FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Eagles second of two joint practices against the New England Patriots featured some skirmishes, standout plays, and statement drives.

Here’s a full accounting of the day from me and my colleague Bo Wulf:

An encouraging finish

Although it was far from a perfect day for the offense, the group gave itself something good to watch on the trip back down to the Jefferson Health Complex.

The final series of practice for the starters came during a red-zone, situational scrimmage with everyone watching and couldn’t have gone much better for the offense. Jalen Hurts found Dallas Goedert to start the drive, then hit Dontayvion Wicks on an out route the next play.

To cap off the drive, Hurts threw a great ball to Hollywood Brown in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, and even hit Darius Cooper in roughly the same spot on a two-point conversion for good measure.

This was the best the Eagles offense looked all day, but you could argue that’s when it mattered most. One day after failing to get into field-goal range in a similar drill starting in enemy territory, the Eagles offense flashed what it can look like when things fall into place.

A.J. vs. Quinyon, Round 2

From my colleague Bo Wulf:, who watched the offense:

There’s no doubt that A.J. Brown got the better of Quinyon Mitchell during the red-zone one-on-ones and two-on-twos that began the joint portion of Thursday’s practice. He scored a short touchdown on Mitchell on the first rep of the day and then scored two more times against Mitchell in two-on-twos (though perhaps one of those should have been an offensive pass interference penalty). But … don’t waste your time worrying about Mitchell. 

During those sessions, Kelee Ringo had a notably difficult day again. Vic Fangio said Wednesday he sensed Ringo was getting ready to come on over the next few days, but that’s not quite how things played out over the two practices in New England. We’ll see how Ringo fares during the game Saturday evening. 

Demario Douglas again got the better of Cooper DeJean, while Mac McWilliams fared well with a nice PBU against Efton Chism. 

A sluggish start

Just like Wednesday, the competitive part of practice began with wide receiver/defensive back one-on-ones, and the ball was on the ground more than you’d like to see for the Eagles offense even then.

Hurts had incompletions to Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Eli Stowers, although Wicks had another standout moment working against Carlton Davis on his second rep, showcasing a nasty release on vertical route where he feigned inside to send Davis out of my camera frame:

From there, the team sessions were incredibly tough sledding for the Eagles offense. As my colleague Bo Wulf pointed out in our observations Wednesday, any inconsistencies in the pass game during the first practice were buoyed by the fact that Saquon Barkley and Will Shipley were picking up consistent chunk gains on the ground.

On Thursday, the pass-game inconsistencies persisted but without a run game to rely on. Hurts threw two interceptions, one off Hollywood Brown’s hands and into the arms of Patriots safety Marcus Jones in an early team session and another on a poorly placed ball to Wicks on a speed out. The latter came in a red-zone period, with Jones once again getting the better of Hurts by undercutting the route and making the catch along the sideline in the front corner of the end zone.

Hurts did find Dallas Goedert for a touchdown pass during the red-zone period after the tight end got by a Patriots defensive back with a stick-and-nod route in the middle of the end zone. He also hit Wicks for a touchdown in the middle of the field from about 10 yards out a series later.

The run game was much more stagnant than the day prior as well, something Jordan Mailata attributed to the chippy nature of the practice between the two groups.

“We were ineffective today because we decided to put the boxing gloves on today,” Mailata said. “It killed the momentum.”

“The run game had a better flow yesterday, we had fewer fights,” Mailata added. “The fighting, we’ve got to cut that out because it killed momentum. And then both sides are now amped up and we’re not thinking about our assignment, we’re thinking about roughing the next guy. Which is great, but not effective in our scheme and concept of things.”

There were at least three instances where big scrums had to be separated between the Eagles offense and Patriots defense. Mailata himself took exception to New England linebacker K.J. Britt taking Barkley to the ground early in team drills, and Lane Johnson took significant exception to a Patriots defender catching Barkley’s facemask a few plays later, starting the first skirmish.

Wicks was as the center of the next fracas, seemingly taking issue with something Marcus Jones did late in a play. The final came a few plays later but was broken up as quickly as it started.

“Honestly, I’m not a big fan of joint practices,” Barkley said. “More times than not, nothing good comes out of it. When you have the work, it’s good, but then you’ve got the pushing and shoving. Someone says this about you and you’re like, ‘I’m not this, but you’re that.’ It’s immature when we get to that level.”

“I gotta do a better job, too, cause I’m a little bit of a troublemaker sometimes,” Barkley added. “But I was good this morning.”

Hunt turns heads

From my colleague Bo Wulf:, who watched the offense:

Throughout the first two full team periods, the pattern when the starters were on the field was consistent. When Drake Maye threw the ball, the Patriots moved the ball. When the Patriots ran the ball, the Eagles defensive line dominated. I counted one semi-successful run, which led to some light pushing and shoving when Nolan Smith took exception to Rhamondre Stevenson lowering his shoulder on Cooper DeJean. On one rep, Jalyx Hunt simply grabbed the ball from Stevenson’s grasp in the backfield for an instant turnover. 

Talking with Patriots reporters after practice, their No. 1 takeaway was that Hunt looks like a superstar. 

As for Brown, he earned a weak pass interference flag on Mitchell deep down the left sideline, caught a pass on a slant in front of Riq Woolen and then scored a touchdown on Mitchell, which led to a demonstrative celebration with the fans in attendance. Mitchell also allowed a touchdown by Mack Hollins on a play-action pass that drug Hollins all the way across the end zone. 

Things began to turn for the Eagles’ pass defense in the second half of practice. First, Woolen intercepted Maye on an out route to Brown from inside the 5-yard-line. He then broke loose for what would have been a 98-yard interception return, punctuated by some faux snow angels in the opposite end zone. 

Zack Baun also had a pair of pass breakups. 

Rookie report

Eli Stowers was in my notebook several times Thursday for both good and bad reasons.

Let’s start with the good … Stowers caught a touchdown pass working the flat with the second-team offense during a red-zone period, although Andy Dalton may have been sacked in a live scenario. The second-round rookie tight end was also one of the last players out on the field after practice each of the last two days, going through blocking drills before getting some work on the JUGS machine. On Thursday, him and Makai Lemon were the final two players on the field.

Now the bad … Stowers’ one-on-one reps were underwhelming given the context. He was unable to gain much separation against Kevin Byard while running a sail route which is somewhat understandable given the matchup against a veteran defensive back. His next time up came against backup safety Mike Brown, who blanketed Stowers on an in-breaker with Andy Dalton as the quarterback.

At the end of the period, though, Stowers watched a pass from Hurts zip right through his hands when working against undrafted rookie safety Peter Manuma.

Final word

From my colleague Bo Wulf:, who watched the offense:

In the final move-the-ball period, the Patriots started from the Eagles’ 25-yard-line. On the first play, Maye threw a slant to Brown in tight coverage from Woolen. It looked like Woolen got his hand on the ball, Brown reached back to attempt a one-handed scoop of the ball only for it to fly high into the air. Hunt, ever the opportunist, then dove for a slick one-handed interception to end the drive. Insane stuff. 

The Patriots were gifted another chance later and found their way to the end zone this time. Douglas caught a pass over the middle of the field to begin things before an incompletion intended for Doubs with Woolen in coverage. Mitchell then forced an incompletion intended for Hollins. 

Then Maye found Doubs wide open in the end zone on a short post for a touchdown, the result of some friendly fire by the secondary. Two Eagles ran into each other and it looked like Woolen was expecting safety help from Marcus Epps, who went instead with a tight end to the corner. The two-point conversion was then incomplete as Woolen stayed with Brown on play-action and kept Brown out of bounds before the receiver was able to catch the ball. 

Down the depth chart notes

* New guy, cornerback Isaiah Bolden, has flashed a bit. He made a series of pass breakups Thursday before eventually surrendering a touchdown to Kyle Williams. Would be fun if he earns himself a spot on the practice squad. 

* With Jalen Carter not practicing, Ty Robinson worked as the third defensive tackle in the starting base defense (Byron Young is also out). Zion Wilson also took reps as the first-team nose tackle to spell Davis. 

* For portions of practice, A.J. Epenesa was wearing out Dametrious Crownover. 

* Smael Mondon made a pair of nice plays, sniffing out a wide run and then knifing through the offensive line as a blitzer to bat away a Tommy DeVito pass. Gabe Hall also looked the part, batting down a pass of his own and feasting on the Patriots’ backup right guard.