Eagles head into Easter break with momentum on both sides of the ball

CHESTNUT HILL – It’s the most cliche thing in football probably, but the point of the 15 spring practices is to legitimately stack days together.

As best as humanly possible – with other large humans trying to stop you on the other side – your job is to try and be better one day than you were the next.

In the grand scheme of things as a collective unit, BC has done that throughout the first 11 practices, including another competitive one on Wednesday morning, the last before the Easter break. The Eagles are set to wrap up practices with four next week (Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday/Saturday).

Are there still plenty of questions? Of course, but for the amount of new faces BC has on the roster and in the meeting rooms, there is a cohesiveness to both the offense and defense that is very, very evident at times. Whether that translates against actual competition in five months, who knows? But we have a story to write today, and as of April 1, 2026, you can insert the clip from ‘Major League’ of the construction workers talking and saying ‘these guy’s ain’t to f’ing bad,’ when talking about the football team.

Report from today…

Early observations

None. Got pulled over flying on Main St. in Waltham. Although, technically I didn’t get pulled over. I pulled into the Dunks and thought I was fine, got back in my car, about to pull away AFTER getting my order (so this is a good 5-10 minutes later) and get a knock on the window. Nice cop, only gave me a warning, probably because I was honest and told him I have zero patience for stupidity or slowness on the roads.

Needless to say, came in hot. By the time I got settled in they were already starting an early team period…did see more recruits on the sideline though (will have a separate post with names). As always, GM Kenyatta Watson was present, chatting with a recruit throughout most of practice.

Team

Mason McKenzie – I missed most of his snaps here settling in, but I did see him pump fake/juke the crap out of Bodie Kahoun in the open field. It wasn’t the only time he did it on Wednesday either…later on in this session, he had a scramble and two passes broken up by Ashton Cunningham and Njita Sinkala.

Grayson Wilson – Bo MacCormack III had a short run, while Sinkala and Favor Bate combined for a run stuff. Javarius Green had a sick leaping grab that drew a reaction from the offensive sideline. Mekhi Dodd had a short run as well.

Femi Babalola – Missed his final snap, but he had a short completion to Sedric Addison and a nice scramble. Babalola’s legs were impressive throughout the day. Nolan Ray was stuffed on a run during the series too.

7-v-7 in the red zone

McKenzie – TD to Zeke Moore. Short completion to Reed Swanson (good day for him). TD to Danny Edgehill. PBU by Carter Davis (standout day for Davis). On a second series, he hit Nedrick Boldin Jr. on a slant for a TD and a little hitch TD for Edgehill. This was a pretty crisp day overall for McKenzie.

Wilson – TD to Landon Wright, but two incompletions and a PBU for Marcus Upton after that.

Babalola – Back shoulder TD to Swanson on the final snap with Max Tejpaul in coverage. Also had a short completion to Duke Brennan and Chandler Jordan had a PBU vs. Swanson.

Team

McKenzie – MacCormack III had one nice run, Onye Nwosisi had a run stuff and Davis had a sack. One incompletion thrown in as well. Ball was then reset to the 50…(missed the first snap somehow). Sack for Davis. Kris Jones forced a scramble and MacCormack III had another short run.

Wilson – Couple short runs for Nolan Ray and a sack for Micah Amedee. Incompletion over the middle before a reset to the 50…couple nice runs from Dodd mixed in with a couple short completions to Swanson and Jackson Wade.

Babalola – Couple completions to Edgehill and Zach Schnorrbusch and Addison was stuffed for no gain. I missed one other snap before the reset to the 50…two scrambles and a short hitch to Schnorrbusch.

Team

McKenzie – Short completion to Green, a scramble, a drop by Swanson and I missed one snap…one other series during the period…Combo run stuff by a few guys, false start, dart to Boldin Jr. on the sideline on a rollout, scramble and a short catch by Clough.

Wilson – Short completion to Ray and a pick over the middle (poor decision) by Upton. Ball was thrown right to him over the middle. Demetrius Ballard batted a ball down at the line too.

Babalola – Scramble, incompletion, sack by Bate and maybe a sack, but also maybe a deep completion down the left sideline to Schnorrbusch. Not sure if the coaches counted it or blew the whistle first.

Red Zone

Music was cranking for this one. First time it’s been really loud testing communication…

McKenzie – Scramble for a TD and two handoffs to Evan Dickens, one for no gain and one stopped just shy of the goal line by Anthony Palano. Also had a short completion to Boldin Jr., a false start and then two straight TD passes to Swanson (back of the end zone) and Green.

Wilson – All defense here. PBU by Charleston Coldon and a sack by Israel Oladipupo. False start followed by a combo run stuff by Amedee and Cameron McGee. Incompletion, a short run by Ray (Judah Pruitt absolutely SMOKED Oladipupo on block, it echoed throughout Fish) and another incompletion through the end zone.

Babalola – TD pass to Schnorrbusch and a TD scramble with two nice plays on runs by E’Lla Boykin and one by Jackson Carlisle.

Ball at the 5, two seconds left, down 20-14, last play of the game…

McKenzie – PBU by Upton vs. Edgehill.

Wilson – TD pass to Clough vs. TJ Green. Kristian Philips then proceeded to hilariously talk a LOT of trash to the defensive sideline. Post-practice when asked about Phillips, O’Brien said “everyone needs a Kristian Philips.” Fans are going to really like this kid.

Babalola – False start, TD run by Babalola.

One week left

Back at it next week. We won’t have access all four days (probably Wednesday and Saturday, but TBD). I asked O’Brien if next Saturday would be closer to a regular game scrimmage than we’ve seen, and he mentioned he’d try to get them in the stadium if the weather’s nice enough, but having a productive day is the priority whether that’s inside or outside, especially since it’s the last one until August.