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Camp setup: SB champ Philadelphia Eagles welcome back injured stars

By The Sports Xchange
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) fails to grab a pass on the final play in the fourth quarter against the swarming Philadelphia Eagles on February 4 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. File photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) fails to grab a pass on the final play in the fourth quarter against the swarming Philadelphia Eagles on February 4 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. File photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI | License Photo

PHILADELHIA -- With no salary cap space and just one pick in the first three rounds of the draft, the Philadelphia Eagles didn't make a lot of offseason changes after their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. But then they didn't really need to.

The Eagles managed to win their first Lombardi Trophy without their starting quarterback (Carson Wentz), without their nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle (Jason Peters), without their starting middle linebacker (Jordan Hicks), without their most versatile running back (Darren Sproles) and without their best special teams player (Chris Maragos), all of whom suffered season-ending injuries.

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All of those players are back and are expected to be ready to go by Week 1, including Wentz, who had a league-high 33 touchdown passes when he tore his ACL in Week 14.

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Wentz still will be limited in training camp and probably won't participate in much 11-on-11 work, at least not right away. That means, Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles will take the bulk of the summer snaps.

The Eagles' first training camp workout will be Thursday, July 26. The previous two years, head coach Doug Pederson had three days of practice for the rookies before the veterans arrived, but he opted not to do that this year.

Offensively, the Eagles' biggest addition was free-agent wide receiver Mike Wallace, who essentially is expected to replace Torrey Smith as one of the team's three starting wideouts, along with Alshon Jeffery and slot receiver Nelson Agholor.

While the 31-year-old Wallace is known as a vertical threat, he's also difficult to stop on slants, which should make the Eagles dangerous run-pass option game an even bigger headache for opposing defenses.

On defense, the Eagles released defensive end Vinny Curry, who signed with Tampa Bay, but acquired 32-year-old Michael Bennett, a versatile player who can play inside or outside. They also added another short-term fix on their line -- 34-year-old tackle Haloti Ngata.

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Three things they need to figure out defensively during the summer is who is going to replace slot corner Patrick Robinson, who is going to replace departed WILL linebacker Mychal Kendricks and who is going to be their No. 3 safety behind Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.

Robinson was a major part of their defensive success last season, but signed with New Orleans. Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills and 2017 second-round pick Sidney Jones will compete for the two starting outside corner jobs.

The odd man out there could wind up inside. But the Eagles have a few other inside options, including practice-squadder De'Vante Bausby, who flashed in spring OTAs, and fourth-round rookie Avonte Maddox.

The leading candidate to replace Kendricks, who was released in June, is free-agent addition Corey Nelson. But he'll be pushed by several other candidates, including 2017 fifth-round pick Nate Gerry, a converted safety.

The Eagles have little experience at safety beyond McLeod and Jenkins. Corey Graham did a superb job as the third safety last season.

His ability to cover allowed the Eagles to switch defensive packages without changing personnel. But the 33-year-old Graham did not re-sign with the team. Yet.

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There is a sense that he could be back if the Eagles don't feel comfortable with any of their younger safety candidates, including Tre Sullivan and undrafted rookie Jeremy Reaves.

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