Nelson Agholor was not able to join the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Monday night after he was listed as inactive. Although the wide receiver is physically fit to play, couch Doug Pederson has decided to temporarily sideline Agholor due to his current mental state.
As noted by Pederson, he became worried about Agholor's condition due to the comments he made after the team lost to the Seattle Seahawks at Week 11.
During that match, Agholor dropped a pass and made and incurred an illegal formation penalty which resulted in two missed touchdowns for the Seahawks.
"I've got to get out of my own head," he said after the game. "Pressing so much and worried about so much... I'm thinking too much and so worried, and it's such a selfish thing that I need to stop."
"I need to give my energy to my teammates and this organization and not myself, and feeling so pressured to make every single thing," he added. "Just have fun."
It is not exactly clear what Agholor is currently going through but he has already met with team psychologists to be evaluated. According to Bleacher Report, the athlete is currently feeling anguished.
According to Pederson, he decided to take Agholor out of the active list earlier this week to give him enough time to recuperate mentally. As his temporary replacement, the team activated Paul Turner from the practice squad.
Although it is not yet confirmed if Agholor will be able to return in Week 13, bringing in Turner suggests that the Eagles are preparing for the athlete's lengthy absence.
"I don't want to expose him to anything that will hurt him there as an individual, as a human being," Pederson said about Agholor. "Because I know this is also about life and about him as a person and it's not so much about football anymore."
"And I want to make sure that Nelson is right as a person and as a human being, so if it means lessening the load, then I'll lessen the load and try to take off his plate," he added.
