While the national media has been fawning over the addition of A.J. Brown, Eagles’ second-year receiver DeVonta Smith turned in a remarkable outing at Thursday’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns in town.

Smith had his best day of camp on Thursday, consistently dominating whichever defensive back the Browns had matched up against him.

Lots of No. 6 tweets today, but #Eagles DeVonta Smith has been open literally every rep. His footwork, breaks, pad level, body control midair — it’s all been elite. He was heating up coming into Cleveland too. Had two strong practices following return from groin injury.

— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) August 18, 2022

He was the star of the show in the first joint practice, finding a way to get open in nearly every rep. The only targets that he couldn’t come up with resulted in defensive pass interference.

There came a point when Smith knew that he couldn’t be contained. Browns safety Richard LeCounte used trash talk as an attempt to throw Smith off his game, but the former Alabama Heisman Trophy winner wanted all of the smoke.

Smith barked back at LeCounte, reminding the former Georgia Bulldog that he put him on the bench the last time the two saw each other. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni got involved shouting, “Don’t worry ‘bout it Smitty! Last time you saw him, you won the Heisman,” per Josh Tolentino of The Philadelphia Enquirer.

Joint practices getting spicy! Browns Richard LeCounte extended his trashtalking toward #Eagles DeVonta Smith. Smith says last time he saw LeCounte he put him on the bench in reference to Alabama-Georgia days.

— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) August 18, 2022

Eagles football is all the way back.

Though the national media has been distracted with a new star in town, Smith’s teammates are taking notice.

Brown has been one of Smith’s biggest supporters and continued by complimenting his route running after Thursday’s practice.

“Route running”

“His route running is special”

-AJ Brown on what makes DeVonta Smith so good
pic.twitter.com/6rHmF4xN0p

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) August 18, 2022

Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert joined in giving Smith a new nickname:

“He’s like Casper the friendly ghost,” Goedert said. “It’s crazy to see. People [are] pressing him, he throws a shimmy and just disappears,” reports Tolentino.

As we’ve seen across the league, these joint practices only pick up in intensity as the week goes along. Eagles fans can expect to see the team’s competitive spirit shine when the two teams clash in Sunday’s exhibition.

Featured image via Bill Streicher / USA TODAY Sports