Sometimes at Eagles practice these days, you have to do a double take.
Are there two of Julio Jones out there?
Nope. There’s the future Hall of Famer wearing No. 80 in an Eagles uniform. And then there’s undrafted practice squad rookie Joseph Ngata, his body double, wearing No. 86.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“It’s kind of scary how similar we are, just in terms of the way we look and in terms of the way we do things in practice,” Ngata said last week. “I try to copy everything he does.”
Ngata, 22, isn’t the only one who has noticed the similarities. His teammates and coaches have said the same thing too.
Jones is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds. Ngata is listed at 6-foot-3, 217 pounds. The only thing that separates them is 12 years and a Hall of Fame career.
But as long as they’re teammates, Ngata is relishing every opportunity he has to learn from one of the all-time greats at the position. Ngata always looked up to Jones and now he’s sharing a position room with him.
NFL
“Of course. Of course,” Ngata said. “Watched him a bunch and modeled my game after him. Now he’s my teammate. I get firsthand access to him and get to soak up all the knowledge from him.”
Jones, 34, is the NFL’s active leader in receptions and receiving yards and will one day be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This deep into his career, it’s hard to find a more respected and revered player in the Eagles’ locker room. You saw the team react a couple weeks ago when Jones caught a touchdown pass in Washington
But Ngata said that even though Jones is obviously a great player, he sees him as a person first. And he’s enjoyed being around him since Jones arrived last month. They were even briefly teammates on the Eagles’ practice squad, but Jones has since taken a spot on the 53-man roster.
“When he walked in, he was actually really kind and really open,” Ngata said. “That’s the first thing I noticed. Obviously, he’s had a historic career. But I feel like I’ve been playing football for a while. I’m gonna be around a lot of great football players and I’ve been around a lot of great football players. I feel like just getting to know him on a personal level.”
What is Jones like?
“He’s really kind, really nice, really funny,” Ngata said. “He smiles a lot. I like being around people who smile a lot.”
As a younger child, Ngata said the receivers he looked up to most were Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. It wasn’t until he was a little older that Jones became another player to model his game after.
The Eagles signed Ngata this spring after he went undrafted out of Clemson. During his college career, Ngata caught 88 passes for 1,287yards and 6 touchdowns. As a senior in 2022, Ngata caught 41 passes for 526 yards and 2 touchdowns; he still didn’t hear his name called during the draft.
But things have worked out for him. Even after the Eagles released Ngata at final cuts, they signed him to the practice squad, where he’s been all season. Ngata said he’s in a great situation in Philly, where he can learn from some of the game’s great receivers, including one who already likely has his ticket punched to Canton.
What has Jones been teaching him?
“Just footwork stuff,” Ngata said. “I’ve been trying to get my footwork right. And that’s with blocking and different things. I’ve been watching him a little bit more and asking him some questions. It also doesn’t hurt to have A.J. in the room, DeVonta, all those guys have been helping me. I’ve just been trying to watch and take something out of everybody’s game. It’s helped me.”
Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube