What we learned from Eagles-Giants: When it comes to Jalen Reagor, nothing new

It’s hard to see the former first-round pick rebounding from Sunday’s late drops, especially when the opportunities aren’t likely to be there.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni comforts receiver Jalen Reagor as they walk off the field after losing to the Giants on Sunday.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

by Jeff McLane

Published Nov. 29, 2021, 4:55 p.m. ET

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Despite outgaining the Giants in total yards, and rushing for more than 200 (again), the Eagles coughed up a 13-7 loss at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Win, lose, or draw, here’s what we learned:

There’s a reason why the Eagles relegated Jalen Reagor to fourth or fifth option. Say what you want about Reagor getting too many snaps, but Nick Sirianni and his offensive staff realized months ago that the second-year wide receiver wasn’t to be given a lead role. His touches had already been lessened and this was after tight end Zach Ertz was traded and before the Eagles shifted to a run-oriented offense. Reagor was behind DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Quez Watkins, and even Kenny Gainwell in terms of targets.

Sirianni has since dialed up an end around or screen to get the ball into his hands, but the plays have felt, if anything, forced. Reagor’s effectiveness and body language have suggested a lack of confidence and frustration, although he has disputed that notion. But it’s hard to see the former first-round pick rebounding from Sunday’s late drops, at least this season, especially when the opportunities aren’t likely to be there.

Some have suggested either benching Reagor or giving him a week off as Doug Pederson did for Nelson Agholor late into his second season. It seemingly worked as Agholor had a few flashes in the final several games and would return the following year to have his best season with the Eagles. But they are different players with different circumstances, even if they share the first-rounder status that can be an albatross. Agholor didn’t have Justin Jefferson hanging over him.

What was perhaps most disconcerting about Reagor’s drops was that winning contested balls in the air was supposed to be one of his better traits. We’ve seen him unleash his 42-inch vertical leap. But there’s a great disparity between training camp scrimmages and late-game situations.

Reagor called the drops “very uncharacteristic.” And it’s true that securing the ball hasn’t exactly been a problem early in his career. He has just three drops, per Pro Football Focus. The first attempt would have qualified as a good catch. Reagor got behind cornerback Aaron Robinson. But Jalen Hurts’ pass was slightly underthrown and there was an arm tussle between receiver and defender.

“It was a good pass by Jalen,” Reagor said. “I felt like it was kind of on my back, but … those are just plays that we have to make.”

But the ball still hit him in the claws. The second was more egregious. Reagor made two notable grabs earlier in the game. They weren’t high on the difficulty scale. They also weren’t exactly in the numbers. But those are the catches starting receivers must consistently make in the NFL. Reagor doesn’t necessarily have to be a high-volume receiver. Sirianni keeps trudging him out there partly because of his speed. Defenses do have to respect it. But you have to hit a few dingers every now and then, and since his 55-yard grab in the first game of his career, Reagor doesn’t have a reception of 40-plus yards.

Ultimately, Reagor just isn’t as quick as the Eagles had projected. They should have paid more attention to his combine 40-yard dash (4.47 seconds) than his Pro Day time (4.28). You can see the lack of explosiveness most in the return game. He also doesn’t seem to possess an innate sense of how to perform the job consistently. Receiving, likewise, will likely always be an issue because his route running isn’t close to precise.

But these are the consequences when you miss on a first-rounder. Maybe if Sirianni had more depth he could decrease Reagor’s load. But he needs three receivers to run his offense, and Greg Ward (see: dropped goal line pass) and JJ Arcega-Whiteside (another high draft pick whiff) aren’t going to cut it.

And maybe there’s hope for Reagor. There’s something to be said for accountability. He could have easily dodged the podium, but he faced the firestorm “to take ownership of what happened” on Sunday. He has apparently followed through on his spring decree of ignoring social media trolls. But it has gotten ugly here in Philadelphia, and this show typically doesn’t end well.

Jalen Hurts won’t be defined by one bad game, nor several good ones. But the Eagles now have a 16-game sample as a starter from which to evaluate the quarterback. It spans two seasons, two coaches, and two offenses, not to mention the other qualifiers that could support both sides of the argument, but it is a season’s worth of material.

Hurts completed 280 of 484 passes (57.9%) for 3,354 yards (6.9 per attempt) and 18 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. His passer rating is 82.1. He had 168 carries for 967 yards (5.8 average) and 11 touchdowns. The Eagles went 6-10 in those games. The numbers don’t quite tell the entire story, but they are fairly representative of his early tenure. They’re also in line with the statistics for many previous “rookie” quarterbacks, especially multidimensional ones like Hurts.

Sunday’s three-interception, 17.5-rating performance clearly altered those numbers. Hurts, for the most part, has avoided turnovers. But the figure that stands out is his completion percentage. He has been more accurate this season (60.1%) vs. last (52.0), so there has been improvement. But the former number isn’t going to cut it, especially when his decreasing number of attempts is considered. There were glimpses of throwing development from the pocket — and one bad game may be just a hiccup — but he has only five more games to further his cause.

The Eagles may give him another year, of course, but I’m not convinced they’re convinced he’s worth the patience. A lot will depend on who else is available in the draft or via trade. But it would be malpractice if Howie Roseman didn’t seriously explore the idea. He’s on track to have three first-rounders next year. If Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson is gettable, don’t you at least make the offer? There are other holes on the roster, but if Hurts can’t become a top-10 passer, does it even matter if the Eagles’ defense is mid-tier?

These are all questions Roseman and Sirianni will have to ask themselves in about six weeks. We’re not quite there yet, of course. Odds are Hurts will bounce back. The kid is resilient and has already defied some critics. But yesterday’s outing will be hard to overcome. Sirianni has taken a lot of heat for Reagor getting more targets than Smith and Goedert combined. And some of that is justified. But Hurts was mostly at fault there. His three interceptions were on throws to Watkins, Boston Scott and Reagor.

The Eagles running the ball is still the winning formula. The analytics, of course, suggest otherwise, at least in the long term. But if the Eagles want to make the playoffs — and, sure, why not? — they should stick to the identity they found a month ago. I get the idea that Sirianni should just drop Hurts into the deep end and run his pass-oriented offense. If he can’t swim against the Giants, Jets, and Redskins, he probably isn’t the answer.

But I’ve long subscribed to an incremental plan that favors a ground attack with Hurts’ involvement, complemented by passing that gives Hurts more to do as weeks progress. The Eagles want to see him playing in meaningful games down the stretch. They don’t want to see him sink, as he often did in the first half of the season when the offensive onus was placed on his shoulders.

Scott and Miles Sanders rushed for 128 yards on 24 combined carries. That’s a more-than-respectable 5.3 per-carry-average. Hurts totaled 77 yards on eight totes. The Giants had no answers for the zone read game. But the quarterback threw on 11 of the Eagles’ first 16 plays. He hit on six, but the Giants’ zone coverage confounded Hurts then and for most of the day. They didn’t exactly stack the box, but Sirianni took whatever bait they cast early on.

Sanders injured his ankle in the second half. He returned at one point, but Sirianni said Scott’s hot hand factored into his late-game usage. Scott finished with 15 carries and 34 snaps to Sanders’ nine and 22. It wasn’t exactly an endorsement for Sanders, who has had a star-crossed season. Scott, of course, would have a costly fumble on the Eagles’ penultimate drive.

The Eagles offensive line continued to survive losses. Center Jason Kelce left for a spell with a knee injury. Nate Herbig was his replacement and had two holding penalties that negated long runs, the last a 21-yard touchdown scoot by Scott. Jack Driscoll left late with an ankle injury and was replaced by Herbig at right guard.

Tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, meanwhile, had strong outings. Left guard Landon Dickerson was clearing out running lanes at will. And Jeff Stoutland’s run designs had the Giants guessing throughout the day, even though two men were down at various points.

Kelce was clearly hindered after he returned. Scott spoke about the Eagles’ iron man — the 11-year center hasn’t missed a start in 117 games — after the game.

“Just a tenacious dude,” Scott said of Kelce. “He’s the embodiment of this team. He’s the embodiment, in my opinion, of Philadelphia. Just gritty, nasty. You might knock him, but he’s going to get right back up. He’s going to work hard. Blue-collar.”

His availability for Sunday’s game against the Jets is uncertain, but it would unwise to bet against Kelce.

The Eagles’ defense is still not getting enough pressure. Jonathan Gannon’s unit had an overall solid performance. When you can hold any team to 13 points on the road, it should be enough. That said, the Giants didn’t have much going for them entering the game. Their offensive coordinator had just been fired, their offensive line had been among the NFL’s worst, and quarterback Daniel Jones had become a turnover machine again.

Gannon didn’t trick up much of his scheme. He blitzed a little less than he had the last four games — 20.6% — but a little more than he has overall. Jones completed 6 of 7 passes for 67 yards when he saw more than five rushers. Gannon played about the same amount of zone (78%) as he has all season. But he received a stout effort against the run. Aside from a 32-yard burst by Saquon Barkley, Giants running backs rushed 15 times for 18 yards on their other carries.

But the Eagles couldn’t force turnovers and Jones didn’t face enough heat — 11 pressures, per PFF — on his 31 drops. He got the ball out relatively quick, but aside from Jones gifting Javon Hargrave a sack on a late third down forfeiture, the Eagles never got to the quarterback. All told, the Eagles have just 19 sacks, and are 30th in the NFL in sacks per pass play.

Extra point. It starts with the Eagles’ first four up front — Fletcher Cox, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat and Hargrave — but Ryan Kerrigan has been a disappointing addition. The veteran end made only his second appearance on the official NFL stat sheet in 12 games. He was credited with only his second tackle on the season. Kerrigan has gotten a few pressures, but two tackles in 245 snaps is negligible no matter how you parse it.