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So What’s the Deal with Travis Fulgham?
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We’re old enough to remember when Travis Fulgham was a stud.
This is the same guy who ripped off 435 receiving yards in a five-week span and was catching everything thrown his way. The Birds finally stumbled into a bona fide possession receiver and perhaps a WR1 type of guy.
But recently the Fulgham situation has been giving off terrible Dom Brown-esque odors. A pungent and mostly unpleasant aroma.
In the four games since that stretch, Fulgham has compiled just 40 yards on 4 receptions while seeing his snaps drop dangerously close to the single digits. Sunday, he only played 11 snaps amounting to 16% of what was available. Alshon Jeffery played 31 snaps and both tight ends were featured heavily.
Said Doug Pederson Wednesday when asked about Fulgham’s diminished role:
“Well, listen, you guys ask me a lot of questions about running back rotations, receiver rotations, who’s our right tackle, left tackle, all that stuff. We still game plan for Travis. I’ll tell you this; Alshon is getting healthier and playing better and we game plan for him. There are certain specific plays Travis is going to be in on and specific plays Alshon is gonna be in on. It’s the same with Jalen Reagor vs. (John) Hightower or Quez (Watkins), or somebody like that. It’s a matter of how we as coaches see the game plan going and getting everybody involved. Same kind of answer is that it’s not about the one guy, it’s about the entire team, and that’s what helps us win.”
Follow-up question:
Was 11 snaps part of the game plan for Fulgham?
“We know we have to do better. He has to do better, play better. But at the same time, Alshon is playing better, too. We’re gonna play the guys on that particular play who are in the game. That’s based on game plan. You can’t put it on Travis, you can put it on me. I’m the play caller, I call the personnel groups, so put it on me.”
I’d say the shared sentiment at Crossing Broad and among the Eagles fan base is that we’d like to see a lot more of Fulgham and less of Jeffery. One guy is 25 years old and the other is 30, an oft-injured veteran who doesn’t have a long-term Philadelphia future anyway. If we’re considering this a lost season, and embarking on a fact-finding mission moving forward, then obviously we’re trying to learn as much as we can about Fulgham over these few final games. We already know what Alshon is.
It doesn’t work that way inside NovaCare, and one of the things throwing a monkey wrench into the macro-level plan is the fact that the Birds are still alive in the NFC East. Normally a four-win team would be eliminated by this point, and we could turn our focus to next year, but because of that we’re stuck in this false belief that the Eagles still have a chance to do something here, when really we should be getting the younger guys as many meaningful reps as possible. Less Alshon, more Fulgham.
Doesn’t sound like that’s going to change this weekend, the low amount of snaps.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com