What Eagles WR Nelson Agholor's locker whiteboard reveals about his 2017 mindset
The Eagles wide receiver keeps a whiteboard on his locker stall with a tally of how many drops he’s totaled in a given practice during OTAs.
Nelson Agholor keeps a whiteboard on his locker stall. On the board, Agholor tracks how many drops he's totaled in a given practice during organized team activities, and he writes a quote for motivation.
That board offers guidance for Agholor entering Year 3 on the Eagles after two disappointing seasons for the former first-round pick.
"It's just something you want to do to keep yourself accountable," Agholor said of keeping track of the drops. "You look at it. You try to get better each day. You want to repeat the same habits."
Agholor started this counter during the offseason. He doesn't think about the drops on the way to practice or tally them while he's on the field trying to catch passes. The statistics come while he watches film after practice.
"I don't really worry about it going to practice; in practice, all I worry about is making my plays," Agholor said. "I focus on making every opportunity count when thrown the football and try to pluck it. If it happens, don't worry about it in practice. Keep catching the next one. And when you come home and watch the film … you figure out what happened there and get better from there."
Agholor finished last season with 36 catches for 365 yards and two touchdowns. He dropped four passes. Agholor said the solution isn't just catching passes from the JUGS machine, because that doesn't simulate what he experiences in a game. He wants to make sure he's catching passes from a quarterback, coming in and out of his breaks as he would in a game situation.
This approach is reinforced by the quote next to the drop counter: "When change is necessary, not to change is destructive."
The quote came from Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin. Agholor spent time with Martin at a wedding a few weeks ago, and Martin's advice resonated with him.
"You've got to remind yourself that if you tell yourself you're fine, you can hurt yourself," Agholor said. "Obviously, things aren't going well for a reason. So you've got to find change."