With Maclin Injured and Riley Cooper Away, WR Arrelious Benn Returns To Practice

Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper wasn’t at practice on Friday and Sunday because the team decided along with him that it would be best if he went and got some sensitivity counseling instead.  So now Cooper gets a pass on attending any of the Eagles practices or meetings.  They wouldn’t even tell us whether he’s still in the area or not.

Regardless of where he’s at, we know that he’s not in camp working on getting better as a wide receiver and making himself more familiar with Chip Kelly’s offensive system.

The bottom line on Cooper’s absence is that it was in his best interests and also in the best interests of the team.  That’s not good.  You’re a player on the team, but it’s in the team’s best interests for you to not be around.  Kelly says Cooper will return and remain on the roster, but you can tell that things could change depending on the reaction of the team when Cooper returns.

I think guys like Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson will play a role in deciding his fate with the Eagles.  Kelly is likely to listen to what the guys who know him best say about Cooper.  If they want him back and can influence the rest of the players to fall in line, then Kelly is probably open to bringing him back.  If the guys want to rid themselves of the former Florida Gator, then Cooper will likely be out of here.

On Friday, little wide receiver Demaris Johnson took the reps with the first team and had a good day utilizing his quickness and speed to get open short and deep.  t thought Johnson was headed for an outstanding year when Maclin got hurt.  The little guy is nearly impossible to tackle in the open field because of his speed and quickness.  Teams were going to be focused on stopping Jackson and Maclin, when Kelly would be able to unleash Johnson on them with the quick screens and hitches, which would get the ball into Johnson’s hands in the open field in one-on-one situations.

As a starter, Johnson won’t be as much of a surprise to teams even though I don’t see him starting full-time.  I think the Birds will replace Maclin with the backup receivers as well as the two and three tight ends sets.  I think they’re going to give all the receivers who are in camp a shot at taking that starting job.

Rookie free agent Russell Shepard took the snaps with the first team on Sunday and he didn’t disappoint.  He beat Birds starting cornerback Bradley Fletcher deep on a straight fly route.  The ball was on the finger tips of the receiver and he pulled it in.  He’s got the combination of size and speed, which you want to see at that position.  I’ve seen quite a few of the qualities in him that are needed to replace Maclin.  You need both speed and size.  The former LSU wide out has some of both, which gives him an advantage over some of his competition.

Shepard has been one of the best wide receivers on the team throughout the training camp.  Now we want to see if he can be productive in game situations, starting on Friday against the Patriots.

Another guy who could be an answer at the Eagles wide receiver position is Arrelious Benn, who was acquired by the Birds this off season from Tampa Bay.  He practiced for the first time in a week on Sunday.  He wasn’t exceptionally productive in his first day back because he was working with the second team and third team during the workout.  Benn has 4.4 speed, but it didn’t seem like he got wide open in his first day back from a knee injury.

He was a former second round draft pick, who was sidelined by injuries at Tampa Bay.   It limited him to only 59 catches in three years.  He’s going into his fourth year as a pro and eager to prove he can be more productive.  This should be a break out year opportunity for him if he can stay healthy.  Maclin is sidelined for the season and who knows what’s going to happen with Cooper, so Benn could be at the right place at the right time for his career to explode.

The former Illinois star is in an offensive system which emphasizes the ability of the wide receivers to block and he has the size to block, as well as going across the middle and making the big catch.  Benn feels he can be a starter and be productive if he can stay healthy.  “I’ve got to stay healthy,” Benn said after practice on Sunday. “If I can prove to them I can stay healthy, I’ll be all right.”

Kelly said he liked what he saw of him.  “I was pleasantly surprised,” Kelly said. “You expect some rust, to be honest with you. I thought he was really good from a mental standpoint. He missed some insertion time because, obviously, he was out. We can’t stop insertion just because one guy is out. We called things today he had never run in practice before that he really picked up.”

I’ll keep an eye on Benn, but I don’t know if he’s going to ever be the player the Bucs thought he was going to be when he was drafted in the second round.   I don’t sense the confidence you need to be a top receiver.  It’s a very delicate balance between confidence and arrogance.  To me Benn definitely needs more confidence.

I also see a stiffness about him when he runs his routes.  He needs to get more fluid.  I see a player, who seems to have tight hips, which inhibit his ability to give the type of fakes you need to be able to give, if you want to flourish in the National Football League.  Still he has the size and speed to be a contributor in Kelly’s system.

Hopefully, he’ll be a productive player for the Birds because the way things are going at the wide receiver position they could definitely use the help.