After months of being teammates with A.J. Brown, there’s one thing that really stands out to DeVonta Smith.
“He’s always teaching,” Smith said.
At times, Smith is the student. Sure, Smith was a Heisman Trophy winner and was polished enough to be the Eagles’ leading receiver as a rookie in 2021, but he’s still learning. And the relationship between Brown and Smith has been growing strong since April when the Eagles landed Brown in a trade.
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This offseason, Smith admitted that it would probably help him to have a veteran receiver as a teammate and then the Eagles traded for Brown, who isn’t that much older but has significantly more NFL experience.
The best thing Brown has taught Smith? Late hands.
Basically, Brown will sometimes not alert the defensive back in coverage that the ball is in the air until the very last season. He’ll toss up his hands right before the pass is complete, cutting down reaction time for the defense.
“Some people do it and some people don’t,” Smith said. “It’s definitely something that I want to put in my game because it helps you out a lot to where a DB just can’t sit there and play through your hands. If you put them up too early, then he knows the ball is coming and he has time to react instead of you just putting your hands up late.”
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Smith said he has always heard about “late hands” but has never really tried to implement it into his game before this summer. But he’s trying it now just to see how it feels. It could help.
During training camp, Brown showed off his late hands several times for some big catches.
“I keep my arms swinging,” Brown said. “He doesn’t know where the ball’s at, but I do. So I just try to stay calm, relax and at the last minute I throw my hands up and make a catch. I’ve done it a couple times this camp. … I call it winning late, too. If I don’t win the release, I need to win late.”
As a rookie, Smith had 64 catches for 915 yards and 5 touchdowns. He broke the Eagles’ rookie receiving record but fell short of his goal of 1,000 yards. The future looks very bright for the second-year receiver.
And having Brown to help him grow can only help.
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