Smith off to fast start for Eagles in preseason
PHILADELPHIA » Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith says he learns about his craft even when he’s physically unable to practice.
We’ll have to take his word for the value of observation.
What Smith discovered while sidelined since Aug. 2 with a strained groin is that he’d better get back on the field soon. Even Jalen Reagor, widely considered a bust, has been looking good on the other end of increasingly accurate throws from Jalen Hurts.
Smith, the Birds’ firstround pick in 2021 returned to practice Sunday morning, and not coincidentally he marked his territory in the wide receiver room with a sparkling catch that shocked a portion of his audience.
Smith got half a step on cornerbacks Avonte Maddox and Zech McPhearson, who were close enough to smell his aftershave, stretched out in the air and hauled in a high rope from Hurts. Almost in the same motion he twisted into a perfect two-point landing and motored on while the defenders were jumbled together.
It was one of those plays that requires instant replay to totally appreciate. Unfortunately for fans the Eagles have exclusive rights over the footage and forbid the use of cameras after the early portion of practice.
Smith acted as if it was nothing he hadn’t done before. And he was right. No one made more difficult catches last season than him, although that could change with A.J. Brown on the roster.
“I mean it was just go make a play,” Smith said. That’s what it was. Those guys, they came out and they played a double team. They were in their right spots, but it came down to just making a play. At the end of the day, when you get your chances, make the play.”
Smith wasn’t making those plays earlier in camp partly because of the groin and also because veteran cornerback James Bradberry was bouncing him around like a rag doll. Bradberry won most of their battles. He is 212 pounds, Smith about 165. It was much more convenient for Smith to compete with Darius Slay.
“Seeing a more physical corner, a bigger corner just helps me more than seeing somebody like Slay that’s just fast and very instinctive,” Smith said. “So, two different guys, two great guys, just being able to have that balance of one corner being real fast, real technical and the other corner just being real physical.”
Though Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni thinks the offense still is a work in progress and doesn’t want to reveal any secrets, it’s fairly obvious the plan is for Hurts to chuck it early and often this season to Brown, Smith, Dallas Goedert, Quez Watkins and it looks like, Reagor. If the entire group is healthy, at least one or two will be open every play. Obviously, it’s up to Hurts to get the ball there. The quarterback checked some boxes completing 6-of-6 attempts in the preseason opener against the New York Jets.
“He made plays in the pocket when he needed to make plays in the pocket and when he needed to escape, he escaped,” Sirianni said. “I think it’s also to be known that leaving the pocket isn’t just something that you see when the protection
breaks down. I think that people think like, ‘oh, we left the pocket early, and the protection was good.’ Well, sometimes nobody is open. And sometimes the defense calls a good play and it’s not a good look in the coverage. So, it’s not as easy to say that the protection broke down, so he left, because that’s obvious. I think the thing that is not as obvious is, again, what I said, somebody slipped on a route out or the defense played a good coverage and there wasn’t anybody open and he’s trying to create with a scramble.”
From his vantage point on the sideline, the place where the cerebral part of learning occurs Smith insists noticed changes in Hurts starting with the way the quarterback skipped through his progressions.
“He’s getting through everything faster,” Smith said. “I think it’s slowing down for him with him being more comfortable in the offense. The second year in the offense it’s just being able to be more comfortable with it.”