Eagles late-game play call may prove to be one the best preseason coaching moves

The first training camp and preseason of Ainias Smith's young Philadelphia Eagles career wasn't going according to plan. That's certainly an understatement, isn't it? Seriously, we hate to pile on the guy, but he's turning things around now. Good for him! That's why we feel like we can say this.

We were worried. We heard all of this stuff about how good he'd be as a slot receiver and how he could contribute on special teams. During the early stages of camp, that ain't the guy that we were seeing. It seemed like everything was snowballing and the youngster couldn't catch a break.

Nothing was going right. The rookie couldn't catch. Philly let him return punts during the first preseason game versus the Baltimore Ravens. That didn't go well. There wasn't any burst. There was one occasion where he fumbled the ball once contacted. Fortunately, it rolled out of bounds.

That's when the Eagles' coaching staff had an idea. Draw up one to give him some confidence. That resulted in one of the better coaching moves we have seen this summer.

Kellen Moore and the Eagles' coaching staff put Ainias Smith in the best position to succeed.

You've heard the phrase before. 'A coach's job is to put his players in the best position to be successful'. Unfortunately, we can probably find as many examples of failure in executing this idea as we can see in making it happen.

Following a seven-play, 70-yard drive that took 3:20 off the clock, Philly trailed the New England Patriots by a 13-12 margin. That's when Kellen Moore and company had an idea, two of them actually.

'Let's go for two and take the lead. Let's get the rookie some confidence.

Philly lined Smith up on the outside to the left of the formation. He was sent in motion from left to right, and a well-executed pick play left him open to haul in a pass from Tanner McKee. Smith was hammered but hung on.

Check him out. He's coming right at you in the second clip!

This is one of those plays that we wouldn't have seen run by the Eagles last season. Notice we said motion? But, here's the best part about our story. Smith has found his mojo, and he's been making plays in practice ever since.

He's beginning to make plays. Jeff Kerr described Smith's performance during Philly's 15th session as "Smith’s best practice of training camp so far". During the final Eagles camp practice open to media members, he was one of the first players on the field. He enjoyed one of the day's best catches, a one-handed snag he made in stride off Tanner McKee's arm.

That wasn't happening two weeks ago. And, it may not be happening now had it not been for a great play call with the game on the line to help give the rookie some confidence.

Now, that's what we call 'putting your players in the best position to be successful'!

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