Jack Driscoll, Jalen Reagor Revisit their NFL Debuts

The two Eagles rookies led the way among all rookies on the team in terms of snap counts, and here's how it went for them

There was no such thing as dipping their toes into the waters of the NFL, not for Jalen Reagor and Jack Driscoll. The two Eagles rookies were thrown into the deep end of the pool in Sunday’s season opener.

For Reagor, that was the expectation. As a first-round pick, the impact is supposed to be immediate, never mind that there weren’t any swimming lessons disguised as rookie camp, OTAs, and minicamp.

“I feel like it was a great experience, a great learning experience, just getting out there for the first time in a real organized NFL game,” said Reagor on Tuesday afternoon. “I just tried to make the best of the opportunities that I got.”

For Driscoll, the expectations weren’t so high. Not for a fifth-round draft pick whose initial NFL education was supposed to come from the bench, but he was the surprise starter on Sunday in place of Lane Johnson on the right side, next to another player making his NFL debut in second-year right guard Nate Herbig.

Six of the Eagles’ 10 rookies drafted last spring saw action against Washington, and another, running back Jason Huntley - a draft pick of the Lions but claimed by Philadelphia on waivers - did, too, but it was Driscoll who led the way in snap counts with 50.

It would have been more if he hadn’t limped off with an undisclosed injury and replaced by Jordan Mailata.

Driscoll said on Tuesday he was fine and would be ready if needed on Sunday when the Los Angeles Rams visit Lincoln Financial Field.

“It’s an experience, first NFL game, and whatnot, and I’ll continue to improve on all aspects of my game,” said Driscoll, who is 23. “...Games are always a lot different than practices in the sense of just the way how fast things happen and whatnot.”

Johnson is hopeful of playing on Sunday after August ankle surgery has kept him out of practice through training camp and limited in the days leading up to Washington. A game-time decision, Johnson was ruled out 90 minutes prior to kickoff, and initially, it was believed that Matt Pryor would step in. But it was Driscoll, who said he had taken some, but not all, first-team reps during the week next to Herbig.

“Just knowing that Lane was going to try to go, and there was the possibility that he can’t, so take the first-team reps and try to make the most of them, then staying after practice and working on some stuff with Herbie,” said Driscoll.

Reagor knew he was playing after he began practicing in full on Thursday prior to the game, a quick healer after a shoulder injury on Aug. 30.

“When I got hurt initially, they told me I’d be out four weeks,” said Reagor when asked about his rapid recuperative powers. “I looked at it as a challenge. ‘Four weeks? Alright, we’ll see.’ Got that in. Great training staff, great doctors. My rehab went great, and I was able to play Week 1.”

Reagor led all receivers in snaps, getting 40 of them, which was three more than veteran DeSean Jackson.

As would be expected, he did some good and some not so good.

The good: His 55-yard catch, the first of his pro career, on third-and-22 that set up a 38-yard Jake Elliott field goal.

“I just tried to make the best of the opportunities that I got,” said Reagor. “That pass, Carson (Wentz) told me before, ‘We’re going to run this route. Don’t lose that speed.’ …I was like, ‘I’m about to go make a play.’ And I made the most of my opportunity. It was fun. It was a lesson learned. You gotta have short-term memory preparing for this upcoming week.”

The not so good: Reagor’s muffed punt that could have been costly early in the game if not for an alert Craig James tracking it down and falling on it.

“He's done a lot of good things for us to just get super down on any one player for any one mistake, especially these young guys,” said special team coordinator Dave Fipp on Tuesday. “The bottom line is I think when you watch young returners throughout the league, and if you just go back in history, I think Devin Hester has more muffs than anybody, and he turned out to be a real good player. I think Darren Sproles put a bunch on the ground early in his career.

“I'm not saying it's acceptable or tolerable, but when you look closely at that stuff, there's a little bit of a history of young players doing that. But we're excited about him. We're excited about what he brings to us. There's no doubt in my mind he'll continue to get better and better.”

Reagor was also asked Tuesday about the interception late in the first half when Wentz was throwing his way, but Fabian Moreau picked it off.

“It was the route I was supposed to run,” he said. “Maybe our timing was off something like that. It was nothing too bad on my part or his part. We both could’ve done a better job. I could have done a better job on my route. I just gotta make the quarterback right. I could’ve played the ball better.”

Snap counts for the other rookies went like this:

Linebacker Shaun Bradley, 31, eight on defense, 25 on special teams.

Receiver John Hightower 27 on offense.

Safety K’Von Wallace six on defense, 15 on special teams.

Linebacker Davion Taylor 14 on special teams.

Huntley had one snap on offense.

“There’s something about this rookie class,” said Reagor. “…We just gotta do what got us here. That’s what we talk about. We don’t talk about it being too big, or too small. We just gotta stay in the medium. As long as we do that, this class will be great. Once we mold together each and every week through the trials and tribulations of a season, we’re going to be fine.”

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