Doug Pederson: ‘Good Chance’ Nelson Agholor Plays This Week

There’s a “good chance” Nelson Agholor will play on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Doug Pederson revealed Friday morning. Agholor’s status appears to depend on the health of Jordan Matthews, who is questionable this week with an ankle injury and missed practice on Wednesday before being limited on Thursday.

“I plan on keeping him in the mix because of Jordan’s situation right now,” Pederson said. “I got to find out how Jordan does today. Nelson, his mind has been great, his attitude has been really good and he’s been working hard. Right now, nothing says [we’re] not keeping him up, keeping him out. Everything’s leaning toward keeping him active.”

Matthews is the only Eagle who is questionable this week, while Ryan Mathews (knee) and Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee) will be out. Agholor, meanwhile, was benched last week after admitting he wasn’t handling pressure well, but the 2015 first-round pick and his head coach said he’s doing better now.

Pederson also added that he could activate five receivers instead of four, which is how many he’s made available in every game this season.

“That’s something I obviously have to consider,” Pederson said. “It really depends on today and how well Jordan comes out of today and see where he’s at. Again, it’s a short week and getting back out there on Wednesday yesterday was probably — I don’t want to say it hurt him, it was good to put him out there. The decision could be based on how well he does or doesn’t come out of today.”

If Agholor does play, Pederson noted he may give the 23-year-old an early screen to get him going. However, the Eagles’ head coach declined to commit to whether or not Agholor will play because he doesn’t want to “rush into anything.”

“I think about him personally and where he’s at, but at the same time I got to think about the whole football team as well,” Pederson said. “I can’t really worry about the one guy; it’s all the other guys that are dressing and playing that is my concern. Going into the game, if he’s definitely one of the four, then my confidence is 100 percent in him and he’ll be ready to go.”