Getty Quez Watkins and DeVonta Smith are part of a dangerous receiving corps for the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles.
It was getting easy to forget how good DeVonta Smith is. The second-year receiver is a smooth route-runner, with sneaky fast wheels. On Sunday, Smith put it all on display during his first practice since injuring his groin on August 4.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts targeted Smith early and often, giving him more looks than A.J. Brown and Quez Watkins. He beat James Bradberry streaking down the field on a deep touchdown. Smith told reporters the extra workload wasn’t planned, but it was appreciated. Hurts has a very skilled group of pass-catchers, especially with the under-the-radar addition of Zach Pascal.
“We all create space for each other,” Smith told reporters. “I mean, with all of us being out there, and everybody being able to play every position, and everybody able to do everything, it makes it hard for defenses to just focus on one guy because they have to worry about everybody.”
.@DeVontaSmith_6 on the depth of the wide receivers.
Smith showed no sign of rust despite sitting out so long. He put his groin health at 100-percent, adding that he “attacked his rehab” and used the time to coach his teammates up. Remember, Smith was present at every practice doing individual work. He was taking notes and serving as another coach out there.
“I feel like that’s with anybody that’s not participating in practice, you always watch and see what everybody’s doing,” Smith said. “You always turn into kind of a coach out there because, at the end of the day, you still got to be engaged because when you come back things are going to be faster because you’ve been out so long.”
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Quez Watkins Showcasing Skills, Speed
Quez Watkins caused a stir when he boldly declared that he was the fastest guy in the NFL. When asked again about that claim, Watkins doubled down and gave a reason why.
“It’s just the confidence that I have in myself, and what I have put forward and what I’m capable of,” Watkins said. “I’m not really worried about no clock. I can go step for step with anybody.”
Watkins turned in an impressive performance in Friday’s preseason opener. He made two catches for 32 yards, including a leaping 28-yard gain on the first offensive play. He was lined up in the slot on that one and ran a great route to get open. He’s been working on “small detail” all summer.
“College, I was just running. I was just faster and more athletic than everybody,” Watkins said. “And now, it’s like everybody is pros, everybody is at the highest level, so now it just comes down to technique and the smallest detail.”
Two Eagles Make NFL Network’s Top 100 List
NFL Network started rolling out their “Top 100 Players of 2022” as voted on by the players themselves. Jason Kelce (No. 71) and Darius Slay (No. 77) were the lone Eagles to crack the Top 51.
The full list hasn’t been revealed yet. It’ll be interesting to see if and where guys like Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata might fall in the rankings.
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