Despite losing to the Eagles, the Redskins saw the most production from tight end Jordan Reed than they have seen all season, an indication that he's getting healthier.
Among the positives that the Redskins will take away from a game filled with its fair share of injuries and missed opportunities was the play of tight end Jordan Reed, who emerged with his best game of the season in the Redskins' 34-24 loss to the Eagles Monday Night at Lincoln Financial Field.
Reed finished with eight receptions for 64 yards and two touchdowns, all season-highs, which indicated that he has started to regain his confidence and explosiveness after six games.
"I think it was more of me getting more comfortable on the field," Reed said. "Missed the whole offseason, so just getting comfortable out there, my toe is getting a little bit better and I got my burst back a little bit, so all of that factors in."
Reed was rarely targeted in the first half. Quarterback Kirk Cousins missed Reed on a pass to the end zone and then found him on the next drive during a third-and-1 on an out-route for no gain. But in the second half, Cousins targeted Reed more and was rewarded for it.
On consecutive plays on the offense's first drive of the third quarter, Cousins found Reed for five and six yard completions. On the next drive, with the Redskins trailing by two touchdowns, Reed caught a bullet from Cousins over the middle on third down to gain 20 yards. On the next play, Cousins went right back to Reed, who, spread out wide, secured a tight slant pass in front of multiple Eagle defenders and pushed his way into the end zone.
"Kirk gave me a chance and I was able to find the end zone," Reed said.
On Washington's second to last drive, as hope began to evaporate for a chance to catch Philadelphia's lead, Cousins returned to the tight end during a hurry-up offense, finding Reed over the middle for a nine-yard pass, then a six-yard pass before culminating the drive with a 12-yard slant into the end zone.
With the completion, Reed passed Jean Fugett for third-most career receiving touchdowns (22) by a tight end in Redskins history, trailing only Jerry Smith (60) and Chris Cooley (33) among tight ends in team history.
Monday's game also continued a nice trend for Reed against the Eagles, who caught five passes against them in the season opener, and caught nine passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia two years ago to help Washington clinch the division title.
The multi-touchdown game was Reed's first since Week 12 of the 2016 season at Dallas.
"Jordan did well," said tight end Vernon Davis, who racked up four catches for 67 yards. "He finished strong, he kept his mind in the game, and he was able to do the things that he's able to do each week. We're not worried about Jordan, he's going to come out and perform when given the opportunity and he showed it tonight."
Reed said earlier in the week that he was, physically speaking, up to around 90 percent, still recovering from a shoulder injury earlier in the year and the toe injury that put him on the PUP list for all of training camp. It's taken time for him to adjust and look like his former self, and so Monday night was an optimistic step forward for him.
"Today felt better than the previous weeks," Reed said. "Not a lot of pains out there and I was able to have confidence in my body. It was good. Just had confidence to stick my foot in the ground and press off and burst off of it so it felt good."
The Redskins will regroup on a condensed week in preparations for Dallas, who they play this Sunday, trying to get back on track against another division opponent. More progress from Reed will certainly help their chances.
"We've just got to go out there and focus, work hard and keep our confidence moving forward," Reed said.
