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The Philadelphia Eagles held their first rookie minicamp of the year, marking the first time the draft class of 2012 will wear Eagles green. Eagles third round pick Nick Foles, as the top QB in camp(veterans are not permitted to be on the field per new CBA rules), got quite a bit of attention this afternoon with Andy Reid, Marty Mornhinweg & QB coach Doug Pederson all giving him personal instruction.
After practice he talked about how he's approached learning the playbook.
"I tried to break it down and learn the formations, learn the shifts, and learn the alignments, not learning the plays first but just getting an idea of the protections. Then, you go into the concepts and understand the formations and you can start plugging the concepts in. I try to dissect it in that way and not learn the plays and the formations because, like you said, that can be overwhelming, so I try and break it down to segments."
Related: SBNation is offering fans a chance to interview Nick Foles via Skype.
One of the toughest things QBs face when learning the west coast offense is the terminology. Foles talked about how he's picking that up so far.
"It's different. It's a challenge, but I'm enjoying it. I have a lot of work, and we get to watch the film right now and see the progressions. I think it went well today and the guys did really well. We have a lot to improve on of course because it's the first time all of us played together, but it's exciting to be out here and it's exciting to be an Eagle."
Foles was asked whether he felt like he was starting all over again?
"I think you always go back to basics and that's just football. If you get away from the basics, you're in trouble. You can always get better with your footwork, the reads and just the little things you do with your feet and your arm placement for when you drop back in the pocket. It's the minor details, and that's something all of the players do. It's good to be out with the coaches and have them teach me different things."
For more on the Eagles rookie camp, including which surprising positions Fletcher Cox has been practicing at, check out Bleeding Green Nation.