Matthews, Eagles receivers work to fix their drop problem

Practice was over and Jordan Matthews did what he always does. He walked over to the JUGS machine, pulled the cover and punched the clock on catching more footballs.

There might have been a reluctance to catch all those extra balls in light of his recent struggles. Matthews had a long week off to think about his dropped passes this season, especially those last two in the Eagles' loss to the Panthers before their bye week.

He could have reassessed his habits and decided that maybe the overtime was having an adverse effect on his performance in games. Or perhaps a despondent Matthews came to the conclusion that staying after practice, while most of his teammates had already hit the showers, was ultimately pointless.

Whether he had those thoughts or not, he wasn't saying on the Eagles' first day back. But Matthews' actions said otherwise. As usual, he hustled through every individual drill during practice. And he stayed after and caught ball after ball after ball.

"I think sometimes when you have struggles, when you're in the midst of it, it's so easy to forget that you're not the first person to ever not be playing well," Matthews said Tuesday. "You definitely have to relax. I can either be upset or I can work my butt off and try and fix the situation."

Matthews has six drops this season, according to Pro Football Focus. That number could be higher based on any other set of eyes. But using PFF's numbers as a basis, only two other NFL receivers have more drops. Of receivers who have been targeted 30 or more times, Matthews' 10.2 drop rate is seventh-worst in the league.

But among his teammates, Matthews is fourth behind all three of the Eagles' running backs - Ryan Mathews (20 percent), Darren Sproles (13.3) and DeMarco Murray (11.1). They're running backs and not receivers for a reason. But the Eagles don't lead the league in drops just because of Matthews.

Nearly every one of Sam Bradford's targets has dropped at least one pass in seven games. While the quarterback shares some of the blame, Chip Kelly was clearly looking at the other end of the rope when asked about the biggest takeaway about the offense coming off the bye.

"Missed opportunities. Too many drops," Kelly said. "That is the first thing with everybody when we came out of there: We dropped too many balls."

But how do they go about fixing it? Assuming the problem isn't talent - and that is, to put it mildly, a big assumption - are there any changes the Eagles can implement this late into the season?

Kelly spoke about reevaluating drill work before the bye, but he said Tuesday that practices haven't been the issue. Matthews confirmed that receivers coach Bob Bicknell's drills remained essentially the same.

"I think they've done a good job" in drills, Kelly said. "It's taking it from the drill to the practice session to the game is what we need to do."

But something is being left behind. That something is typically indefinable. Call it the "it" factor. And there are players that have it during practice but can't transfer it to games. That might be an issue for young receivers like Josh Huff or Nelson Agholor, but Matthews had "it" last year as a rookie.

Kelly said that his struggles this year were likely mental.

"Sometimes, I think he just overthinks it and needs to take a deep breath and just go play," Kelly said before the bye. "He has outstanding hands and has been a very clutch receiver for us."

Matthews was targeted 98 times last season and had only five drops (5.1 percent drop rate). But he played second fiddle to Jeremy Maclin. As much as he disputed the notion that he wasn't the new No. 1 receiver before the season, the numbers say otherwise.

He has been targeted 59 times already and is on pace for 135 over 16 games. Tight end Zach Ertz is second with 40 targets. Matthews said that the additional responsibilities haven't affected his performance and noted that he was similarly the passing focal point in college and high school.

But Kelly did say that Matthews could be trying to overcompensate.

"I think if it was a mental thing," Matthews said, "the worst thing I would do is admit it's a mental thing."

There were reports that Matthews had been playing through a hand sprain. He was never listed on the injury report, however. He said that his hand was fine and that it hadn't affected him. "No, just have to catch the ball," Matthews said. "Point blank."

Huff wasn't available after the Panthers game, but he said Tuesday that he should have caught a pass over the middle. He wasn't as certain about the one in the end zone that Bradford threw slightly behind him.

"It would have been amazing if I had caught it," Huff said. "At that moment in time, I was expecting the ball to be somewhere else. That's just a chemistry thing that we've got to continue to work with."

The ball still hit Huff in the hands. Matthews said timing with Bradford could be an issue, but he praised his quarterback. He said it shouldn't matter who's throwing the ball as long as it's there.

The JUGS machine always gets the ball there. To add another element to catching balls on Tuesday, Matthews and Ertz had practice squad receiver Jonathan Krause act as a defender and drape over them.

They still caught every one.

jmclane@phillynews.com

@Jeff_McLane