How did DeVonta Smith wind up without a catch?

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How did DeVonta Smith wind up without a catch?

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Nick Sirianni knows what Eagles fans were thinking Sunday:

“’Oh my goodness, they are never going to use DeVonta Smith again,’” Sirianni said.

He quickly added: "I can promise you that's not the case.”

Sirianni said Monday there was a lot to like about what the Eagles did offensively in their season-opening win in Detroit - 31 points, 455 yards, 27 first downs - but acknowledged the Eagles have to make sure Smith is involved in the offense.

"For whatever reason, it seemed to time up perfectly: A.J. had this huge game and DeVonta didn't touch the ball at all,” Sirianni said.

"We have to (involve him) because you never want to be one-dimensional and let them say, ‘Hey, we are taking this away or taking that away.’ DeVonta Smith is not a good playmaker, (he’s) a great playmaker. I think everybody in this city saw that last year.”

Brown was targeted 13 times and caught 10 passes for 155 yards Sunday, but the only other Eagles receiver to catch a pass was Zach Pascal, who had a seven-yarder on a 3^rd-and-2 in the third quarter. Quez Watkins, who had 647 yards last year, wasn't targeted at all.

Smith became the first Eagles receiver targeted at least four times to be held without a reception in six years, since Dorial Green-Beckham was targeted five times without a catch in a loss to the Giants in East Rutherford in November 2016.

As a rookie, Smith had 916 receiving yards and caught at least one pass in all 17 games the Eagles played. 

"I came out of that game thinking, ‘OK, we have communication issues to clean up, but, man, we ran the ball well, we were pretty efficient passing the ball, we were great on third down, we were really good in the red zone, we had a really good two-minute drive to get points at the end of the half,” Sirianni said.

"When you end with the ball in your hand in a four-minute drive, that is huge, huge, huge.

"There (were) so many good things we did, but coming away, you're like, ‘DeVonta Smith didn't get any catches.’ Sometimes you don't feel that in the game, (but) he has to touch the ball. There's no doubt about it. He has to touch the ball, and it's just the way the game went.”

Smith wasn’t officially charged with any drops, but there was at least one pass he probably feels like he should have caught. Maybe two.

He actually did have an 11-yard reception late in the first quarter, but it was wiped out by a holding call on Jordan Mailata – one of 10 Eagles penalties.

Sirianni said the Eagles went into the game intending to get Smith involved, it just never happened.

"When we looked at it, he did have the four targets, but there were a handful of other things that were called for him, and there are so many different reasons why it doesn't go to him and for whatever reason, it didn't here,” he said.

"Again, there are multiple reasons why it didn't. A lot of these plays were still run through him.”

Smith is the second straight year the Eagles receiving leader from the previous season didn’t have a catch in the opener. Their 2020 receiving leader – Travis Fulgham – began last year on the practice squad.

Sirianni vowed that Smith will get his opportunities and get his catches.

"Him, A.J. and Dallas are who the offense will run through, who the pass offense will run through, and it just was the perfect storm (Sunday) where he didn't get any touches,” Sirianni said. 

"And, hey, that's my job, though, to make sure that he gets the touches, and we'll fix that.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-coach-nick-sirianni-explains-why-devonta-smith-didnt-have-catch

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no, it’s the quarterbacks job