Giants fans could nod knowingly. They had seen this Jalen Reagor before.
The same hyped wide receiver, who dropped a pass at the goal line in late November that would have knocked off the Giants, still has not figured out how to hold onto the ball, making a number of key errors in the Eagles’ blowout wild-card loss to the Buccaneers.
There were plenty of guys that deserved blame for the Eagles’ 31-15 defeat, but Reagor — who has drawn the ire of Philly fans all season — could do nothing right.
The 21st overall pick in 2020 — ahead of All-Pro Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson — finished with one catch for two yards. But he did his most damage (to his own team, that is) through special teams.
The Eagles have tried different ways this season to get the speedy receiver the ball, through jet sweeps and through punt returns. They paid for the mistake in the third quarter, when Tampa punted from near their end zone. The Eagles were down 17-0 but had just stopped Tom Brady, and were set to get the ball around midfield with a chance to get back into the game.
Bradley Pinion angled his punt toward the sideline. Reagor chased, did not get directly under it and lunged to make the catch. It went right through his hands, and the Bucs recovered. Five plays later, the Bucs had a commanding 24-0 lead.
“That’s a big mistake,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters, via NJ.com, about Reagor’s muffed punt. “You always are going to be like, ‘Hey, what’s the next approach? Does Greg Ward go back there?’ Well, Greg Ward had had back spasms, and he was out. So we would have explored that option.”
They did not have another alternative to retrieve punts, so Reagor got another chance in the fourth – and promptly dropped the punt again. He recovered that one but didn’t make anything happen.
This all came after a moment in the first half, when Reagor went back to field another punt but misjudged the ball in the air. The ball landed and bounced an additional 10-plus yards backwards, worsening the Eagles’ field position.
“He’s going to want those plays back,” Sirianni said. “We’ll get back to the drawing board and fix those things.”
They cannot fix the mistake that it looks as if they made in the 2020 draft, when they chose the TCU receiver one pick ahead of Justin Jefferson, who has eclipsed 1,400 yards in each of his first two Pro Bowl seasons.
Reagor has not eclipsed 400 in either.
“Cut Jalen Reagor” was a trending topic in Philadelphia during the game. Such a move would be surprising, but Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are sorely lacking the type of receiver Reagor was hoped to be.