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Boos raining down at Lincoln Financial Field are nothing new. The greatest of the greats have endured the wrath of Eagles fans, including Donovan McNabb and Randall Cunningham. You could say it’s a rite of passage in South Philly.
So when those boos reached the ears of Jalen Reagor during a recent home game, he laughed. Out loud. Yes, he thought it was comical. Why? Maybe because those off-putting jeers quickly turned into cheers after he took a kick return back 39 yards.
“It was funny, honestly,” Reagor told reporters. “Derek Barnett, he told me to just embrace that type of stuff because it shows they are paying attention. So that’s like the saying once a coach stops yelling at you, stops coaching you, then you should be worried. I mean, it was kind of funny. It was funny to hear the boos and then hearing my teammates say, ‘Bro, don’t worry about it.’ Just knowing they had my back regardless.”
Reagor has had his fair share of uncomfortable run-ins with Philly fans since 2020. There were questionable social media posts that Reagor owned up to and used as motivation. Then, the second-year receiver was bombarded with negativity after dropping two potential game-winning passes in a Week 12 loss.
Through it all Reagor never lost his mojo. Or his confidence. The second-year receiver told special-teams coordinator Michael Clay he was going to explode for a big kick return prior to playing the New York Giants in Week 16. Then he went out and did it.
“I know who I am. I’m going to always say this: I’m not here by accident,” Reagor said. “That’s how I keep my confidence up, and then just remembering what got me here. Just keeping that swagger. I had a feeling I was going to break one. It was building up every week, like I would get 15 yards, 12 yards, 18 yards, Carolina I had 22 yards. So it was like I just knew I was bound to break one.”
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Nick Sirianni, Better Human Than Coach
There doesn’t appear to be any dirt on Nick Sirianni. Poll the Eagles’ locker room and it’s one feel-good story after another about the first-year head coach. That’s rare in an age chock full of Twitter trolls and muck-raking bloggers. Sirianni might win NFL Coach of the Year, but his players think he should be considered for a Humanitarian Award.
“He’s an even better person than people just look at him like ‘oh he’s a coach.’ He shows strong emotion like even when the fans were booing me he was very upset about it,” Reagor said of Sirianni. “When I dropped the pass against New York he was the first person to walk to me, you know, like he walked me all the way through the tunnel. He has our back and I believe he has our back.”
More importantly, Sirianni isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. He trusted his process and parlayed “flower roots” into the playoffs.
“I know everybody has a job to do,” Sirianni said. “My job is to block out the outside noise, whether it’s telling me that I’m really good – and this is how I want our players to think as well – or whether it’s telling me that I stink and that my catchphrases about growing roots stink.”
Eagles List 3 Starters on Practice Report
The Eagles were back out on the practice field on Wednesday, one day after doing a walk-through. The team listed three starters out: RB Miles Sanders (hand), LG Landon Dickerson (thumb), RT Lane Johnson (rest/knee). That’s two straight absences for Dickerson, the rookie guard who has solidified the left side of the offensive line alongside left tackle Jordan Mailata.
If he can’t go, look for Sua Opeta to step in and continue to rise his Tesla stock. Sanders was basically ruled out by Sirianni earlier this week. And Johnson appears to be enjoying the benefits of a few veteran rest days late in the year. Linebacker Shaun Bradley (stinger) and quarterback Jalen Hurts (ankle) were listed as limited participants on Wednesday. Keep an eye on them, too.
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