June 16, 2021   2 MIN READ

JJAW Best Served In Slot?: “Q&A” with Quintin Mikell, Jason Avant

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Third-year Eagles wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is fighting for his job this summer at training camp after two disappointing seasons since being selected in the second round out of Stanford in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Former Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant, an assistant last year to Eagles wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, said Arcega-Whiteside isn’t naturally fluid enough to win consistently on the perimeter but added that the receiver’s best chance to succeed comes in the slot, where more restricted routes and the receiver’s basketball pedigree could help him get open against interior defenders.

“If you look beyond the way it looks, there is some value there,” Avant said on the latest “Q&A on Inside The Birds. “If you give him a couple routes and you give him the ability to be himself, which is a natural basketball payer, he will come up with a way to get open.

“But I don’t think getting open on the lines and according to, like, [route-running like] everyone else is the proper protocol for him. He understands the subtlety of playing the position, if you allow it. If you’re just looking at him, you say he’s not going to get open in the traditional manner. He’s not fluid enough for that.”

Eagles wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has just 14 career receptions in two years.

Avant and former Eagles Pro Bowl safety Quintin Mikell also took a stroll down memory lane, recalling their 59-28 triumph over Donovan McNabb and the Washington Football Team at FedEx Field in 2010, a game known as “The Monday Night Massacre.”

After a pre-game scuffle, Eagles quarterback Mike Vick hit DeSean Jackson for an 88-yard touchdown bomb on the game’s first play, and the rest was history.

“After that it was like … this is it, we’re about to blow them out,” Mikell recalled. “There are very few games where I felt like every single play worked. That game for our offense … it was like Madden. They couldn’t do anything to stop us.”

Listen to the entire “Q&A on Inside The Birds” show here:

Listen to the latest “Inside The Birds” podcast with Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher:

About The Author

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Geoff Mosher is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years experience covering the Eagles, the NFL and other college and pro sports across several different multimedia platforms. He is co-host of the acclaimed Inside the Birds podcast, the leading podcast for intel on the Philadelphia Eagles, and co-host on 97.3 ESPN's drive-time show. He has also hosted on Philadelphia's sports-talk station, 94.1 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic. Geoff was the lead Eagles Insider from 2012-2015 for NBC Sports Philadelphia, where he wrote for the website and appeared daily on the station's TV shows, including Quick Slants, Philly Sports Talk, Eagles Pregame/Postgame Live and Eagles Extra. Prior to joining NBC Sports, Geoff worked the Eagles beat from 2005-2012 for the Wilmington News Journal, where he broke several major news stories and also won an Associated Press Sports Editors award under the category of Breaking News for his coverage of the sudden death of Phillies play by play broadcaster Harry Kalas. Geoff has appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter, NFL Network, NBC Sports Network, FOX29, 6ABC and has conducted interviews for Sirius/XM NFL radio and countless other radio stations across the country.

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