Jalen Mills is on the Jalen Reagor Train

It happens fast in the NFL.

In Jalen Mills' case, he's gone from 2016 longshot as a seventh-round pick out of LSU to savvy veteran with a Super Bowl ring and a presence on a defense with three consecutive postseason appearances.

The former cornerback turned safety has seen some of the best receivers in football over his first four professional seasons so maybe that's why it resonated when the Mills pointed to another Lone Star State product when asked about the standouts on the other side of the ball during the Eagles' first padded practices of summer.

"You have to start with our first-round pick, I call him J.R., Reagor, he’s a guy who’s definitely standing out on film and on tape," said Mills via Zoom following Thursday's training camp practice. "Really, really quick off his first step, whether it’s press or him just coming off the line and also showing that he’s not afraid to catch the ball over the middle, that’s very, very promising.

"Especially coming from a rookie receiver and I think that’s definitely going to be a plus as far as our passing game."

The first impressions of Reagor have all been positive as he worked with the first team at the X position during the first two days of padded practices while J.J. Arcega-Whiteside dealt with some lower-body soreness. Since JJAW has returned, Reagor is still mixing in with the ones opposite DeSean Jackson with Greg Ward in the slot.

The Eagles believe that Reagor's best position is Z where he will be the heir-apparent to the 33-year-old Jackson and at 5-foot-11 with impressive quickness, the former TCU star is a natural for the slot as well.

The reps at X are only turning Reagor into a more well-rounded WR and that's the goal because Philadelphia believes Reagor is more than just a manufactured-touch player.

Quarterback Carson Wentz has already developed quite a rapport with Reagor and was seen giving the rookie some extra attention midway through Thursday's practice.

That came after Wentz made a whopper of a comparison when it came to Reagor - Atlanta All-World WR Julio Jones.

"We watch a lot of clips with our routes and stuff like that," said Reagor said when discussing Wentz earlier this week, "and he just says, ‘You’re explosive (like Julio), you can run fast, you can jump high.’ So he compares me to a lot of receivers."

On the surface, the comp doesn't make all that much sense because Jones is a 6-3, 220-pound monster of a receiver and Reagor is a bit undersized, but the Eagles' first-rounder doesn't play like that.

Reagor doesn't mind traffic as Mills mentioned and his vertical is in the 97th percentile at well above 40 inches.

Doug Pederson was made aware of the comparison and seemed to want to pump the brakes on what could be unfair expectations considering Jones' demonstrated performance in the league

"Obviously that's a great compliment," the coach said. "Julio Jones as we know is an awesome, awesome, tremendous receiver in this league, and to be even mentioned with the likes of a guy like that is special."

Pederson noted some traits may be similar but Reagor still has a lot to prove.

"For me, I think looking at Jalen, Jalen has a skill set that is very similar, with speed, athleticism, size, and strength," said Pederson. "He's got, as Carson alluded to with the vertical ability and things that Julio can do, but by no means is Jalen there, yet. He's got a lot to learn with the offense, with the game itself, just learning how to be a pro.

"But obviously being mentioned in that breath is a compliment, and it's something that Jalen can strive for, and it's a pretty good goal.

The goal, however, should be about being the first Jalen Reagor, not the next Julio Jones.

Reagor is never going to have the awe-inspiring physical presence of the five-time All-Pro. In theory, he can do some things that Jones can't, though, like stretching the field horizontally or returning punts, something Reagor has been working on through camp as the No. 1 option.

Jalen Reagor working on punt returns at #EaglesCamp pic.twitter.com/BhQ3XSGvaR
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) August 20, 2020

"In the NFL, it’s good on good," said Mills. "So you can definitely tell a guy from the first day when you got a (cornerback) like (Darius) Slay or you got Avonte (Maddox) or Rasul (Douglas) and these guys who are really really good at their technique in pressing, they’re not scared.

"Jalen, he’s able to get off the press. You can tell pretty much immediately if a receiver, especially a rookie, has really good potential.”

And Reagor has really good potential.

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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