Day-After Notes: Agholor Zones In On Miscues

The good was OK and the bad was good in the mind of Nelson Agholor.

Asked about the 34-yard snatch-and-sprint touchdown, in which he showed off his athleticism, hands and speed in one seven-second burst, he responded by saying he is not the fastest guy in the world and in that circumstance was fortunate enough to finish.

Agholor had three catches for 57 yards (19.0 avg.) and the TD in his preseason debut for the Eagles. It was the imperfections, though, that seemed top of mind when he addressed reporters in the locker room Sunday.

“Yeah,” he promptly responded when asked if there were plays he’d like to have back. “I definitely would have loved to get back two third-down situations. One of them was an in crossing route. It’s considered a basic route and I felt like I could have come to the ball a little bit more, attacked the ball in the middle of the seam, there. Then there was one on the sideline [the one from Matt Barkley that he dropped]. I need to work on just finding the ball in the air and not looking who is throwing the ball. I think my eyes went to the quarterback.

“At the end of the day, I like the fact that that happened today to be honest with you. It’s a good thing to learn from. I look at what probably messed up my timing, because sometimes when I return to the quarterback, I can see both. But, different things happened today that were good.”

Gardner gets first crack at RG

Chip Kelly downplayed the significance of Andrew Gardner getting the start at right guard, saying it was just his turn in the rotation and that others will get an opportunity before a decision is made.

Might he be emerging as the leader, though? Gardner has had the most reps with the ones to this point in training camp, and appeared to play pretty well in the short time he and the first-team were on the field Sunday (11 snaps).

“I’ve played played next to Gardner both last year and this offseason, so he really didn’t do anything surprising out there,” said Jason Kelce. “Every time he’s been put in the mix and every time he’s played right guard he’s done a pretty solid job for us. We had a really good double-team block on one play and as far as I know in pass protection he held up pretty darn well.

“I think I speak for the entire team when I say we’re confident in Andrew Gardner, we’re confident in a couple other guys that have been rotating at that spot.”

Bailey makes the leap

Local product Rasheed Bailey made a pair of tough catches against the Colts, including a one-handed snare of a high Tim Tebow pass along the left side for an 18-yard pickup. Kelly was impressed, particularly given how new the big stage is for the rookie out of DelVal.

“He’s been really good.  That’s the one thing about Rasheed, he’s got outstanding hands.  He may not be as fast as some of those other guys, but I think he’s a really good route runner.  You talk about the jump that he made coming from Roxborough High School and playing at DelVal, and then all of a sudden he’s playing in the Linc against the Indianapolis Colts. That’s a pretty big jump for anybody,” said Kelly.

“I was anxious to see what his response would be.  If there was any kid or any player on our team that could be a little starry eyed, it would have been him, but he wasn’t.  He was out there, it was all about business, wanted to make plays and made a nice catch on our sideline on a key out route and then that catch he made coming down on the seam ball from Timmy. I thought Tim put it in the only place he could put it, because it was pretty good coverage, but for him to come up with it was a big time catch on his part.”

Snap Counts

Kelly was able to divvy the snaps up evenly between Tebow (34) and Matt Barkley (35). Mark Sanchez played 11 snaps…Bennie Logan‘s  impressive outing (three tackles, more impact plays) looks all the more so when you consider he was only on the field for nine plays…Josh Huff had a quiet 14 snaps on offense (zero catches, one target)…John Moffitt was the co-leader on the team with 61 snaps. Ed Reynolds (54) led the way on defense, followed by Eric Rowe (48), Jaylen Watkins (47) and Marcus Smith (46).