Reagor said he’s ‘doing way better’ after death of friend
PHILADELPHIA >> The latest drama in the brief career of Jalen Reagor is as mysterious as the Eagles’ decision to bypass a more proven receiver to take him off the board in the first round of the 2020 draft.
Reagor failed his physical conditioning test upon reporting to training camp, setting him back slightly. That occurred because he overtrained, which could be an internal response to assuage the pain from the tragic death of a childhood friend.
Jolted as Reagor was by the loss, he didn’t attend the funeral of the friend last Saturday. Reagor is so shaken, he declined to mention any circumstances, or the name of his late friend.
“That was like a little brother to me,” Reagor said Tuesday. “It was hard to deal with and then Saturday was his funeral. I wasn’t able to be there. It was hard to
deal with (it), but from a mental state, I’m doing way better.”
Reagor is the fastest player the Eagles have on their roster. That served him well at TCU, where he broke one long score after another. In three years with the Horned Frogs he had 22 touchdown receptions, two rushing scores and two TDs on punt returns.
Reagor was a big play waiting to happen.
In a rookie NFL season shortened by five games due to injuries, Reagor averaged 12.8 yards on 31 receptions with one touchdown and returned a punt 73 yards for a score. He never lived down being drafted ahead of Justin Jefferson, who caught 88 passes for 1,400 yards (15.9 yard average), seven TDs and a berth in the Pro Bowl for the Minnesota Vikings.
Among the lessons learned from his rookie year: Improve the preparation.
“Really just more studying,” Reagor said. “You’ve
got to study your opponent. I went against (Darius) Slay today and I went against Steven (Nelson). You’ve just got to know what you can do, and also add moves to your arsenal.”
Slay and Nelson are the Eagles’ most veteran cornerbacks.
The way it looks now, rookie DeVonta Smith, Greg Ward and possibly even Quez Watkins are the Eagles’ top receivers, at least in camp. And Smith is nursing
a sprained knee.
For Reagor this camp is about channeling his speed and strength into a scheme that prefers the easy completion to the go-for-broke bombs that prevailed when the Birds were playing catchup last year.
Reagor says he feels well physically, the lower body issues fueling the blown fitness test in the rear-view mirror. He also feels safe with his teammates and head coach Nick Sirianni.
“This is like where I can get away,” Reagor said. “You go home, you have family checking on you and asking if you’re OK. I go in the locker room and I have seven teammates checking on me. They’re making sure I’m in good spirits. It’s helping me. The head coach is doing the same thing. That’s big.”
•••
Add linebacker Davion Taylor (quad) to the Eagles’ growing injury list, although most of the issues are of the day-to-day variety.
Guard Brandon Brooks (knee), tight end Jason Croom (knee), defensive end Ryan Kerrigan (thumb) and receiver Michael Walker
(foot) all are in that classification, according to the Eagles.
Week-to-week are Smith (knee) and guard Isaac Seumalo (hamstring). Smith received clearance (pun intended) to catch passes on the JUGGs machine before the Tuesday practice.
••• Fourth-round draft pick Zech McPhearson, the cornerback out of Texas Tech, always seems to be around the ball at practices.
The transfer from Penn State dropped three potential interceptions early in camp, then picked off a pass Monday. On Tuesday he busted up a handful of pass plays, including one in the hurry-up period at the end of the day.
“It’s been going very well for me when I get out there and just play fast and free,” McPhearson said. “I’ve got to finish some plays. I know I dropped a few today. I’ve just got to capitalize on it because in this league you’ve got very little room for error. You’ve got to finish.”
McPhearson says he watches the way Slay plays corner, then patterns himself after the veteran. Slay, however, wouldn’t have dropped either of the balls McPhearson could have had Tuesday.
“Shoot the ones today, if I catch them those are touchdowns,” McPhearson said. “That’s two dropped picksixes. That’s 12 points off the board.”
• • • Veterans Lane Johnson and Derek Barnett agreed to restructure their contracts, per reports, creating more salary cap space for the Eagles.
With the growing possibility that Zach Ertz will stick around this season, and with the young receiver corps still learning how to prepare and get open in the NFL, it might be timely to present the tight end with a modest going away present that would motivate him to be a trade-worthy commodity again.
Or, of course, the restructures could be the precursor to clearing enough space for another player. Embattled Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, for example, is due $10.5 million in base salary this season.