Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
The second and final joint practice between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots concluded on Thursday. After what was an energetic first day, the practice on Thursday escalated to a more chippy and physical 1 hour and 45 minute session.
Let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from the second practice between the two teams:
The Eagles did get good news from rookie Makai Lemon, who participated with his helmet and pads on, running routes and catching passes during individual drills for the first time in that capacity in over two weeks.
Lemon and DeVonta Smith were listed as limted participants. Here's a look at the full injury report:
With one reported scrum on Wednesday, there was notably more physciality displayed on Day 2 of the joint practice.
Lane Johnson sticking up for his running back in Saquon Barkley is certainly something to expect from the veteran lineman. He had high praise for Barkley and believes he is in store for a big season.
"We'll see the Saquon from two years ago," Johnson told media on Wednesday.
The Eagles would certainly love that to happen again, even if it's not the 2,000-yard iteration of Barkley. But a healthy offensive line and a new scheme that caters to Barkley's running style certainly positions the running back to have a successful season.
Like Wednesday, Jalen Hurts made some plays and then had others he would like back. Overall, he found the endzone three times connecting with his favorite target so far this summer in Dontayvion Wicks while also finding tight end Dallas Goedert for a touchdown.
He also threaded the needle finding Hollywood Brown for a score to capitalize after a Jalyx Hunt interception gave the offense the ball back during the scrimmage.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the three touchdowns are that they were all on throws over the middle of the field.
Arguably the biggest storyline heading into this week was A.J. Brown facing his former team after a tumultuous final two years with the Eagles and after showing he still hasn’t lost a step, Brown doubled down on Thursday.
Early in the session, Brown got the better of the All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell.
As expected, Brown still has the physicality and skillset to be a top wideout in the league and he showed it on Thursday.
After struggling in Wednesday's session and giving up a couple of touchdowns on good coverage on Thursday, the outside cornerback rebounded nicely on Day 2 making a handful of nice plays, including an interception that was headed towards A.J. Brown.
Woolen dazzled during the spring but had taken a couple of steps back in terms of his play this summer. Thursday's performance though shows why the Eagles signed the speedy and athletic cornerback to a one-year deal to play opposite of Mitchell this season. The playmaking ability is there, it just needs to be at a more consistent basis throughout the season.
As a whole, the offense reportedly struggled most of the day in Foxborough but did end the day on a high note with a redzone score.
There will certainly be growing pains as training camp and the preseason progresses. Those struggles could potentially leak into the start of the season as well with Sean Mannion and the offense continue to work on incorporating the new offensive scheme.
But for the time being, this is more of a process oriented stage for the offense.
"This whole portion of camp is really about grinding, focus on the little details and getting better one day at a time," Barkely said.
"We can't get too caught up in the results, be process driven and let it take care of the rest."
For those who actually put stock into "winning" a practice, the Eagles had the slight edge on Day 2 bouncing back after "losing" yesterday's session.
The two teams will square off on Saturday at Gillette Stadium with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.
