Last time we saw Jahan Dotson, back in October, he had eight catches for 108 yards against the Eagles at FedEx Field in a game the Eagles won.
The Eagles would take that.
Dotson, who played 30 snaps without a catch in his Eagles debut Friday night in São Paulo, will have to take on an expanded role Monday night when the Eagles face the Falcons at the Linc.
Superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown, who has the 3rd-most yards in the NFL since he joined the Eagles in 2022, has been ruled out for the Falcons after suffering a hamstring injury at practice on Friday.
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“I'm extremely comfortable,” Dotson said after practice Saturday. “We're preparing right now as if A.J. is playing. That's the goal. But if my opportunities do come, I'm going to take full advantage of them. That's what I was pretty much brought here to do. Take advantage of every single opportunity that's given to me.”
The Eagles have gone through a number of third receivers over the past few years with limited success – Quez Watkins, Zach Pascal, Olamide Zaccheaus, Julio Jones. When John Ross and Parris Campbell failed to take ownership of the third outside spot in training the Eagles acquired Dotson from the Commanders on Aug. 22 along with a 5th-round pick in exchange for a 3rd-round pick and two 7th-rounders.
Dotson, a star at Penn State, was a disappointment in Washington as the 16th pick in the 2022 draft. He had 84 catches for 1,041 yards with 11 touchdowns in 29 games for the Commanders. He surpassed 60 yards in only five of his 26 starts.
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But the Eagles are hopeful that in this offense, with Jalen Hurts at quarterback and a bunch of other weapons alongside him, Dotson can come in and make enough plays to keep defenses honest.
“A lot more comfortable within the playbook, within my role in this team,” he said. “Working on it day by day, but getting more comfortable each and every day. So it's been good.”
Dotson played 30 snaps against the Packers without a catch. He was targeted once on a Hurts pass that was nearly intercepted.
“Everyone in the league pretty much runs the same things,” Dotson said. “I feel like the biggest difference is when you come from an offense that calls something one thing and you come to this offense and it's the same exact thing, but you call it something completely different.
“I always tell people when they ask me, it's kind of like learning a different language. Things mean hello, but people say it in different ways and different languages. So that's the best way I can put it. I've been getting it down pretty good. I have a lot of confidence going into Monday night.”
Dotson is another fairly local guy. He attended Nazareth Area High School in Upper Nazareth and also spent a year at Peddie School in Hightstown, Mercer County before playing at Penn State, where he had a huge senior year in 2021 – 91 catches, 1,182 yards, 12 touchdowns.
Assuming Dotson starts, this will be the first time two Penn State players have started in the same game for the Eagles since Michael Timpson and Mike Zordich - also against the Falcons – on Dec. 14, 1997.
“Played here a couple times on the opposing side, but I feel like playing here with the home team is going to be pretty cool, pretty awesome,” Dotson said. “It's going to be electric Monday night.
“Me, personally, I love night games, so I'm really excited for it.”
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