Jalen Reagor bounces back after rough start to training camp

One of the Eagles who has struggled the most to start training camp has been sophomore wideout, Jalen Reagor. Reagor got off to a bad start after failing his conditioning test and suffering a lower-body injury. When he returned to play, Jalen still wasn’t at his best, while his teammates like DeVonta Smith looked impressive.

While DeVonta Smith is out with his MCL sprain, the Eagles will need Jalen Reagor to step up, and today it looks like he’s having his best practice yet. Reagor was in 11 on 11s and caught what reporters are saying is the best catch of training camp. Against Darius Slay, Reagor had a leaping one-handed catch in the back of the end zone.

Jalen Reagor just made the catch of camp. Leaping one-handed grab in the back of the end zone over Darius Slay in 1-on-1s.
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) August 5, 2021

All through today, Reagor has had a spectacular practice with numerous catches. He grabbed a deep pass from Joe Flacco, and head coach Nick Sirianni celebrated with Reagor on the field. Instead of coming down hard on Reagor for his rough start, Sirianni has been supporting him. One of the main reasons for his troubles was that Jalen lost a childhood best friend right before camp.

“This is like where I can get away,” he said. “Because you go home, you have family checking on you and asking, ‘Are you OK?’ And then I go in the locker room, and I have seven of my teammates checking on me. But they’re also making sure I’m in good spirits. It helps to have the head coach doing the same thing. That’s big.”

Nick Sirianni and his coaches are very active in teaching moments on the field especially with receivers and their foot work and running routes

Jalen Reagor says Nick eased his way in OTAs and now he is very very direct with coaching and holds them accountable pic.twitter.com/s5tJpW359P
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) August 4, 2021

Having a support system in the locker room is vital, and great to see his teammates have his back. But when Jalen Reagor was having issues on the field, Sirianni still held him accountable and coached him up, and Reagor is a fan of that mindset.

“I appreciate coach holding me accountable for all the things going on,” Reagor said. “But that’s all in the past, and I’m just looking forward to the future, and I’m out on the field now, so that’s what I’m pretty much focused on.”

Hopefully, Jalen Reagor can keep this hot streak up for the remainder of camp and prove to the doubters why he was worth a first-round pick. The Eagles’ first preseason game is just a week away on August 12th against the Pittsburgh Steelers.