Reich confident Eagles will get big-weapon contributions from offense

WHAT THE EAGLES seem to lack, most critically, is lethal weapons. Difference-makers on offense.

Maybe you can buy into the idea of a healthy Sam Bradford being productive behind an offensive line no longer hamstrung by Chip Kelly's easy-to-diagnose zone-blocking plays.

Maybe you can get behind the idea that bringing in Jim Schwartz as coordinator, adding Rodney McLeod at safety and going back to the 4-3 can take the Eagles' defense all the way from horrendous to pretty good in one offseason.

But if you're going to build a case for the 2016 Birds as contenders, you also must sell the notion of the guys running the ball and the guys catching it being better than the running and receiving corps for quite a few NFC rivals.

There, we might find ourselves on the nonfootball-related injury list with the notation "strained credulity."

Offensive coordinator Frank Reich was asked about his wide receivers Monday, about what he has noticed there. Reich touted "energy" and "unselfishness." This was not reassuring. It was like asking a basketball coach about the guys he has at the guard position and hearing that they really work hard and they set good picks.

The part about catching footballs, Frank? How's that going?

"Well, as a coach, you don't want any drops, so, no, you want 100 percent catches," Reich said. "So, yeah, that's something that you get in a groove. We've always got to demand the best of ourselves. We expect perfection."

Jordan Matthews has easily been the team's best wide receiver so far, as you might expect, given that Matthews led the team with 85 catches for 997 yards last season, his second in the NFL. Does Matthews have a superstar ceiling? So far, he seems to be more of an Anquan Boldin than an Odell Beckham Jr., most effective in the slot, using his 6-3, 212-pound body for leverage.

But Matthews is getting some work outside in camp, something we might see more of in games if ex-Giant Rueben Randle (6-2, 208) can take some of the slot work, or if Reich and Eagles coach Doug Pederson decide to play Darren Sproles there more than Kelly did.

Matthews touted Randle's mastery of the route tree Monday, noting that he didn't work inside much with the Giants but seems capable of doing that here.

Matthews said the only thing different for him when he moves outside "is the extra defender, the sideline . . . that sideline's not moving; that defender is undefeated. What I'm saying is that your release moves have to be that much better. Coming off the line, you don't have time (to dance or feint) and then get pushed out on a 'go' ball. You gotta go, rip (free yourself from the defender) and then you gotta get up, because the ball's coming out.

"I guess the difference is being way more sudden. At slot, you can come up with a plan as the play's going . . . I'm usually second or third option. A guy might get a good jam on me and I still end up getting free . . . Outside, if you get (jammed) and Sam (Bradford) sees this, play over. He's (moving on to the next progression)."

It would be a huge lift if Nelson Agholor emerged from the fog that seemed to envelop his rookie season and played like a guy a team might draft 20th overall. Former Ram and Raven Chris Givens has shown that lid-lifting speed the 2015 Eagles lacked, but if he's going to be a difference-maker, he sure is taking his time, having put four unimpressive NFL seasons behind him already.

Josh Huff so far seems to be the same guy he's been since he got here: "Did you see that - wow!" followed closely by "Did you see that? Ouch!"

Six other wideouts are running around NovaCare, and one of them might actually make the team, but make a difference? Unlikely.

Maybe the best hope here is for what John Smallwood wrote about in Monday's Daily News - that long-awaited, much-discussed Zach Ertz breakout season into superstardom at tight end. The pattern through Ertz's first three seasons seems to have been for quarterbacks to make him a go-to guy in December. They might try looking his way a bit earlier this time.

Reich's take on what his running backs have shown thus far was more encouraging, even though the presumed lead back, oft-injured Ryan Mathews, hasn't practiced yet because of an ankle injury. Kinda hard to get past that.

Sproles looks spry at 33 (it's just barely August, though), Wendell Smallwood looks promising for a fifth-round draft pick, Kenjon Barner could be that rare Chip guy who survives, Cedric O'Neal shows a strong burst and Byron Marshall looks fluid.

Then again, though the Eagles wore pads twice over the weekend, there was no real tackling. Nobody got popped.

"I think (Smallwood) has really good vision," Reich said. "He's patient in the hole, but then he's got speed through the hole. Kenjon, I think is a really good, all-around back. He can make you miss in the open field. I like his vision. He's doing great in protections. I've been very impressed with him the whole offseason. Of course, when we got here, everyone was in my ear about how good this guy is going to be (as) a player, and that's what we're seeing. Marshall (who missed spring work because Oregon is on the quarter system) has really showed me a couple things here the last couple days. I think he has natural running ability in the open field. He's very elusive, and you see good instincts and vision by him. Ced's got a little more size to him (5-10, 215, heaviest of the rookies), plays a little bigger, plays a little more stout.

"And then, of course, Ryan's not been on the field yet, but it's a good group. It's a good group. Sproles is, I mean, Sproles is Sproles. He's the best."

Watching practice so far, it's hard to quarrel with that last assertion. Running the ball or catching it, Sproles is the guy you notice, the Eagles' No. 1 weapon. Maybe that's why he got that contract extension last week.

Much has been made of the fact that Sproles is an anomaly, a speedy running back and returner entering his 12th NFL season. But during that entire time, Sproles has never once been his team's top gun. If that's really what he is now, the Eagles might be in trouble.

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog