It happens every NFL season. A wide receiver makes a wildly impressive catch in a game that leaves you wondering, "how the heck did they do that?"
Well, turns out most big time receivers do a whole lot of training other than simply running routes and catching balls the normal way.
Take for instance Eagles' second year receiver Jordan Matthews who Eagles beat writer Jimmy Kempski captured doing these bizarre catching drills while laying down on his back and looking backwards for the ball.
That was some extra work Matthews put in after practice on Wednesday to show that you have to be prepared to catch a ball no matter the circumstance.
As Reuben Frank wrote over the weekend, Matthews has been impressing at camp and is poised for a big season. He spent the offseason focused on football.
"Well, this whole offseason, I did nothing but train with people who were focused on football," Matthews said, "and that made me feel more comfortable coming into fall camp because now I know, 'OK, I focused on what I need to do so it’s going to make camp and the rest of the season that much easier.'"
Sam Bradford sees that work paying off. David Murphy of the Daily News spoke to him about it.
"I think that's one of the things you kind of want to go through in camp, put those guys in those situations, throw balls up, let them make plays," Bradford told the Daily News. "Obviously, Jordan's come down with his fair share of those. I think it's a credit to the way he works. I think that guy catches more footballs than anybody I've ever seen. His hands are really strong. It's something he's always working on. I think it's something that's really showed up out here this first week."