Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pair of homecomings a blessing for Matthews
PHILADELPHIA » When he walks the halls of the NovaCare Complex, Jordan Matthews can’t miss the mementos on the walls, the newspaper front pages on display, the posted photos, the smiles.
When he is in the locker room, he can hear the stories, over and over, of former and now current teammates naturally reliving the greatest moment of their professional lives.
When he enters the Linc, there it is, high and proud, the Super Bowl LII championship banner.
And whenever Jordan Matthews shakes a teammates hand, he knows only one of them will be wearing an $11,000, diamondstudded ring.
If it’s all oddly disconcerting, it’s understandable. If he feels like he’d just awakened and strangely, magically, suddenly everything had changed, it would be natural. There he was for three seasons, growing with some other young Eagles, hoping some day to join them as world champions. There he is this season, a newly returned wide receiver who had made a modest contribution to a 20-16 victory Sunday over Indianapolis.
But for one year, he was gone, to the Buffalo Bills in a deal for defensive back Ronald Darby. And for that one year, that one and only Eagles Super Bowl year, he was gone. Weird? Frustrating? Something else? “I honestly don’t spend too much time thinking about it,” Matthews said Tuesday. “I kind of feel that would be easy, and then you slip into self-pity or something like that. I am way too blessed to be doing that. I take it all in stride.”
The 2014 second-round draft choice from Vanderbilt was a productive wide receiver for three years in Philadelphia, catching eight touchdown passes in each of his first two seasons. Ankle and knee injuries cost him a preseason and four regular-season games in his third season. After that, the Birds preferred free agents Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, and sent Matthews to Buffalo, where he suffered a chest injury, tore a knee, broke a thumb, played in just 10 games, ultimately watched (with one eye closed?) the Eagles win the Super Bowl, and tried to figure out what happened.
“I take it all in stride,” he said. “I feel like the years leading up to this point, yeah, there are some things that people may say in the football realm were kind of unfortunate. But I think in the grand scheme of things, my life is really good. I’m healthy. I’m playing football with some of my best friends. I have a great wife, a loving family. So I have a lot more than a ton of people do. A million people, a billion probably, would trade their situation for the one that I am in right now.”
With Jeffery and Mike Wallace hurt, and the Eagles in need of a new receiver, Matthews returned last week, and after three days of prep time, caught both passes thrown his way by Carson Wentz against the Colts, good for 21 yards.
“I felt it went good,” Matthews said. “It was a lot less load than I ever had going into a football game. They gave me a small package of plays to focus on, so I was able to go out and do them. It’s not like I am looking at how many catches or how many yards I had. I am looking at it as, ‘Was I able to go out there and help the team win?’ I feel we accomplished that. I was really proud of the whole unit.”
If there were questions about Matthews, who hadn’t played in any training camp, they were answered. He looked healthy. He was comfortable with Wentz, who was also making his season debut. He was not out of place, although his familiarity with the Birds and their playbook was high among the reasons he was re-hired.
“The nice thing about Jordan is there is a familiarity with the system,” offensive coordinator Mike Groh said. “So he’s not learning a completely different language. He came in with three days, and you really wouldn’t notice that he hadn’t been here throughout training camp. He did a really good job. He made a couple key receptions in the game. So we’re excited to have him. He’s a valuable member of what we are trying to do moving forward, and we will continue to incorporate him.”
That will include Sunday, when the Birds visit the Titans at 1 in Nashville, where Matthews has made his home after his career there with Vanderbilt.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “I played against the Titans in my rookie year, but it was in Philly. I never played back in Nashville since I left college. It is going to be awesome. I can’t wait to go back. My wife (Cheyna) and I live probably nine minutes from Vanderbilt. We love the school. And I am excited to go back with these guys.”
So he came back to the Eagles. And two weeks later, he will be back home, helping them try to win a game in Nashville. What were the chances? “I told you,” he said, smiling. “I am blessed.”