Eagles Notes: Pat Shurmur On Bradford’s Debut

Pat Shurmur spoke to the media this morning before practice about Sam Bradford, Nelson Agholor and others on the Eagles’ offense. Here are some highlights of what he said, including a note about who sat out at training camp today.

• Shurmur expressed little emotion about the Terrell Suggs hit on Bradford and even pointed out one benefit of when that happens. He also gave his evaluation of Bradford’s debut as an Eagle.

“Typically, when you hand the ball off you either set up and show pass or on most runs—whether you’re under center or in the shotgun—you typically will fake the naked [bootleg] to try to help control that edge defender,” Shurmur said. “In that situation there, when the edge rusher over-commits to the quarterback—as long as there’s a single safety in the middle—then there’s running room. In that specific play, Darren found the cutback and we got a five-yard gain so we move on.

“He missed a couple of throws and it was just more of them getting a little bit more work here in training. But in terms of his mechanics and the way he threw and the way he handled himself, we felt like he did a good job.”

• Shurmur discussed several offensive linemen, including how Andrew Gardner has played well but hasn’t cemented his spot at the starter. Shurmur also revealed that John Moffitt isn’t moving around the offensive line and that he’s sticking to right guard. Then he spoke about the value of Dennis Kelly’s versatility.

“Of late, he’s probably played more tackle than guard and he’s done a really good job,” Shurmur said. “He’s quietly had a very good training camp. If he can develop the ability to play multiple positions, that’s something you have to do if you’re going to be that sixth or seventh guy on game day. And I think he’s closer to being that guy if he’s not the starter.”

• Shurmur also explained why he’s been impressed with rookie receiver Nelson Agholor so far this summer.

“He’s really made great strides in this training camp,” Shurmur said. “He’s proven he can make a play, and that’s really critical for a receiver. We teach them to run these very specific routes and then we teach them that this is the way it should look like ideally. But at the end of the day, you get down field somehow and when the ball comes your way you gotta catch it and he’s displayed an ability to do that.”

• When Shurmur was asked whether Zach Ertz could play in the regular season opener, he said he didn’t know but he assumed so. Ertz didn’t practice today, while Josh Huff was again excused for personal reasons. Fletcher Cox returned and DeMeco Ryans was in pads, although he practiced with the injured players. Bryan Braman, Jerome Couplin and Marcus Smith also did not practice.