BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Andy Reid wasn’t making a threat. He wasn’t even trying to send a warning to holdout rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

In the Philadelphia Eagles head coach’s perspective, he was just stating a fact.
Maclin has missed the first five days of training camp and, as a result, has missed valuable learning time that has set him behind.
“That’s the fact of it,” Reid said Thursday as the Eagles had their first full-squad workout with the exception of Maclin, the first-round pick who hasn’t been in camp because a contract agreement hasn’t been reached.
“However it’s said or worked out, it comes down to playing the game. It’s that simple. Any reps you take away from yourself, I think it hurts you as a player.”
Reid has been doing this long enough to understand the business end of the NFL.
He’s had rookies hold out before, and is well aware that not many of this year’s first-round picks have signed contracts.
But while Reid might hold the dual title of executive vice president/football operations, he is in heart, body and mind a football coach.
And once training camp starts, a coach doesn’t care why a player is not there, only that he is not there.
“I know the way things are now,” Reid said when asked about Maclin’s holdout. “You have a reporting date and you want to be there.
“It’s not a complex deal. You have more opportunities to work with the starting offense and the quarterback, I think you would want to take advantage of that.”
This is not good news for the Eagles or Maclin.
After a string of strong workouts during minicamp and offseason training activities, the hope was that Maclin, the flashy receiver from the University of Missouri, would carry that momentum into a strong training camp and become a valuable component in the Birds’ attack.
Last year, DeSean Jackson erased the unwritten taboo that rookie receivers could not thrive in this offense, and the thought was that Maclin could have a similar impact.
But even though the Birds don’t start practicing in full pads until Friday morning, the coaching staff put a lot of stock in the early practices when just the rookies and a few selected veterans are at Lehigh University.
“We’ve been fortunate to get guys in here and have them work,” Reid said of past rookies. “The guys who don’t have struggled. That’s the way it is with this team, and right now, that’s what I care about.”
I can’t help but think back to two summers ago when defensive lineman Brodrick Bunkley finally reported to camp after a holdout.
Bunkley was full of confidence that first day — positive in the knowledge that missing early time was not going to hurt his development.
Bunkley never caught up to speed and had a miserable rookie season.
Frankly, Maclin is on a considerably more complicated side of the ball, where repetitions in the Eagles’ extensive playbook are considered crucial to getting the offense down.
Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell and Reggie Brown were all high draft picks who failed to make considerable impact as rookie receivers.
None of them was a holdout.
Maybe Jackson was just so talented that the Eagles couldn’t help but give him an opportunity as a rookie, but there is no doubt that he first caught the coaches’ eyes during those first days of training camp when the veterans weren’t in Lehigh yet and full attention was given to rookies.
At the end of OTAs, Maclin said he wanted to be in camp on time because he knew it was important that he get as much time as possible working in the offense.
It didn’t happen.
Even if Maclin were to show up Friday morning, he already has missed that opportunity.
Perhaps he is talented enough that he will still stand out while the bulk of the reps are going to veteran receivers like Jackson, Kevin Curtis and Jason Avant.
Still, there is just as likely a chance he could get lost in the numbers game as the Eagles shift into high gear in preparation for the start of the season.
The time to wait on rookies ended Thursday, when the veterans had their first practice.
“You can’t buy back that time,” Reid said of Maclin missing the first days of camp. “He’s going to be playing the catch-up game. That’s what he’s going to be doing.
“This is something that obviously isn’t good for Jeremy. Any of these reps that he misses set him behind, particularly reps with the starting quarterback and the rest of the offense.
“It’s important that he gets here. That’s the bottom line.”