ANAHEIM, Calif. -- There was a time this season where Torrey Smith looked like the deep threat the Eagles expected.
When he caught that 59-yard touchdown pass in Week 5 against Arizona, things were going swimmingly. Through five games, he had 13 catches for 204 yards, an average of 15.69 yards per catch.
That was a long time ago.
Since that game, Smith hasn't had a catch of more than 11 yards.
"I'm not worried at all," Smith said from the locker room at Angel Stadium this week. "Now, if I was out there getting locked down and couldn't run past somebody, I'd be a little nervous because that's been my strength. But it's the same old thing to me."
Smith, 28, claims he's still been blowing past defenders this season, but the ball simply isn't coming his way. The flow of the game. There's only one football to go around. All that stuff.
But the stark difference from the first five games to the last seven is pretty glaring. In the first five, Smith had catches of 59, 30, 24, 22, 14 and 14. And he hasn't had one over 11 yards since.
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For whatever reason, Smith hasn't been the deep threat the Eagles brought him to Philly to be. He hasn't even been the same deep threat he was earlier this season.
"It's been a few games," offensive coordinator Frank Reich admitted. "We have stuff in every week to get our guys, all of our receivers vertical. Every week we make sure that there are opportunities to get the ball downfield to each one of those guys."
Reich said sometimes the deep ball plays for Smith don't get called. He said sometimes the coverage takes the play away. Sometimes it's a combination of the two, he claimed. Reich maintained that Smith still has the speed to get open.
Carson Wentz attributed the lack of Smith's explosive plays to the flow of the game. He said there have been times where he just didn't go Smith's way; he went somewhere else, but Smith was open.
Over those last seven games, Smith has occasionally lost playing time to rookie Mack Hollins, who was regarded as a deep threat at North Carolina. Smith technically signed a three-year deal, but the last two are basically option years for the Eagles. The writing might be on the wall if Smith can't start making big plays again.
To Smith's credit, he has been pretty unique in terms of the rate he draws defensive pass interference calls. Those count for the team but not in his stat line (see story).
But the Eagles didn't bring Smith to town to draw penalties. They brought him in to make plays down the field.
Those haven't come recently.
"It's not like I haven't still been open on certain things," Smith said. "Haven't lost a step. Plenty of times I've blown by guys. But sometimes the ball doesn't go your way all the time. You have to be ready when it does come."
