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Training Camp

Training Camp Buzz: Eagles in 'no rush' to name Jalen Hurts QB1

The 2021 regular season is just around the corner, and NFL Network has you covered with wall-to-wall training camp coverage each day starting at 10 a.m. ET. Follow along here for some of the best sights, sounds and moments from "Inside Training Camp Live" and around the NFL.

  • Jalen Hurts is the presumptive starting quarterback for the Eagles. It's just not his official title. That might continue to be the case for a few weeks. Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Thursday that "there's no rush" in naming Hurts the starter ahead of Joe Flacco. "We're just not there yet," Sirianni said. The noncommittal answer didn't help dispel a CBS report that trade talks have intensified between Philly and the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson. Sirianni neither confirmed nor denied the validity of that development when asked about it. "I'm not going to talk about the hypotheticals with rumors," he said. "All I can tell you is that every decision that we make here is a group effort. How and his staff and myself, we're working together to get the best 53 out on the field every Sunday."
  • Logan Thomas has been a tight end for more than four years now. After entering the league as a quarterback, he's built himself into a full-time starter at arguably the second-toughest position on offense. And he's pretty good. Thomas led Washington in touchdowns last year and was second in receiving yards. Teammate Cole Holcomb asserted Thomas isn't done improving. "Logan is going to be a problem this year," the linebacker said, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. "He could be a top-five tight end in this league."
  • Whatever the circumstances, Patriots coach Bill Belichick will look to make the most of it. Thursday brought rain to the New England area. Before his team took the field, the eight-time Super Bowl winner explained why inclement weather wouldn't keep practice from being held outside. "Well, whatever it is, it is. I can't control that," Belichick said. "Looks like the field will be wet. If it rains, it rains. If it doesn't, it doesn't. If it's hot, it's hot. If it's not, then that's what it is. Nothing's changed. It's just good fundamentals, good ball security, being aware of the conditions that we're in can be significant, a little more focus on looking the ball in and so forth. Ultimately the game is played against a competitor, so we're not out there playing the weather. The offense is competing against the defense, and the defense is competing against the offense."
  • Aaron Rodgers will turn 38 years old during the regular season. His arm remains forever young.
  • Jimmy Graham knows elite quarterbacks. He spent the first decade of his career catching passes from Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and Rodgers. At some point in 2021, he could be on the receiving end of Justin Fields' passes. After about a week of training camp, the former All-Pro tight end said the rookie reminds him of one of those vaunted signal-callers. "Man, I love the kid," Graham said. "He sits beside me in the locker room and, man, he wants to be good. He wants to be great. He puts in the work. The guy can really throw the ball. That's been impressive to see his arm strength. At some point I've got to get him matched up with a guy up there in Seattle. Especially, you know, the ability to make plays while you're running, I think he's going to have -- it's been impressive to see him so young, so focused. And I can tell it definitely reminds me a lot of Russell Wilson." As if Bears fans needed any more reason to be excited about their future QB.
  • The New York Giants, as you might have heard, had a fight break out among their players Tuesday, the team's first day in full pads. Where some might have seen a lack of discipline, NFL Network's Michael Irvin saw determination from Joe Judge's team. "Everybody's talking about, oh, the discipline. While I'm sitting at home saying, oh no, that's not great for anyone else in the NFC East," Irvin beamed. "Do you understand what I'm saying? We are in a pinky-soft NFL right now where guys don't even want to practice. And when you put on the pads it usually takes a week (of) walk-through before anybody starts talking about doing anything seriously. And the Giants on their first day of pads are out here competing so that they get in a brawl. Are you joking? That is incredible. I guarantee you, I guarantee you, oh yeah, Joe Judge did all those things: 'We can't be doing this. This hurt our team. We can't be making these kinds of mistakes.' When they got into that coaching locker room, they were like, 'yeah, dog, we got them where we want them. They're fighting on the first day.' They were high-fiving each other. They were saying, 'now they get it. They get it.' Because if you compete at practice, what I call the battleground, you're going to have so much fun and win on what I call the playground on game day. That was incredible. I loved the Giants fighting on the first day, and everybody saw it incorrectly. You got to see this the right way."
  • In their short time together, Tom Brady and Antonio Brown have always demonstrated great chemistry. The only question from the Buccaneers' "play of the day" is whether it was indeed a catch.

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