Carson Wentz threw an incomplete pass on third down toward the end of the last 11-on-11 full contact session in Thursday’s Eagles practice at training camp.
Head coach Doug Pederson held up a fist, saying “fourth down, one more” to encourge Wentz to huddle up with the offense near the 36-yard line as they plotted one final play before heading to the showers.
Wentz dropped back, saw Nelson Agholor streaking for the end zone and let it fly.
“Carson called a check, I saw where the safety was and in my head I was thinking six just like he was,” Agholor said.
After making a circus over the shoulder catch and keeping possession after hard contact in the corner of the end zone, nine of Agholor’s offensive teammates put on a little show for the fans in attedence (showing up the defense) as they assembled like nine bowling pins. Agholor took the football and rolled a “perfect strike” as they all fell down.
“It actually felt great laying on that ground for a couple seconds,” Wendell Smallwood, the running back on the field at the time said of the bowling celebration. “There was a little controversy out there to get it right.”
“Anytime you see a really cool extra celebration, it’s Jordan Matthews man,” Agholor would say afterwards, crediting his wide receiver teammate for coming up with the celebration.
But of course what made it possible was the fourth down touchdown catch by Agholor, a player who has had quite the up and down experience during his first two NFL seasons. One of several impressive catches he’s made during training camp thus far, all but assuring him a spot on the 53-man roster in a loaded wide recieving core.
“The number of big plays he’s making and the consistency at which he is making them,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said when asked what has impressed him about Agholor this summer, “his route running, his ball catching, he’s in a good spot right now.”
Agholor, who was all smiles in the locker room after Thursday’s practice, beamed with confidence — confidence he struggled with in 2016 but that he says “is between you and the mirror,” and no one else.
“It’s habits,” he said. “You form the right habits it will transition. [Practice] is just as hard as a game. We are going good on good, this is the NFL everyone gets paid. If I am going against Jalen Mills, C.J. Smith, whoever, it’s just like going against another team.”
