Bell and Kendall also had later wins.

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Tackles Myles Hinton and Cam Williams got overwhelmed, especially the former. The second-year projects still seem far off from being ready. Hinton got completely dusted by edge Bradyn Swinson. He did better against Quintayvious Hutchins. But he got beat by a Ponder outside speed rush and was run over by Gabe Jacas and nearly knocked over simulated quarterback Connor Barwin. Williams did fine vs. end Amari Gainer, but he held Jacas and got knocked to the turf by Swinson.

The Eagles’ defensive front had a solid showing in one-on-ones. Edges Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr. were standouts. Tackles Morgan Moses and Marcus Bryant each lost to Smith — the first on outside speed. Hunt was able to get around tackle Dametrious Crownover, but Patriots tackle Will Campbell was able to lock him down. A.J. Epenesa and Arnold Ebiketie also had strong turns with their edge rushes.

Moro Ojomo had the most success of the Eagles’ interior starters. He beat guard Alijah Vera-Tucker in both of their matchups. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis were kept in check by guard Mike Onwenu and center Jared Wilson. Ty Robinson continued his recent strong performances with two decisive wins over guard Mehki Butler. “He came to life,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said of Robinson, who had a sack in the preseason opener. “He’s been on life support since he’s been here.”

Colleague Jeff Neiburg reported that the Eagles’ defense kept the Patriots mostly contained on the ground in team drills. Hunt and linebacker Jihaad Campbell, who blitzed up the “A” gap, also recorded sacks. But this wasn’t the pure defensive domination we saw from Fangio’s unit vs. an overmatched Patriots offense two years ago here.

Woolen was having a decent camp, but with Smith sidelined for most of the summer, he hasn’t faced anyone in Brown’s class. He also struggled against some of the other Patriots receivers. When the full teams came together for the final two-minute period, Woolen got beat in a zone by Romeo Doubs, who dropped a perfect strike. A few plays later, Pats receiver Mack Hollins caught a slant inside the cornerback.

Woolen is known for his man-press cover skills. But he likely won’t be asked to do it as much in the Eagles defense. He has to learn to master Fangio’s match-zone coverages. He did get up on the line on third down during two-minute, but he jumped offside and the penalty resulted in a first down. After tight end Hunter Henry caught a pass ahead of cornerback Cooper DeJean, the Patriots rushed to kick a 45-ish yard field goal.

The Eagles’ run game fortunes turned during the third period. The Patriots adjusted to their stretch plays and Barkley and Shipley were met in the backfield. Hurts did gobble up some yards on a zone read keep with tight end E.J. Jenkins as his lead blocker. But Bigsby was run down from the backside on a carry. Someone then committed a false start. And Hurts was pressured into a throwaway on third down.

In two-minute, Hurts’ first pass was thrown slightly behind tight end Dallas Goedert. Byard sacked Hurts after blitzing from the slot. Barmore was somehow unblocked up the middle for another sack. Hurts made up some ground with a quick toss to receiver Darius Cooper. But there was another Eagles false start.

Hurts was then forced to take throws underneath to Wicks with the Patriots in prevent defense. And the Eagles never crossed midfield before time ran out.

Andy Dalton was first up with the twos at quarterback, but Tanner McKee got a number of snaps. They each looked sharper than they did in Baltimore. Dalton had to throw the ball beyond tight end Eli Stowers when he was double-covered deep. McKee hit an open Danny Gray on an intermediate route, but the receiver dropped the ball. Jacas had a sack after he toasted Williams from the edge.

McKee bounced back, though, and found Shipley for a long gain on a busted coverage. Receiver Samori Toure found a soft spot in the zone and McKee eventually got the ball there.

Dalton had one of his best periods and completed all five of his attempts late in the workout. He hit receiver Quez Watkins on a quick out. Covey made a contested catch. Dalton found Toure alone downfield. He ripped a seed to Gray over the middle. And with the pocket collapsing on him, Dalton hooked up with Toure near the sideline.

Rookie quarterback Cole Payton got one set. He threw behind Covey and tossed another interception that went to Patriots safety John Saunders Jr. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni rushed over to Payton and seemingly had unkind words to say. … Kicker Jake Elliott had missed only one kick that I counted during the first two weeks of camp. But he struggled away from home and missed 2 of 5 field goal attempts wide right. … Day 2 of joint practices resume Thursday. The Eagles will have a closed walkthrough on Friday ahead of Saturday night’s preseason game at the Patriots.

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