A quad injury in Tuesday's training camp practice for Davion Taylor was not what the Philadelphia Eagles needed. The injury report handed out Wednesday was worse than expected.
Taylor was listed as "week-to-week" by the Eagles with a calf injury, a significant blow for the second-year linebacker. The Eagles turned Taylor loose at the start of training camp, giving the 2020 third-round pick first-team reps he never relinquished. Philadelphia has been rotating linebackers in and out of the first team through the first week of camp, but Taylor has been the one constant getting starting reps.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has been looking for a linebacker with athleticism and speed to attack in his aggressive defense, which Taylor has been able to provide. The Eagles wanted Taylor to earn significant reps in camp after he recorded just 32 defensive snaps in his rookie year, so this injury is a setback for his development.
"Reps are gold out there right now. That's what I tell our guys," Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said last week. "It's like, you're working on your game constantly, every day you're working on your game. So, the more reps you get, the more you can work on your game.
"Reps are at a premium and he's taking advantage of those reps."
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Regardless of the injury, Taylor has been impressive thus far in camp -- and should have a significant role amongst the linebackers.
"He looks a lot more comfortable to me right now just in what he's doing," Gannon said. "[Linebackers Coach] Nick [Rallis] has done a really good job with him of making him understand the 'why' behind how we do things and, 'Hey, this is his specific skill set and we're going to let him roll.'
"D.T. in particular has gotten some snaps, some really good quality snaps, which is good."
Philadelphia is getting Alex Singleton back Wednesday, but he's not in pads after missing the first week due to being on the COVID-19 list. Eric Wilson and Shaun Bradley have rotated on the first and second team.
