Eagles’ JJ Arcega-Whiteside is ready for his second chance at expanded role

Eagles’ rookie wideout JJ Arcega-Whiteside is getting a second chance to prove his doubters wrong this weekend.

This Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles are heading into a matchup with arguably their most difficult opponent this season in the New England Patriots. Initially, we were under the belief that the Eagles would be somewhat healed and healthy after coming out of the bye week — but that no longer seems to be the case.

Eagles’ running back Darren Sproles will hit the injured reserve for the second time in three seasons. Jordan Howard has yet to be cleared for contact, and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is officially ruled out for Sunday’s matchup as he deals with an ankle injury.

That leaves the Eagles in an extremely difficult spot on the offensive side of the ball this week. Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t be any worse either. We’ve seen the Eagles play without DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery headlining the wideouts, and the results weren’t pretty.

This time around, the Eagles need somebody to finally step up — somebody we haven’t seen before. At this point, the Eagles know what they have in Nelson Agholor and Mack Hollins. Agholor is good when he’s the third option but mostly folds under pressure as the first or second look.

Hollins, on the other hand, would rather play a role on special teams instead of running routes and catching the football. That leaves the Eagles giving a second chance to their unknown second-round rookie, JJ Arcega-Whiteside.

The rookie’s ready for his second shot

Earlier in the year, Arcega-Whiteside had two games where he picked up some significant playing time. He came out of those matchups with two catches for 14 yards, and one infamous drop with the game on the line. Arcega-Whiteside admitted the transition period from college to the NFL was tough — but this time around, he seems better equipped to succeed.

"“Now knowing all the other positions, helps me a lot knowing what everybody else is going to do and how I need to treat my job, how I need to do my job. And just reps, getting reps at practice and games here and there. It’s slowed down the game tremendously and just being out there and having fun.”via Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia"

During the first half of the season, Arcega-Whiteside was strictly a backup to Alshon Jeffery. Since his underwhelming performance, the Eagles ramped up his development. They allowed him to cross-train at wideout, learning more positions in order to expand his knowledge within the offensive playbook.

Nowadays, Arcega-Whiteside admits the game has “slowed down” for him. At first, he had a hard time adjusting to the pros so early as an expected backup — but at this point in the season, the former Stanford wideout has no choice but to step up and give it all he’s got.