Everything you need to know as Eagles begin 2023 training camp

There’s always excitement around the beginning of training camp but there’s even more entering the 2023 season.

The Eagles were in the Super Bowl last year and there are high hopes again for the upcoming season. Can they get back to the big game?

All summer, we’ll be covering training camp with daily reports, frequent Eagle Eye podcasts and on TV with Birds Huddle.

Here are a few links to get you ready for training camp:

• 10 offensive players to watch

• 10 defensive players to watch

• Pre-camp 53-man roster projection

• Candidates to be Training Camp Darling

• Veterans on the roster bubble

Here’s everything else you need to know about this year’s training camp:

Key dates

July 25 — Eagles report to training camp
July 26 — First training camp practice
Aug. 6 — Public practice at Lincoln Financial Field, 7 p.m.
Aug. 12 — Preseason game No. 1 at Ravens, 7 p.m.
Aug. 14-15 — Joint practices with the Browns
Aug. 17 — Preseason game No. 2 vs. Browns, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 22 — Joint practice with the Colts
Aug. 24 — Preseason game No. 3 vs. Colts, 8 p.m.
Aug. 29 — Roster must be cut from 90 to 53 by 4 p.m.
Sept. 10 — Regular season opener at Patriots, 4:25 p.m.

Attending training camp

This is the time of year a lot of us really miss Lehigh University and the days when every single training camp practice was open to fans.

Those days are gone and the Eagles have just one practice this summer open to the public. This year, that practice happens at 7 p.m. on Aug. 6 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Tickets for this practice are on sale at Ticketmaster.com and are $10, with a VIP option for $35 that will give fans a “special on-field experience” before practice begins. All proceeds will benefit the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Seating for the public practice will be first-come, first-serve. Anyone over the age of 2 will need a ticket. Parking will be free.

Key storylines

1. Off the Super Bowl loss

It’s really hard to get back to the Super Bowl. Nick Sirianni knows that. And he knows you can’t skip any steps. In the last 20 seasons, just one team has returned to the Super Bowl the year after losing it. That was the 2018 Patriots, who won the championship a year after losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII.

The Eagles know they have a really good roster and a really good chance to be successful in 2023 but they can’t afford to get ahead of themselves. They got to the final game of the year in 2022 by climbing step by step. That’s what it’ll take to repeat that success this year.

2. The battles

• Right guard: Isaac Seumalo left in free agency, leaving one open position on the Eagles’ top-ranked offensive line. The top candidate to replace him is second-year OL Cam Jurgens, who basically had a redshirt rookie season. The eventually replacement to Jason Kelce at center is making the transition to guard for 2023 but he’ll have to win the job over rookie third-round pick Tyler Steen and maybe even veteran Jack Driscoll.

• Running back: With Miles Sanders gone, the Eagles will likely use a RB-by-committee system in 2023. D’Andre Swift, Kenny Gainwell and Rashaad Penny will all be fighting for roles and playing time this summer.

• WR3: Quez Watkins had a disappointing 2022 season but he returns as the favorite to be the Eagles’ third wideout behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. But the Eagles this offseason added veteran Olamide Zaccheus, who has a chance to push Watkins for that gig.

• QB3: The Eagles’ third-string quarterback from 2022, Ian Book, returns this summer but will have to try to hold off rookie sixth-round pick Tanner McKee. The Eagles are likely to keep three quarterbacks on the roster. If McKee has a good summer, it’ll probably be him.

• Safety: Both C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps left in free agency so the Eagles will have two new starting safeties in 2023. The top returning player is 2022 UDFA Reed Blankenship, who played well when called upon as a rookie. The Eagles also added former first-round pick Terrell Edmunds in free agency and then drafted Sydney Brown out of Illinois in the third round. Those three are fighting for starting spots.

• Cornerback: The top cornerback positions are set in stone. The Eagles bring back Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox. The intrigue comes after that. The Eagles drafted Kelee Ringo in the fourth round but also have Zech McPhearson, Greedy Williams, Josh Jobe and others fighting for limited roster spots.

• Linebacker: Like safety, both starters from the 2022 season have moved on. Nakobe Dean is already penciled in as the MIKE linebacker and defensive green dot but who will play next to him? Will it be veteran free agent signing Nicholas Morrow? Or will the Eagles open up that competition to Christian Elliss and perhaps even add more talent?

• Punter: The battle for which you’ve all been waiting. The Eagles finally brought in some competition for Arryn Siposs when they signed UDFA Ty Zentner from Kansas State. We’ll see this summer if Zentner has what it takes to wrestle that job away from Siposs after two seasons as the Eagles’ punter.

3. Take it easy

The days of really tough training camp practices are long gone. These days, the whole goal is for the Eagles to stay as healthy as possible during the summer and it’s hard to argue with the results. The Eagles had 22 of 22 starters healthy in Super Bowl LVII. While a lot of that is simply good injury luck, the Eagles have done everything in their power to keep their players healthy and fresh. That means shorter practices and days off, especially for veterans.

The Eagles will host two joint practices against the Browns and one against the Colts this summer. In recent seasons, the Eagles have put more stock into these joint practices than they have preseason games. After traveling for joint practices in Cleveland and Miami last year, it’ll be nice to have them both at home this time around.

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