After worrying more than a few fans by being absent from the open portion of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Friday afternoon practice, DeVonta Smith’s status for Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars was suddenly called into question.
Well, fear not, Eagles fans, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer shot those concerns down on the spot, informing fans that
Phew, now that could have been really bad.
In Week 8, the Eagles unleashed Smith in a major way after famously earning -2 yards against the New York Giants the previous week, catching six of the seven balls thrown his way for 85 yards and a touchdown. With Doug Pederson’s Jaguars on the books in Week 9 and Dallas Week Part 1 following close behind, Smith will undoubtedly be a huge part of the Eagles’ plans moving forward.
Nick Sirianni praises DeVonta Smith for his toughness
Speaking of Smith’s overall toughness heading into Week 9, Nick Sirianni was asked about Smith’s ability to finish plays at the sideline and keep things going through contact when he could simply step out of bounds. For Sirianni, the reason is simple: Smith and his fellow starters, AJ Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Dallas Goedert are tough.
“Yeah, you want to be physically tough in everything that you do. There’s a time and place to step out of bounds. There’s a time and place to put your head down and finish the run. When you do put your head down and finish the run, it brings a lot of energy to the sideline, it brings a lot of energy to the game. Just like a big-time catch would [with] the energy that happens on the sideline.
“We show those. We actually show those and are like, ‘Here’s our standard of how we finish on the sideline.’ Now, I’ve had receivers that were smaller receivers that I didn’t want to do that at all times. But [WR] DeVonta [Smith] is so tough, [WR] A.J. [Brown] is tough, [RB] Saquon [Barkley] is tough, [TE] Dallas [Goedert]. I think if you really go back and look at all of Dallas’s clips, when he has an opportunity to go out of bounds or be violent on the sidelines, he’s choosing to be violent. And it sparks your team. It’s like a big hit.
“I think a similar question would be how do you teach a guy to knock the crap out of somebody or just get him down, right? It’s the same deal. As far as the ball security goes, you’re always thinking about how you have the ball on your outside arm. That way you can do what you need to do on the sideline. If you have the ball on your inside arm, it’s hard to play pound on the sideline, or it’s hard to use your stiff arm on the sideline. We always teach the ball security of having it on your outside arm. That way if you do have a fumbling issue, something that pops out, at least it pops out to the side, where the out of bounds is.”
While the Eagles will still almost certainly be without Goedert in Week 9 – even if Grant Calcaterra is killing it as his replacement – having Smith, Brown, and Barkley against the Jaguars’ 31st-ranked passing defense should be enough to turn the tide in South Philly and keep the post-bye wins streak going into Dallas Week.
