“It’s a humbling experience:” Jalen Reagor sheds light on his current status with the Eagles
Jalen Reagor has gotten a lot of heat during his short time with the Eagles.
As a first-round pick back in 2020, expectations were high for the former TCU wideout. He had the speed and elusiveness to be a real playmaker for the Eagles offense and it was clear at the time that Howie Roseman valued that deep threat potential over everything.
Two lackluster seasons later, the former first-round pick is fighting for a roster spot during Eagles training camp. The additions of AJ Brown and Zach Pascal, along with the emergence of DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins, have pushed Reagor down the depth chart dramatically.
At this point, earning a starting gig is out of the question for the TCU product. Now, his focus is on making the team.
When speaking with reporters after practice on Wednesday, Reagor opened up about his current stature with the Eagles for the first time.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Reagor said. “You go from a first-rounder pick to you’re battling. I like challenges, though.”
For the first time during his Eagles tenure, the 23-year-old receiver is showing signs of maturity and self awareness. Just last week, Reagor received some criticism from NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark via Twitter. The wideout wasn’t pleased with what Clark had to say, firing off this since-deleted Tweet.
Reagor responding to John Clark
Reagor promptly deleted the Tweet after getting dragged by Eagles fans and media members alike.
Fast forward a week, he seems determined to right his wrongs and build a respectable career here in Philly.
“I want to be here for the rest of my career,” Reagor said. “But it’s a business. It’s a business of production. So I’m going to handle my end and I’m going to let them handle theirs.”
Not only has the wideout struggled to produce during his two-year NFL career, he’s dealt with a handful of personal tragedies that have clearly affected his mental state.
Right before the start of camp last year, one of Reagor’s childhood friends was murdered, causing the wideout to miss a portion of camp. In January, he lost his grandmother. In May, he lost another close friend and former TCU teammate, cornerback Jeff Gladney of the Arizona Cardinals.
The death of loved ones is hard to deal with for anyone, let alone a 23-year-old kid fighting for his NFL career.
Nevertheless, he showed up ready to prove his worth this season. He arrived at camp in shape and has had a solid showing thus far working primarily with the second-team. His new-found dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
“We’ve had no issues this year like stuff that happened last year, [when Reagor] kind of came in out of shape,” Eagles receivers coach Aaron Moorehead told reporters. “He came in in as good a shape as anybody in the whole camp this year and it shows.”
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With trade rumors swirling and his job on the line, Reagor understood what he had to do this offseason. Aside from putting in the work to ensure he was in great shape entering camp, Reagor is finally clocked in on the mental side of things.
“I’m here mentally now,” he said. “It’s easy to be out here, but physically that’s a little part of the game. Being here mentally [is most important].”
At this moment, Reagor doesn’t have many supporters in this city and understandably so. Regardless of your thoughts on the kid, this kind of maturity and growth is exactly the kind of things we need to continue seeing out of the wideout.
Philly loves a good redemption story. If Reagor can turn his career around here with the Eagles, his redemption arc will be one of the most memorable and unexpected in team history.
Mandatory Credit: Getty Images
