Jalen Reagor, Eagles' Offense Searching for an Identity
PHILADELPHIA - Thursday night is a big one for the Eagles, maybe bigger than the average preseason opener because Nick Sirianni and his offense are searching for an identity.
"I'm really looking forward to it and I feel like it's gonna really show. ... give us that first hint of identity," receiver Jalen Reagor said after a nondescript 80-minute practice session at a steamy NovaCare complex on Tuesday, the last full-scale practice before Thursday's practice game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Who we trying to be."
Therein lies the problem.
It seems like what Sirianni wants the offense to be and what it will be on Sept. 12 in Atlanta are two completely different things.
In a vacuum, the Eagles rookie head coach wants more speed in the field whether it's the receivers or his 21-speed package in which another running back will join Miles Sanders on the field.
"A lot that is just what our offense is based upon," Reagor said when asked about stressing the defense with speed. I know that's what the coaches expect out of me. Me, guys like Quez [Watkins] and John [Hightower] who can run, Smitty [DeVonta Smith}. So pretty much the whole offense being vertical, going downfield."
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As training camp progresses, however, Sirianni seems to be pulling back on the reins, realizing the RPO game is best-suited for quarterback Jalen Hurts, and playing two tight ends is going to have to be a bigger part of things as long as Zach Ertz remains in Philadelphia.
Ertz has arguably been the best offensive player in camp and the WRs have struggled with either ineffectiveness or injury in the case of Smith (sprained MCL) and Hightower (groin).
"One of the things we have to our advantage is that nobody really knows what we're running," Sirianni said. "To say we're going to show everything on Thursday or the following pre-season game or the following pre-season games, it's just not going to be the case.
"That's an advantage that we have that other staffs don't because we don't have any tape out there of us."
Reagor himself had a slow start to camp due to an off-the-field issue that hit him hard, resulting in a failed conditioning test.
Since returning to team drills, the 2020 first-round pick has toggled between the slot and the outside.
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"I would just say I reverted back to being in high school or college. It's not nothing new and it was just last year, primarily I was just an outside receiver and now I'm just getting back to my roots," Reagor said when discussing his versatility.
One thing Sirianni, a former receiver himself, has stressed to the WRs is the ability to play all three positions: X, Z, and flex. It's one thing to line up and it's another to provide efficacy in all three spots, however.
It's clear that the original plan was for Smith and Reagor to handle the outside work in 12 personnel and when the Eagles shifted to 11 the plan was for Reagor to slide inside and Travis Fulgham to come in as the third receiver playing outside the numbers.
To date, Fulgham has outplayed Reagor and so has fellow second-year wideout Quez Watkins. Add in dependable slot veteran Greg Ward and you not only have murky waters, but you also have Sirianni weighing the strength of the position as a whole and scaling back its usage.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
