Adrian Fedkiw
Nelson Agholor has two drops since his “I don’t want to hear about the drops” rant two weeks ago, including a key one on third down Sunday.
Philadelphia’s patience with the second-year wide receiver is wearing thin.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, however, still has all the confidence in Agholor. He talked about it during his weekly appearance on the WIP Morning Show on Monday.
“I’ve got all the confidence in Nelson,” he said. “That’s the thing as a coach. And I know maybe people on the outside don’t believe that, whatever, and want to kick him to the curb, but I’m not going to kick him to the curb because he’s one of mine. He’s one of ours. And we’re going to continue to work and build his confidence. As athletes, we put ourselves in those situations mentally too where, ‘Hey when the ball comes to me I’m gonna make the play.’”
Agholor’s drop Sunday came on a 3rd-and-2 with 4:04 remaining and the Eagles up 21-15. Carson Wentz’s throw to him was low and behind, but Agholor got his hands on it and wasn’t able to haul it in. A potential catch would’ve allowed Philadelphia to run the clock even further and make Atlanta use its timeouts.
1st of all, I’m running the ball up the middle. 2nd of all, NELSON AGHOLOR SUCKS!! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/KA9nkEwpY7
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Pederson’s thoughts?
“We just have to make those plays when we get the opportunity,” Pederson said. “It is unfortunate, but at the same time we continue to keep working on those. Carson has to look at himself too, the protection was good, we gotta make sure the throws are right. For those plays to work it takes everybody and we just have to keep working in that area.”
Agholor finished with two catches and just seven yards. He has 27 receptions for 264 yards and a touchdown so far this season. Jordan Matthews and Agholor were the only wide receivers to catch passes yesterday, combining for eight. The running backs and tight ends, meanwhile, totaled 17. Pederson stated that he will not be making any lineup changes at receiver.
“Right now we only have the four receivers that are active each week and we’re playing and we’re rotating all four guys. So no from that standpoint,” he said.
Philadelphia’s other options at wide receiver, Dorial Green-Beckham and Bryce Treggs, were not targeted.
You can listen to the entire interview below.