Eagles camp: Jeff Stoutland receives lifetime achievement award, talks OL depth

New York Times

2 days ago

PHILADELPHIA — Jeff Stoutland gestured for his wife, Allison, to stand beside him. She's been a part of what's being celebrated, after all.
Stoutland has been coaching 43 years. Allison's been with him for 33 of them. Southern Connecticut to Cornell. Syracuse to Michigan State. Miami to Alabama. At last, Philadelphia. In the last 12 years, three offensive linemen coached by Stoutland were named All-Pros. Eight were named Pro Bowlers. Others graduated from what they still call 'Stoutland University' and established footholds in Philly or elsewhere. Some return. Matt Pryor, drafted by the Eagles in 2018, is back after spending four seasons with three different teams. He stayed in touch with Allison throughout. He calls her 'Mama Stout.'
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So there the Stoutlands stood as a reporter presented Jeff with the Paul 'Dr. Z' Zimmerman Award, given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL. Just moments before, Stoutland had been asked about his distinguished career and his place as a beloved figure in a sports-crazed city.
'I'm honored and I'm privileged and I feel unbelievably good,' Stoutland said. 'But at the end of the day, I really believe this: If you focus on what you're doing and the task at hand, and you really lock in and you're just blindfolded as to 'We have to get these things done,' and you just go about that and you don't get distracted by anything — usually good things happen.'
Stoutland, the lone holdover from the Chip Kelly era, has experienced the entirety of the Eagles' golden era. They've played in three Super Bowls, winning two. They've won five NFC East titles and reached the playoffs seven times. Season after season, general manager Howie Roseman sends more students to his prized tutor. Other teams covet their offensive line's consistency. Four starters return this season, and, still, Roseman stocked depth by drafting three linemen in the fifth and sixth rounds.
'We've had a lot of great players,' Stoutland said. 'I think the relationships that we've had, both of us with the players, is probably the most fun. Just to watch these guys grow from young men to mature, develop, and then watching the great things happen to them is my most rewarding thing.'
Jason Kelce stood beside Stoutland during Tuesday's practice. No one else embodies Stoutland's influence better. A sixth-round pick turned six-time All-Pro, Kelce is a future Hall of Famer relishing the duality of his new broadcast career and being a post-retirement presence in the NovaCare Complex. Kelce hollered encouragements as Stoutland doled out instructions. Tuesday was the first day of pads in training camp, a fitting time for Stoutland to discuss the development of his newest class of linemen.
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• Tyler Steen: The 2023 third-round pick has spent the entirety of training camp at first-team right guard. Vacated by Mekhi Becton (who beat out Steen last year), right guard is the entire offense's only starting vacancy entering 2025. How ready is Steen? 'Well, he played a lot of football last year,' Stoutland said. 'You gotta realize he played like 450 something plays. So I think that helps a player develop confidence and he's acting that way right now. But there's definitely things … we've identified some things to work on. Today was a big day for Tyler Steen, in my opinion. He did some things that I've been talking to him about and he executed them and he did a good job.' Asked to give an example, Stoutland said: 'No.'
• Kenyon Green: The player compensation within the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade, Green started practicing July 26 after missing the first two practices with a knee injury. Green, the No. 15 overall pick by the Houston Texans in 2022, is getting a fresh start in Philly after an underwhelming three seasons in Houston. He debuted as the third-team right guard in Monday's practice. He played with that rotation again Tuesday. During individual drills, Greg Austin, Philly's assistant offensive line coach, gave Green personal instruction on his footwork after appearing off-balance while engaging a dummy in a double-team with another blocker. Stoutland, who often cross-trains his linemen, says the plan is to keep Green at right guard 'for a little bit right now.'
'Guys get banged up and stuff and then he loses some reps,' Stoutland continued. 'And so we're trying to get more and more reps for him and soak him at that position and get him comfortable. We have some things that (we say to each group): 'You need to work on your balance and body control. Your hands are lacking.' You know? … So yeah. So, we try to target each day or each week what we need to do to help a player so they can achieve that in that practice.'
• Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams: It was interesting that the Eagles spent pick No. 191 on Hinton, then No. 207 on Williams. Essentially, the front office enrolled two late-round offensive tackles in Stoutland University. The Eagles know they won't be likely to enjoy the luxury of having Lane Johnson under contract at the end of this decade. Having hit on Day 3 picks like Kelce and Jordan Mailata, the franchise is again making similar investments.
'Myles is really talented,' Stoutland said. 'I call them critical factors — he's got lots of them. The technique now that we're teaching and why we're teaching it, that's the thing that he has to break through and master. And he has to push through that wall. And once he, like when Jordan got it all down, it's like all of a sudden the light comes on and everything starts clicking. He's not there yet. He's in the process.
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'Cameron Williams, again, like Myles, when you find tackles that are very athletic and smooth, they can slide their feet in protection, they're long — they're very valuable in this league. They're hard to find. So developing those two players, for me, is very exciting because they could become anybody they want.'
• Trevor Keegan: The 2024 fifth-round pick was inactive for all but the regular-season finale during his rookie season. He played 33 snaps at left guard against the Dallas Cowboys. Backup guard is a crowded position in training camp. Brett Toth has taken the majority of snaps at left guard with the second rotation. Pryor began training camp as the second-team right guard, but he and Darian Kinnard (the second-team right tackle), have switched spots this week. Keegan has been taking snaps as the third-team center. Rookie Drew Kendall, the No. 168 pick, has been the second-team center. How Keegan performs at center could influence his standing on the 53-man roster.
When asked why Keegan was playing center, Stoutland said, 'Well, we always try to have four centers hanging around and you like three of them to be active in the game, whether they play another position. And Landon (Dickerson) was always (the backup). So we're trying to find someone else, and he's doing a really good job of it. I'm impressed with his advanced knowledge. He must have been paying attention and not just listening to the guard play.'
Eagles wide receiver Terrace Marshall appeared to injure his right leg after colliding with a teammate during an 11-on-11 drill. Marshall stayed on the ground for a moment after the play, hobbled to the sideline, then laid on his back while trainers checked on him. Marshall then walked off the field and into the NovaCare Complex. The Eagles will resume practice Thursday after holding a walk-through on Wednesday that is closed to media.
Starting linebacker Zack Baun missed Tuesday's practice with a back contusion, his first absence of training camp. Starting edge rusher Nolan Smith also missed his first practice of training camp due to a concussion. Rookie safety Drew Mukuba (shoulder) and wide receiver Danny Gray (finger) remain sidelined after colliding with each other while both diving for a pass near the end of Saturday's practice.
Mukuba's injury remains significant. He's in a position battle with Sydney Brown, who, again absorbed first-team reps in Tuesday's practice. Fangio had also begun deploying Mukuba in dime packages with Cooper DeJean. It was clear the Eagles anticipated the possibility of Mukuba holding a substantial role on the defense. His progression is now limited by his injury.
'He just has to pay attention to meetings to get mental reps,' Fangio said. 'But there's no replacing physical reps. You know, meetings and mental reps are good but the value of them compared to physical reps is night and day.'
Rookie linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. returned to practice Tuesday after missing Monday's practice due to an illness.
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'Not enough' snaps yet for Cooper DeJean at safety: Fangio is having difficulty evaluating DeJean at safety in base packages because the offensive unit hasn't been deploying personnel packages that require the defense to play base. That's not altogether surprising. The Eagles played 11 personnel the majority of the time in 2024 (59.4 percent), according to TruMedia.
New offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo is also in the early stages of installing his offense, which is expected to also mostly be fielded in 11 personnel. But considering the important implications of DeJean's secondary position, it would behoove coach Nick Sirianni and Patullo to assist Fangio in finding a solution for more base reps.
Of DeJean's progression at safety, Fangio said, 'I think it's going fine. We just haven't — to be honest, we haven't had enough snaps of (base) for him. Our offense is primarily playing 11 personnel out there against us. So we haven't had a ton of base snaps up to this point. (Would) like to see him get some more and get him tested. I don't know that he's ever truly been tested yet with a hard play.' Will Fangio coordinate more with Sirianni and Patullo? 'Yeah I mean we'd like to be able to. Right now we haven't be able to.'
Adoree' Jackson's opportunity: The cornerback battle between Kelee Ringo and Jackson is entering its second week with neither player gaining a substantially larger share of first-team reps. Jackson, 29, drew attention Monday when he leaped along the left sideline and broke up a downfield pass from Tanner McKee to Marshall. Jackson, a 2017 first-round pick, is entering his ninth NFL season. Fangio said, 'It's too early to say what his experience is or isn't right now.' In a comment that underlines the competition at hand, Fangio said, 'It's time to show who he is — or who he isn't.'
Will Jalen Hurts continue to run as frequently? Hurts has totaled 674 rushing attempts in five seasons with the Eagles, four within the run-oriented system of the Sirianni era. Patullo will be the sixth play caller to decide how frequently he'll leverage the two-time Pro Bowler's ability as a rusher in bootlegs, draws, zone-reads, RPOs and the Brotherly Shove. Hurts leads the NFL with 52 rushing touchdowns since 2021. His 55 career rushing touchdowns are the third-most by a quarterback in NFL history. Hurts turns 27 on Aug. 7. He's under contract through the 2028 season. Can he keep up this pace in the run game? 'It's not about maintaining the pace, it's about doing whatever it takes to win, and that's something that evolves from year to year,' Hurts said. 'So I'll continue to have that approach.'
Quote of the day: The Eagles moved practice up an hour to 9 a.m. due to heat concerns. It was also the first day of full pads. Fangio, a seven-time defensive coordinator known for his old-school tendencies, was asked about the weather, which had already climbed to 90 degrees. 'It's not hot out there today,' said Fangio, wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. 'That's a mindset.' It was the subsequent mindset of Eagles decision-makers to stop practice several times for water breaks.
(Top photo of Stoutland: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)