Reagor will have revenge on his mind
Jalen Reagor will have revenge on his mind when he checks into Lincoln Financial Field Monday with the Minnesota Vikings.
Consider that a warning, Eagles secondary. At least if Reagor, a first-round bust with the Eagles, gets an offensive snap this week.
Last week the wide receiver who was supposed to revolutionize the position when the Eagles took him off the board in the 2020 draft returned one punt seven yards and fair caught two others in a 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers.
The good news for Reagor was no fumbles on four special teams plays. Only one Viking, a rookie, played fewer snaps than Reagor who told reporters covering the Skols that he wasn’t certain what kind of reception he would receive — good, bad or indifferent — when hits the Linc.
What Reagor can do to hurt the Eagles is share the plays and the terminology he spent so much time trying to learn. The Eagles didn’t believe it would be that much of a liability when they sent him to the Vikings for a seventh-round draft pick this spring and a conditional fifth-rounder the following lottery.
Eagles veteran Brandon Graham can appreciate the awkward transition from teammate to foe/spy.
“Oh yeah, I would, too, especially the way it ended,” Graham said. “If I’d have gotten traded, I’d feel that way, too. But at the end of the day we’ve got to execute. People can know. It’s all about executing.”There are no overt signals the Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell will find a useful role in the offense for Reagor, who had 64 receptions for 695 yards (10.9 ypr.), 14 rushes for 58 yards (4.1 ypc.) and a 73-yard touchdown on
a punt return.
Cousins completed passes to eight different receivers in the win over the Packers. Justin Jefferson, who the Birds passed up to draft Reagor, caught nine of 11 targets for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including a 64-yarder. Unless the Eagles are arrogant, Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay will follow Jefferson from side to side.
Veteran Vikings receiver Adam Thielen is a handful for any cornerback, much
less Birds counterpart James Bradberry. Despite the hocus-pocus analytics stats he was beat numerous times in the season opening win over the Detroit Lions. A pack of obscure receivers either didn’t catch the ball or Jared Goff didn’t throw it close enough.
Reagor could scorch Bradberry, nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox or whoever the Eagles tried to defend him with. It would be ugly. The real question is whether Reagor would complete the
play, as he’s had his share of drops.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, who frequently stuck up for Reagor, didn’t seem too concerned about the revenge factor.
“Any time we play a team that I used to coach on, I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s go,’ ” Sirianni said. “I love those guys over there, but I really want to get the best of them because it’s just a continuation of all the times I used to go against them in practice. I think that’s a normal reaction for anybody to have that is coming back to play at their old place. I just think that’s normal. Like I said, I go through it as well.”
If Reagor was paying attention at the meetings, at the pre and post-game talks and in the Eagles’ locker room might be able to provide the Vikings with quality intel about strengths, weaknesses and bad habits.
“Like I said I can know all their strengths and weaknesses,” Graham said. “But on game day I might be a totally different person than what you heard about.”
Speaking of Reagor, his return skills haven’t been satisfactorily replaced as he could field punts and kicks.
Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins was so lost trying to return kickoffs last week coach teamed A.J. Brown with him in the fourth quarter.
Watkins took a knee at the 19-yard line after running four yards on the last kickoff by the Lions, which landed at the 10-yard line. That spoke volumes about his level of confidence.
It doesn’t sound like Britain Covey’s decent, not spectacular job returning punts in the opener has qualified him for both jobs.
“Quez gives us an element of big-time speed to be able to hit it back there,” Sirianni said. “I’m not going to say who is going to be back there to start things off, but Covey did a nice job as far as the punt returns. That is obviously noticed. That’s why we like Quez back there, with his ability to hit it with speed.”
NOTES: Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is 6-3 against the Eagles, including 2-0 with his current team. He has a passer rating of 104.4 since the start of the 2020 season, second best among all quarterbacks in that time. Only Aaron Rodgers (115.1) has been better … Jefferson has averaged 10.6 yards per target since 2020, trailing only Ja’Mar Chase (11.1 ypt.) in that time. A.J. Brown has averaged 9.4 yards per target, ninth overall, in that time … Thielen has 20 red zone TD receptions since 2020, trailing only Davante Adams (25) … The Eagles-Vikings game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Monday and can be viewed on Channel 6 and ESPN. The Eagles remain two-point favorites.