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The Eagles offseason program is underway with the youngest Eagles heading to NovaCare Complex for rookie minicamp. Friday was the first of three days for the incoming players — and for guys attending as a try-out — and head coach Nick Sirianni was excited to get back on the field with guys. He spoke to reporters afterward about how he approaches this part of the offseason, and what he's seen so far. It was only the first day of camp, but Sirianni said that he saw glimpses of what made these rookies stand out on tape before being drafted. He didn't want to name names, emphasizing that it's just Day 1, but he's excited to get back and watch the film. The head coach did say that he got to see Quinyon Mitchell go through drills, and his burst and quickness was on display. "Made a couple of nice plays on the ball today out there with some 7-on-7 speed. And so just excited to see [Quinyon Mitchell] out there on the field and competing. Again, limited reps today, but you did see the quickness and the burst and the acceleration." Here's what else the head coach had to say: Sirianni said that their process is always evolving, and they evaluate things that worked and things to change every year. One year, he wanted to be aggressive with 7-on-7s, but a few guys got hurt, so the next year they pulled back a little. The head coach also explained that the rookies have spent the last few months training for pre-draft testing, and flying around to different interviews, so they aren't starting in football shape and need to be eased into things. "I think that's the thing we always have to guard yourself against a little bit is, 'Man, I want to do more. I want to see these guys a little bit more. Get this guy a touch, get that guy a touch.' It's making sure you're not doing too much early on while still getting an ability to get an evaluation on the guys that are here that you drafted, that are undrafted free agents, that are try-out guys, stuff like that." Sirianni acknowledged how great it is for some of these incoming rookies to have such experienced guys to learn from — Jalyx Hunt being around Brandon Graham, and Jordan Keegan around Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and Landon Dickerson. The head coach pointed out how cool it was for A.J. Brown and Jordan Mailata to show up for rookie camp, to start developing relationships with the players and give coaching points. "What was really cool in my mind was that A.J.[Brown] was out there today and that Jordan Mailata was out there today. A.J. giving out coaching points. Jordan Mailata, I got in here this morning, he was in here for the team meeting and went to the O-line meeting this morning, just to be there with those guys. That's special. That's a connection that these guys are willing to put that time in to be around our rookies, see what they're made of, and just be there for them. So I'm excited for these guys to all get immersed into the culture. It was cool to see our veterans do that today." Sirianni explained that his message to the guys is to just immerse themselves in the culture, but they try and keep things from getting overwhelming, especially for the guys attending as a try-out. "Yeah, it's a lot. Rookie minicamp, though, it's new words for all these guys. It's new language, all these different things. But, remember, rookie minicamp, we're not throwing them the whole book. We're really pulling back, because in my mind it's really more important to see what they can do as opposed to what they know because they're not going to know much right now. It's too fresh. It's too new. Kellen [Moore] kept the inventory down. Vic [Fangio] kept the inventory down. Coach [Michael] Clay kept the inventory down so we can go out there and see their movements, watch them. Especially the try-out guys. You don't want to flood them. You want to see what they can do. They're here for a try-out. It wouldn't be fair to them to make them learn everything and then they can't play fast." There has been some suggestion that Becton could play at guard but Sirianni said the Eagles will be starting him out at tackle. We obviously have a lot of time to figure out who the top five guys are. He's played tackle, obviously, as everybody knows. He'll start there and then we'll see what happens.
On his approach to rookie camp
On having veteran players around
On his message to the rookies
On the Mekhi Becton signing