Nelson Agholor did something last Thursday that he hadn't done since early September. He caught a touchdown pass.
It was a big one too. A 40-yard bomb in the second quarter off the hand of Carson Wentz in the win over the Giants. It was the second-longest catch of his career and one of the longest touchdowns of the year for the Eagles.
It was a big play. It just wasn't a breakthrough, according to offensive coordinator Frank Reich. Not yet.
"You know, obviously it was a nice play. Shows his speed. He did a good job," Reich said on Tuesday. "I think the only way to get breakthroughs is to do something over and over again consistently. This league's too tough to be just a flash here or there. I think we all know that, Nelson knows that, every player knows that.
"You have to do it week-in and week-out, play-in and play-out. But you take every positive step that comes along and that was certainly a good one."
This season and throughout his short career, Agholor hasn't been able to play well week-in and week-out.
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Agholor's touchdown catch against the Giants was his first since the opener against the Browns, when he caught a 35-yard touchdown against Joe Haden. It took him most of the season before he found the end zone again.
After Thursday's win, his fellow receiver and big-time proponent Jordan Matthews said Agholor doesn't want to be a "one-hit wonder."
Agholor, the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, has mostly been a disappointment since his arrival in the NFL. The Eagles were relying on his having a breakthrough season in 2016 and it simply hasn't happened. He has just 36 catches for 365 yards and the two touchdowns.
During the season, Agholor admitted that the pressure of playing in the NFL with the Eagles was getting to him. He was pressing too much. It got so bad that head coach Doug Pederson benched him for a mental health day against the Packers.
Since then, Agholor has been a little better - nine catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in four games - but not as good as a first-rounder is expected to be.
"I think going into the year, each one of us, you have high expectations," Reich said. "I'm sure for all of us, and I'm sure for Nelson included, we would have liked to have won more games, we would have liked to have done better as an offense in a lot of areas. I'm sure each individual player has goals that they want to meet. I'm guessing Nelson was saying, ‘Hey in these areas, I'm doing well, would have liked to have a few more big plays, a lot more catches.' Some of that he has some say over, some of it he doesn't. The ball just didn't go his way a ton. Those are things that you just ... you control what you control, you play hard.
"And one thing I can say about Nelson is, he practices hard, he plays hard. And I still maintain that I think good things are going to come his way."
