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After missing the past two weeks of training camp while recovering from a hamstring injury, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith made his return to the practice field as a limited participant.
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The Eagles were cautious with Smith’s recovery, aware that his availability in the playoffs is more important than his participation in training camp.
Smith ramped up his return last week, running routes, making cuts, and going through simulated plays with a trainer. He sat out the Eagles’ first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens but participated in the pregame warmups.
The Eagles are currently in the midst of installing new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s scheme, which has had its inevitable growing pains, made worse by Smith and Makai Lemon sidelined due to injuries.
Reportedly, the chemistry and connection between Smith and quarterback Jalen Hurts remains as automatic as ever, and getting Smith back on the field should provide a much clearer vision of how this offense is expected to look come playoff time.
Mannion’s system is said to feature more pre-snap motion, play-action, and passes over the middle of the field, all stats where the Philadelphia offense ranked on the bottom half of the NFL in 2025.
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Smith is back just in time for the Eagles’ first real test, just days before the joint practices with the New England Patriots. The trip down to Foxborough will also mark the first time that wide receiver A.J. Brown faces his former team.
The departure of Brown, who totaled 5,034 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns over the last four years in Philadelphia, makes Smith the primary receiving option. While long recognized as a true WR1-caliber talent, recently ranked as the No. 17 overall receiver in the NFL by Bleacher Report, this will be the first time Smith will be on the clear-cut top spot since his 2021 rookie season.
It will be a great test for Smith and the Eagles’ offense against a Patriots defense that ranked top 10 last season. The first glimpse of new-look offense was underwhelming, only scoring seven points in the loss to the Ravens, but Nick Sirianni held out the starters,
“We obviously think that when we go out and practice, we have high intensity at practice,” Sirianni said. “We got a big week this week coming up and the 1’s are going to get a lot of reps in New England for the joint practices. So, this is a big week coming up.”
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This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 4:00 AM.