Dorial Green-Beckham expects first-team reps Saturday night

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Dorial Green-Beckham’s most common nickname is DGB. Get it? It’s short, sweet, and a heckuva lot easier than spitting out that law firm of a name every time.
 
Still, Jordan Matthews has a different nickname for his new teammate: LeBron … “because he’s so freaking huge.”
 
Yup. He is. Green-Beckham on Monday said he’s not quite as heavy as his listed weight of 237 (he actually weighs 230), but he’s every bit of 6-foot-5. Still, LeBron is a nickname that’s new to him.  
 
“Naw, that’s the first that I’ve heard that,” Green-Beckham said Monday afternoon. “It’s weird because everybody that sees me outside of football always mistakes me for a basketball player."
 
Green-Beckham is big; with that, nobody argues. But now, the Eagles have to hope his impact on the field will live up to his LeBron-like stature.
 
On Thursday in Pittsburgh, Green-Beckham got on the field in a limited fashion, was targeted twice and didn’t pull in a catch. After being with the Eagles for less than a week, he said on Monday he expects to get some playing time with the first-team on Saturday night.
 
“Yeah, I expect that,” he said. “And as of right now, I’m still just trying to find my role. It doesn’t matter where I am on the depth chart right now. I’m just trying to figure out the playbook and figure what I need to do to help my teammates.”
 
What does offensive coordinator Frank Reich think of his new weapon?
 
“He’s an impressive physical specimen,” said Reich, who added that as a coach he sometimes lines up across from the receivers.
 
“When he runs at you, his size, his speed, it just kind of grabs you,” Reich said.
 
Green-Beckham said he’s caught passes from all the quarterbacks since arriving last week. If he does take first-team reps on Saturday night, he’ll be catching balls from Sam Bradford.
 
“Yeah, we've had a few route sessions in,” Bradford said. “Kind of what I thought. He's just a big, physical, strong wide receiver. Obviously, there's been a lot of information thrown at him over the last couple of days. We're trying to get him up to speed. But I'm really excited about today because it will be the first time to get out there after an install, go through some of the game plan plays and just get some work with him in a normal practice situation.”
 
The Eagles traded away reserve offensive lineman Dennis Kelly to bring in Green-Beckham, who was a second-round pick just a year ago before sliding down the Titans’ depth chart.
 
In Philadelphia, he brings a rare combination of size and speed the Eagles could definitely use.
 
For now, though, Green-Beckham has been concentrating on his playbook, which he’s been studying away from the facility too.
 
So what’s he expecting in the third preseason game on Saturday night?
 
“Get a couple targets, get a couple catches,” he said. 

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