Eagles' Nelson Agholor stays true to his roots during rookie season

ON HIS WAY home from the NovaCare Complex Monday night, Nelson Agholor had a lot on his mind.

The rookie receiver had come to the facility on the Eagles' off day to get some lifting in, catch some balls on the JUGS machine and work off any leftover frustration from his up-and-down performance in the loss to the Washington Redskins the day before, which featured his spectacular, one-handed catch and fumbled reverse opportunity on consecutive plays.

Agholor, 22, was minutes from home when he telephoned one of his most cherished confidants.

"He was real disappointed in the fumble, but I just think it's more like, 'Hey, I've learned from it and I've got to get better,' " said Dominick Ciao, Agholor's high school football coach at Berkeley Prep in Tampa, Fla., from 2007-11. "He made a great catch. He never spoke about his catch. To him, it's just about getting better."

Ciao said he wasn't even remotely surprised Agholor didn't bring up his career-best, 45-yard reception during their conversation.

"That's just his makeup," Ciao said.

Agholor's phone calls with Ciao have become a weekly routine since his days as a freshman at Southern California in 2012, when he struggled to carve out a role in the passing game as a backup behind future NFL receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.

The calls aren't always long, and they're not always about football, either. Sometimes, it's just a "Hey, how are things?"

"He's a very loyal young man, and he hasn't forgotten his roots," Ciao said. "He always includes the old coach."

One of the most memorable calls for Ciao came at 10 a.m. on the day of Agholor's graduation from Berkeley Prep. The first words out of Agholor's mouth were, "Coach, thank you for everything."

With every accomplishment comes a call to his old coach.

"When he got drafted in the NFL and all these things are happening, he said to me, 'Coach, again, thanks for everything,' and, 'Dreams come true,' because I used to tell him that," Ciao said. "And the next thing he said was, 'Don't ever let me change.' "

By all accounts, Agholor hasn't changed. He's the same polite young man whom Ciao reveres for his composure and loyalty. But his early season performance, like the Eagles' 1-3 start, has been largely underwhelming.

Agholor, the 20th overall pick in this year's draft, enters tomorrow's 1 p.m. matchup with the New Orleans Saints having reeled in seven catches, on 16 targets, for a grand total of 100 yards. And more than half of Agholor's receiving yards came against Washington, as he grabbed three balls for 64 yards.

Granted, the Eagles' offense, namely quarterback Sam Bradford, hasn't been as good as advertised, but the hype was certainly there for Agholor, coming off 104 catches for 1,313 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior at USC.

Agholor, a 6-1 native of Lagos, Nigeria, said his transition to the professional game has been both mental and physical. He specifically referenced his performance against Washington.

"I think it's embracing all of it," Agholor said. "You talk about a high and a low in the game of football . . . You have a great opportunity to make a play, and then you're given another opportunity and you don't capitalize on it. I feel like what you do as a player is you grow from that."

In addition to his fumble, Agholor gave Eagles fans another headache when he caused an illegal formation penalty that negated an 11-yard touchdown catch by tight end Zach Ertz, which would have cut Washington's lead to seven before halftime.

"I thought I did a good job telling him I was off the ball, but I can't leave it up to the ref, so that's the most important thing - can't leave it up to officials," Agholor said.

Second-year wideout Jordan Matthews, who leads the Eagles' 2015 receivers with 25 catches for 281 yards, remembers what it was like to be in Agholor's rookie cleats.

Yes, the Eagles were a much different team last season. But Matthews, the 42nd pick in the 2014 draft, didn't exactly pop off the charts in his first action going up against NFL defenders, either. Through his first two games, the Vanderbilt product had only three catches for 54 yards - and then, a week later, he burned Washington for eight catches and two touchdowns.

Matthews said he thinks Agholor's breakout performance could be right around the corner if he stays true to the work ethic he has displayed thus far as a rookie.

"He is working at it. He does take it personally when he doesn't do well, and all these people can say whatever they want to say, but there's no harder critic on Nelson Agholor than Nelson Agholor," Matthews said. "I think he's going to come out of it fine, he's going to continue to work and he's going to end up being a great player because of it."

Regardless of whether Agholor breaks out against New Orleans, you can rest assured that Ciao will utter six prophetic words to his former player when his phone rings, however many hours after the game.

"I always tell him, 'You are destined for great things,' " Ciao said. "As a young man, I looked at him, and I told him he was destined for great things, and I continue to tell him that."

Linebackers Kiko Alonso (knee) and Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) have been ruled out for tomorrow, meaning rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks will make his second career start, alongside DeMeco Ryans, Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin . . . Defensive end Brandon Bair (groin) is out, and defensive ends Taylor Hart (shoulder) and Cedric Thornton (hand) are probable . . . Left tackle Jason Peters (quadriceps) was a full participant in practice yesterday and was listed as questionable . . . Right tackle Lane Johnson (knee), left guard Allen Barbre (groin), cornerback Byron Maxwell (quad) and safety Chris Maragos (quad) were also full participants and are listed as probable.