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Domowitch: Ex-Ram Givens eager to team up again with Bradford

IF THE EAGLES had conducted an organization-wide blood-pressure check in late April, right after Sam Bradford asked to be traded, Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson's systolic and diastolic numbers both would have bordered on stroke level.

IF THE EAGLES had conducted an organization-wide blood-pressure check in late April, right after Sam Bradford asked to be traded, Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson's systolic and diastolic numbers both would have bordered on stroke level.

And Chris Givens' numbers probably wouldn't have been very far behind.

The 26-year-old wide receiver signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in March for several reasons, not the least of which was the opportunity to be reunited with Bradford.

The two played together in St. Louis for a season-and-a-half in 2012-13 and made beautiful music together until Bradford suffered back-to-back ACL injuries that caused him to miss the final nine games of the 2013 season and all of 2014.

"His strengths match my strengths," Givens said. "He can get the ball downfield, and I can get downfield."

Indeed he can, as he proved with the Rams in 2012, when the fourth-rounder set an NFL rookie record with a 50-plus-yard reception in five straight games. He was targeted 80 times by Bradford that season, catching 42 passes and averaging 16.6 yards per catch, nearly 2 yards more per catch than DeSean Jackson's rookie average.

The next year, he and Bradford pretty much picked up where they left off. Givens had 18 catches in the first seven games. But that seventh game - a 30-15 loss to Carolina - was the last one Bradford and Givens played together.

Late in the fourth quarter, Bradford was pulled down by Panthers safety Mike Mitchell as he was running out of bounds and tore his left ACL. He tore the same ACL 10 months later in a preseason game against Cleveland.

Givens started 13 games in 2013 and ended up with 34 receptions and a 16.7 yards-per-catch average, but finished 84th among NFL wide receivers in catch rate (41 percent).

A year later, he lost his starting job and finished with only 11 catches. After catching only one pass in the Rams' first three games last season, he was traded to Baltimore in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2017 draft.

He played in 12 games and started six for the wide receiver-depleted Ravens last season. Caught 19 passes and averaged 18.2 yards per catch. Six of his 19 receptions were 30-plus yards. Two other were 20-plus yards.

After becoming a free agent in March, Givens said he had "a little interest from a lot of teams," including the Jets, Cowboys and Eagles. Bradford's presence here, along with Doug Pederson's West Coast-hybrid offense and the fact that only one Eagles wide receiver caught more than 27 passes last season, convinced him Philadelphia was his best option.

"The opportunity to play with Sam again obviously was appealing," he said. "One of the things that makes me so comfortable with him is knowing that, no matter where I'm at on the field, no matter what route I'm running, Sam can get the ball there. It helps me eliminate any other distraction, knowing that my quarterback is going to be on the money with everything."

The 5-11, 198-pound Givens blames himself for his rapid fall from grace with the Rams. He acknowledged he got lazy and satisfied after experiencing a little bit of rookie success in St. Louis. Instead of developing his entire game and trying to become a complete receiver, he became content just being a vertical threat. The problem is, defenses can find ways to take away the deep ball if they really want to.

"I didn't work as hard as I should have in the offseason to become the receiver I was capable of being," he said. "I got a little complacent and a little comfortable knowing I had Sam and things like that.

"Then, when he got hurt and I didn't have a quarterback to play to my strengths, I couldn't really do the things I needed to do to get open. I eventually looked at that as an opportunity to look in the mirror and fine-tune the things in my game that were going to take my game to the next level.

"My whole mind-set now is to go out and prove everybody wrong and to show that I can do more than go deep. That's the biggest thing I want to prove. That I can be a complete receiver. Play every down and just run all of the routes and do the things I need to do to be great."

He needs to work on good before focusing on great. But he has played pretty well in the Eagles' shorts-and-no-pads OTAs and this week's three-day minicamp, which is to say he's getting open and catching most of the balls thrown to him.

"I like his speed and athleticism," Pederson said. "He's a veteran player who obviously has played in several games and has experience. I feel like he's a guy that's really going to help us down the road. He's a guy you can move around and utilize his speed in different aspects of your offense."

The on-field chemistry between Givens and Bradford has been very apparent. They hooked up on several passes in 11-on-11 work the last two days.

" 'Giv' is someone I'm comfortable with," Bradford said. "His rookie year, he had a great year for us. He made a lot of plays down the field. Obviously, he has speed, so he can stretch the defense.

"It's nice when you work with someone like that for a few years and build that relationship. He stepped into this locker room and we just kind of picked that up (again). We communicate the same way we did in St. Louis. Which is nice. You don't have to start from scratch."

Givens said he's learned from his experience in St. Louis. Said he's matured and understands that hard work is the key to success in the NFL. Said he never, ever will get complacent again. To borrow a couple of Chip Kelly's favorite terms, he has traded in a fixed mind-set for a growth mind-set.

"It's a tough thing to learn, and I learned it the hard way," Givens said. "On the field. Once you go back and re-evaluate yourself and really be critical of yourself, you're going to come to a crossroads where (you say), 'All right, I'm either going to be what everybody says or I'm going to go out and do what I need to do.' "

It certainly would help the Eagles if, along with a breakout year from 2015 first-round wide receiver Nelson Agholor, Bradford and Givens could recreate the vertical success they enjoyed in 2012.

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog