Quez Watkins says he’s an elite receiver. He’d better prove it, or his Eagles career might be toast.

What color is the sky in Quez Watkins’ world? There he was on the field after the Eagles practiced Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex, a gaggle of media around him, and he had a point to make.

“I’m an elite receiver,” he said. “I feel like after this year and years to come, I’m going to put that on display.”

Quez Watkins, who caught 33 passes last season. Who averaged a meager 10.7 yards on those 33 catches — a drop of more than 4 yards per reception from 2021. Who scored all of three touchdowns. Quez Watkins. Elite?

“[Bleep], we in Year 4,” he said. “It’s crunch time. Honestly, I’m in that mindset: [Bleep], I’m elite. I’m one of the ones you should be working with.”

Quez Watkins, whose Week 10 fumble against the Washington Commanders — after he’d hauled in a deep pass from Jalen Hurts and had nothing but turf between him and a go-ahead touchdown — might have been the only thing stopping the Eagles from going unbeaten last season with Hurts as their starting quarterback. Quez Watkins, who dropped a similar pass from Hurts in Super Bowl LVII, a mistake that forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of matching the Chiefs touchdown for touchdown in the second half.

Quez Watkins, who has never had more than 43 receptions in any of his three seasons with the Eagles. Who is their No. 3 wideout at best, behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Who inspired such confidence with his spotty play last season that they signed Olamide Zaccheaus — who put up better numbers with the Falcons, and with lower-quality quarterback play, than Watkins — to challenge him for that slot-receiver spot.

“It’s competition,” Watkins said. “This is the big leagues. Got to play ball. It’s not about what you did last year or the year before. It’s what you’re doing now.”

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That Quez Watkins? Elite? By what definition? By what standard? There is the self-assurance that every professional athlete must possess even to stay employed as a professional athlete, let alone thrive as a professional athlete. And then there is whatever Watkins was displaying Tuesday. You could call it overconfidence. You could call it delusion. Whatever it is, if it’s helping him — and it apparently has been — he should keep it up. He needs to meet his own expectations, no matter how absurdly high they might seem. He’s in a contract year.

“He’s highly, highly motivated,” offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said. “He’s obviously very, very talented, and that group in general, as with a lot of groups, this being the third year of the offense, there’s a level of confidence that comes with knowing exactly what to do, knowing the adjustments that need to happen before they even happen. Quez has been no different.”

To Watkins’ credit, the Eagles’ coaches have been praising him like that for weeks now.

“I love his attitude,” Nick Sirianni said in June, “and I’ve said this to him, and I have no problem saying it here: Some people around here — and it’s not in this building, we have a ton of confidence in Quez Watkins — but I kind of sense from him — he’s never said this — but ‘Oh, some people think I stink? Wait. Wait.’ That’s how he’s attacked every day. That’s how he’s attacked practices, and I think that he looks really good.”

Does Quez Watkins stink? No, Quez Watkins does not stink. And in fairness, he did suffer a Grade 3 sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder in the Eagles’ early December victory over the Tennessee Titans. Only in May, a couple of weeks before organized team activities, could Watkins start doing push-ups again. He said he’s fully healthy again, so perhaps that’s the biggest reason of all for his strong play so far in camp. Bigger even than his willingness to talk himself up, like he was Brown or Smith or Justin Jefferson or Davante Adams or any number of wide receivers who have been more accomplished and productive in the NFL than he has.

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Which was the funny part of listening to him Tuesday. No, Quez Watkins does not stink, but he is not, by any definition or standard, an elite receiver, either. And if he doesn’t fill the role that the Eagles need him to fill — stretch the defense, open up underneath routes for other receivers, catch those long passes that Hurts heaves his way — they can find someone else to fill it. And they will.

But don’t worry. Quez Watkins has got this. Just ask him.

“It’s a different season,” he said. “It’s a different me.”

For his sake, it had better be.