What to make of Jeremy Maclin's performance
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What to make of Jeremy Maclin's performance
Zach Berman
It seemed that with Jeremy Maclin returning to the lineup last week against the New York Giants after missing the preceding game with a hip injury that Maclin would begin fulfilling the promise he seemed poised for this season.
Instead, Maclin recorded just one catch for seven yards. That prompted speculation of whether Maclin was fully recovered from the hip problem. Coach Andy Reid said Wednesday that was not the issue.
“I wouldn’t say it was his hip that was bothering him," Reid said. "It was just how things fell. He had a few plays that were dialed up for him and they had that area covered with their zone coverage. So, you had to go a different direction. That was just by chance. Jeremy, he’s fine. He had that one nice catch there that he ended up breaking to get us a first down. He’s OK.”
Maclin had a strong opener on Sept. 9, catching seven passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. That was also when he initially suffered the hip injury. After missing practice the following week, he managed to play against the Ravens on Sept. 16. Maclin finished with just one catch (a 23-yard touchdown) but left the game when he again hurt his hip.
After missing the Arizona game, he declared himself healthy for Sunday. Yet Maclin did not appear to get open the way he usually does -- nor the way the Eagles need him to this season.
“They did a little bit of everything," quarterback Michael Vick said. "They rolled the coverage at Jeremy a little bit. They really didn’t try to take him away but things were just going in a different direction and Jeremy will have his moments and his days where he gets out there and he’s productive for us. The thing is he can’t get discouraged and [has] to keep fighting.”
Pay attention to the way Maclin plays on Sunday. He appeared on the verge of recording his first 1,000-yard season this year, but nine catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns through the first four weeks won't get him there.
Don't worry folks. Maclin will have big games and the catch distribution will even out as the season goes along.— soulman386- Maclin LOOKS like the more complete WR, but DeSean IS the better of the two.— dragoon6
- Maclin is the best WR on the team.— 2ndNlong
- His QB needs to stop throwing him balls that get him crushed 2-3 times a game.— Sidewinder7
- Couldn't agree more. Every time Maclin got hurt, Vick lead him right into the strength of the coverage and had him reaching for the ball as he was getting creamed. — chris_r
- I 2nd that 2ndNlong— peteike
- agree with sidewinder on that one. celek took a couple hard hits too. vick needs to protect his receivers as much as the line needs to protect him.— randomm82
- agree with sidewinder on that one. celek took a couple hard hits too. vick needs to protect his receivers as much as the line needs to protect him.— randomm82
- Agree with Dragoon6 (whatever that means). Maclin is the comnplete WR, and I like him a lot, BUT: DJAX is the gamebreaker, which not many temas have one like him. They both compliment each other.— ol duke
- Jackson can be a game changer when he decides to run and stick with his routes. I have seen him still just going through the motions on many plays... I want throw something at him when I see him rounding off cuts and jogging up the field. — chris_r
- If Maclin came out of that game healthy, that's all we need. We won. If his body is 100%, he'll do fine this year. Jackson and Maclin help stretch the field, but the keys to the offense are Vick, McCoy, Bryce Brown, and Celek. If the Eagles get those five guys going, as we started to do in the 2nd half, then the wideouts will start coming free.— armchairGM
- Hopefully soon we can add Havili to the list of offensive keys. He was very productive against the Giants in both the run and pass and adds yet another dimension to this offense. I used to love watching Leonard Weaver burn defenses. — wpnX20
- Maclin and Jackson rarely put up big numbers in the same game, but defenses usually can't shut both of them down in the same game.— NorthPhillyTechie
- maclin is complete? is that why he breaks and crumbles every time he gets hit?— AlexSp
- Have to agree for a first round pick it sure would be nice to see him play like a top receiver in the leauge. His attitude is that of a deva but his perfomance so far is that of back up singer. He has to stay on the field — tsump
