Michael Clay Hints Toward Status Quo with Jalen Reagor's Return Role

The embattled Eagles WR still seems to have a role in the return game

PHILADELPHIA - Jalen Reagor figures to be one of the more compelling Eagles stories this summer, a 2020 first-round pick who's turned into an afterthought when it comes to the offense but is still valued enough by the front office to play hardball when it comes to those who might have an interest in a reclamation project.

A change of scenery would probably be the best route for both parties in this circumstance. However, if Reagor does remain in Philadelphia come September, his most likely role would be in the return game.

Michael Clay alluded to it when he spoke to the media last week reporters when asked about unproven commodities, Devon Allen and Britain Covey.

Clay, the Eagles' second-year special teams coordinator, seemed taken by surprise when the speedy Allen, an Olympic hurdler who hasn't played football since 2016, was mentioned first as a possible option to improve a return game that didn't exactly set the world on fire in the 2021 season.

"As a returner?" Clay asked rhetorically when Allen's name was broached. "Devon hasn't played football since 2016."

And Allen hasn't even been involved in the offseason program to date as he continues to focus on the track season.

Devon Allen is still focused on track and has yet to participate in any of the Eagles' OTAs / USA Today

The goal from Philadelphia's perspective when it comes to the speedy Allen seems to be getting him to training camp and then evaluating if there is enough in the player's traits to merit a spot on the 16-man practice squad as a developmental project.

"We're excited to have that type of speed really," Clay, like Allen, an Oregon alum, said. "Saw him playing in college at Oregon. He was a very good receiver at Oregon, has top-end blazing speed. He is an Olympic athlete for a reason.

"But we're excited to see him back on the football field. It's just him getting back into football shape, one, so he doesn't get hurt. But we're going to try and untap some sort of potential that he may be holding back from not playing in a little bit."

Next up for Clay was the 5-foot-8, 173-pound Covey, who at least excelled as a returner in college at Utah before being signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent.

In the limited time, we've gotten to see Covey in rookie camp and OTAs, he's flashed impressive short-area quickness but his listed measurables might be the Eagles trying to be kind to the undersized longshot.

"There are a lot of people that have gotten reps at returner," Clay said when asked about Covey. "Obviously, the rules in the OTAs in phase 2 are a little bit different, but we keep a tally on all the catches, drops, and everything. There's just a lot that goes into it. It's not just Britain. Everybody that we deem a returner, they're going to catch some balls from a live leg, from a JUG."

In other words, no one is earning a role in the spring.

"It's not just, ‘All right, you caught three balls, you're deemed our returner,’" Clay said. "You have to go through everything, you have to see the live balls and everything, and not taking anything away from Britain, he had a very good career at Utah, but this is a little bit different in the NFL, so he still has to get used to that. He has to get used to guys running in his face right there."

With the man himself tempering any enthusiasm when it comes to the unknowns, that leaves the status quo, which was Reagor in both kicks and punts by the end of last season, at least until a disaster in Tampa in the playoffs when Clay had to pivot to the sure-handed Greg Ward.

"In terms of our punt return, I thought Jalen for the most part and obviously everyone saw the last game. It is what it is. He dropped two. But for the most part, he did a very good job of actually fielding the ball when he had to field the ball," Clay said. "He's just got to get better at being more consistent, getting those 10 yards and getting down."

Eagles' ST coordinator Michael Clay indicated that, so far, Jalen Reagor remains the top option in the return game :: John McMullen/Eagles Today

The Eagles started 2021 with Reagor as the punt returner and Quez Watkins as the kick returner but by the end of the campaign, Reagor had gotten the most touches in both phases and was the team's best option from an explosion standpoint.

Reagor led the Eagles in both punt and kickoff return average and also amassed the biggest chunks - 39 yards on a PR and 44 on a KR.

What Regor wasn't great at on occasion was decision-making and ball security.

"Last year Jalen showed to me, and regardless if it's right, wrong, or indifferent, that he was able to catch the ball at a very highly consistent rate," Clay said. "He had two [mistakes] in the Tampa Bay game and one in the New York Jets game (in) which he made a heck of a play, picked it up, and got 20 yards out of it.

"But it takes a lot of courage for punt returners back there to stay back there knowing there are two guys flying at you to stay calm and catch the ball right there. So, I thought Jalen did actually a very good job."

No player is perfect, however, and Clay tried to hammer that home for what is an embattled option.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the NFL that doesn't muff the ball once or twice," he said. "Even [Jets WR] Braxton Berrios who's an All-Pro probably comes under like, ‘Oh, my muff, I've got to get on it.’

But [Reagor is] one of those that understands we want him to be aggressive, but you've also got to understand what the scenario is. If we're in a rush, you don't have as much protection. If there's a six box, take your time, catch the ball and see what you can and cannot do."

Clay seems to be moving forward with the sentiment that Reagor will be his top option again moving forward if the situational-football awareness issues are cleaned up.

"After the bye week [last season], I kind of did a self-dive on what made Jalen good and we kind of tweaked it to him and you saw a little bit more 13-yard returns, 14-yard returns to help flip the field," said Clay. "I think is what's going to be huge for him obviously with catching the ball. Our number one rule is give the ball to the offense. Defense did their job; give the ball to the offense right there."

If that number one rule isn't adhered to like in the playoff game against the Bucs change will surely be needed but it sure feels like the status quo is Plan A unless the decision is taken away from Clay with a trade.

"It's not a confidence-waiving factor," Clay said of Reagor's mishaps. "It's just we have to get him going again like he was last year being confident, catching everything, then getting up the field, making one guy miss, then understanding, all right, there's nothing else? Let me get down.

"I'll take 11 yards, I'll take 10 yards. Those little cuts, then you'll get those big returns right there like he did in the Giants game where it was a 12-yard, an 11-yard, then boom, he hits a 35-yarder, the ball is at the 23-yard line."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen