The Eagles rested most of their offensive starters in Sunday’s regular season finale.
Not DeVonta Smith.
Head coach Nick Sirianni gave Smith the opportunity to play on Sunday to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, which Smith was able to do on the final play of the first quarter before being promptly yanked from the game.
“Definitely appreciate the relationship we have,” Smith said. “Sometimes it feels like him being the coach, he wants it more than us. It’s great when you have a coach like that, that’s backing you up to complete those milestones.”
Smith came into Sunday’s game needing just 44 yards to hit 1,000 for the season. He caught 3 passes from Tanner McKee for 52 yards in the first quarter and finished his regular season with 77 catches for 1,008 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The conversation between Smith and Sirianni about playing was an easy one.
“It was just simple,” Smith said. “He asked me if I wanted to play and I was like, ‘Yeah.’”
The Eagles obviously wanted to avoid serious injury in Week 18 with a home playoff game coming up next weekend. But there was a balance as they played Smith — and some other starters — against the Commanders.
“We were safe with him as far as what kind of routes we were running and what he was doing,” Sirianni said. “And so that was something that we decided to do, and obviously you can’t rest everybody.
“There were guys that, as far as D-line reps, some of those guys played through the game. We tried to limit their reps a little bit and play them a little bit less than they normally do, but with a position like D-line, those are the circumstances that you have. But, decided to do that so he could go get a thousand, and he came out good.”
This isn’t the first time Sirianni has allowed Smith to hit a mark. In Week 18 of the 2021 season, Sirianni made sure to help Smith break the franchise rookie receiving record previously held by DeSean Jackson.
“I think that’s just him,” Smith said. “He’s into stats and things like that too. When he sees guys close to things like that, he wants guys to go for it. For him to allow me the opportunity to go for it, I’m grateful for it.”
Smith on Sunday became just the fifth player in franchise history to have three 1,000-yard seasons, joining A.J. Brown (4), Harold Carmichael, DeSean Jackson and Mike Quick.
Smith and Brown are the only duo in franchise history to each have 1,000 receiving yards in the same season — they’ve now done in three times (2022, 2023, 2025).
“I feel like that’s something that every receiver you want to get that,” Smith said of hitting 1,000 yards. “Of course, the goal was a little higher. I feel like as a receiver, not just a receiver — receiver, running back, I feel like that’s something everyone wants to accomplish.”
Not only did Smith hit 1,000 yards in the season, but he also hit 5,000 yards in his career.
Smith sits at 5,019 yards after his first five seasons in the NFL. Smith is already 10th in receiving in franchise history. And after hitting that mark in 80 games, Smith became the third-fastest Eagle to reach 5K, behind just Jackson (73 games) and Quick (74).
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
