Eagles Rookies Arrive At Minicamp Ready To Learn

The week after being drafted number 9 overall by the Eagles was, for rookie DT Jalen Carter, pretty chill.

“I was just talking to everybody, meeting everybody, and getting to know the environment,” Carter told reporters on Friday. “It’s pretty nice.”

Carter, along with his six other teammates drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, nine more undrafted free agents, and a handful of others, reported to the NovaCare Complex for a mandatory rookie minicamp. The minicamp is one of the first opportunities newly-drafted players have to work with the team’s coaches on preparing for the season.

Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni said that the team started its first day of minicamp with going over the core values of connect, compete, accountability, football IQ, and fundamentals. Day two was into the football.

“Today was setting the tone of how we practice, the details of how we practice,” Sirianni recalled. “For everything that we do, we want to paint a picture of exactly what we want.”

For rookie OT Tyler Steen, he’s looking forward to the opportunity to learn.

“I really want to learn the offense and how we work up here,” Steen remarked. “I also want to get a chance to connect with my teammates and the other rookies in the room.”

Steen, being the latest member of “Stoutland University,” as the Eagles offensive line is colloquially dubbed in honor of Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland, described Stoutland as “a different dude.”

“He’s a great teacher. That’s what you can tell right away,” Steen added. “He’s really detailed, and you can tell he really cares about his job and helping people.”

On the defensive side of the ball, rookie LB Nolan Smith has already learned a lot from his coaches.

“From fixing my lines to simple pass rush things, learned a lot from [Linebackers Coach Jeremiah] ‘Wash’ [Washburn],” Smith said.

He also really likes new Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai.

“Desai is real patient,” Smith noticed. “I love patient coaches.”

Minicamp is also a learning experience for coaches. Sirianni shared that the team is constantly trying to improve the process.

“The process is always something that is constantly changing,” Sirianni said, though he noted the skeleton will probably remain the same. “There’s some differences, and we feel like those differences are [a result of] we’re doing the process better.”

For some of the rookies, such as DT Moro Ojomo, this was their first time in Philly since the NFL Draft. Ojomo was particularly emotional on the phone with Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman when Roseman called him to tell him he was drafted.

“I was fired up that the team gave me an opportunity,” Ojomo recalled.

Originally from Nigeria, Ojomo has early memories of watching Eagles players in the 1990s that had an impact on him.

“When I was a young child, I remember really loving Reggie White, and I totally forgot about Jerome Brown, but I saw it out there and maybe watched a documentary,” Ojomo said, before indicating he watched Brian Dawkins and Randall Cunningham too. “The Eagles, in hindsight, I always thought they were a really cool team.”

Of the seven draftees, the Eagles signed Carter, Ojomo, and QB Tanner McKee to their rookie contracts. The nine undrafted free agents include CB Mekhi Garner, WR Jadon Haselwood, WR Joseph Ngata, T Chim Okorafor, T Trevor Reed, CB Eli Ricks, TE Brady Russell, LB Ben VanSumeren, and P Ty Zentner. All nine were signed to the team following the draft. The Eagles also invited 19 undrafted rookie free agents, four veteran free agents, and eight players on the practice squad to minicamp to try out for the team.

Three of the draftees this year came from the University of Georgia. CB Kelee Ringo, one of those draftees, observed that things about the personality of his teammates at his alma mater shine through on his new team.

“Reflecting on that,” Ringo said, “it’s really great to have that mindset coming into a team like this.”