Agholor ‘100 percent’ sure he can lead battered receivers

If you think the Eagles lost their deep threat when Mike Wallace fractured his right fibula, share it with Nelson Agholor.

Agholor has two receptions of 50 or more yards this season, which is two more catches, total, than Wallace managed before heading for the medical tent last weekend in Tampa.

“Are you asking me, can I run?” Agholor said. “I think it’s on tape that I can run. I, 100 percent believe I can run and take the top off.”

Whether Agholor was sick of hearing how the Eagles made a mistake in getting rid of DeSean Jackson, who took the top off the Philly defense Sunday, or the trade rumors swirling around the complex, talk that head coach Doug Pederson stoked Monday when he said he thought a veteran could come in and help at the position, it was encouraging to hear that the beleaguered wide receiver room still had a pulse.

There’s no doubting that Agholor is the healthiest and most productive receiver still on the roster from the Super Bowl. With 16 receptions, he’s tied for the team lead with tight end Zach Ertz.

Then again, Alshon Jeffery hasn’t played while rehabbing a shoulder that required rotator cuff surgery, Mack Hollins is on injured reserve with a groin issue and Shelton Gibson is nursing a knee strain.

Agholor, just so we’re clear, is averaging just 7.6 yards per catch including the big ones. That could change dramatically if the old Carson Wentz does his scrambling thing, sooner rather than later.

Rewind to the 2017 opener at Washington. Agholor was coming off a dreadful 2016 season. To outsiders it was a mild surprise that he made the team.

One Wentz throw in the first quarter gave Agholor all the confidence he needed for a bounce-back season. Wentz escaped the pocket, eluded a pile of Redskins and found Agholor for a backbreaking 58-yard catch-and-run score.

Wentz might be a bit rusty when he suits up Sunday to play the Indianapolis Colts at Lincoln Financial Field, his first game action since he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee last December.

If practice is an indication, the warmup might not take long.

“I think it’s going to give us an opportunity to work our scramble drill because this is a guy that’s going to extend plays,” Agholor said. “A lot of our explosive plays happen in that situation. So, I’m excited. It actually puts me in position to make sure I’m a little more aware about the lanes that I’m running in the scramble so that I can give him an opportunity to get a target.”