Clayton Thorson, Eagles' Offense Bounce Back In Preseason Win Over Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Pa. (CBS) -- The effort was there and the execution was slightly better, but the Eagles may have lost yet another quarterback for an undetermined amount of time in their 24-10 victory in Jacksonville on Thursday night.
Backup quarterback Cody Kessler, starting for Nate Sudfeld, who broke his left wrist cushioning a fall in last week's 27-10 loss to Tennessee last week, was placed in the concussion protocol after taking a vicious hit in the first quarter.
That opened the door for Clayton Thorson, who made a great recovery from a horrible start last week.
Eagles QB Cody Kessler Leaves Preseason Game Against Jaguars With Possible Concussion
The Good
Thorson made a considerable step up from last week, completing 16 of 26 for 175 yards, with one TD and one fluky interception in the fourth quarter.
Running back Miles Sanders looks like the real deal. More than just his shiftiness, Sanders came up to make a key block on Thorson's 38-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward in the second quarter.
Ward helped himself making a slight adjustment on the Thorson touchdown pass, which he capped off with a great run.
Receiver Mack Hollins may be buried on a deep receiver depth chart, but his special teams play may be what enables him to make the Eagles again.
Defensive end Daeshon Hall continues to help himself. After making six tackles last week, Hall came back to make two sacks and a forced fumble against the Jaguars.
Defensive end Shareef Miller, out of Washington High School and Penn State, may add more depth to what seems like a weak area for the Eagles. Miller had four tackles -- which included a sack, two tackles for losses and two QB hits.
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Safety Malcolm Jenkins was his typical self. He made two tackles, which included a tackle for a two-yard loss.
Kicker Jake Elliott's 52-yard field goal.
The Bad
The pre-snap penalties, and the seven penalties for 45 yards in the first half probably drove Doug Pederson up a wall. It is preseason, but flying flags make any coach at any level gnash their teeth. The Eagles finished with 11 penalties for 66 yards.
Linebacker Asantay Brown looked bad, taking a bad angle and whiffing at Jacksonville third-string quarterback Alex McGough on a 4-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. It's a tackle that should have been made, compounded by the fact that it came on fourth down.
The Ugly
Rookie tackle Andre Dillard, the Eagles' first-round draft pick, seemed to lose some fight Thursday night. On the Eagles' first drive, he missed a block against Jaguars' defensive end Datone Jones, which led to Kessler getting crushed and taken out of the game.
Guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai, on the play before Kessler was rocked, blew an assignment, leading to Sanders getting nailed for a two-yard loss by former Eagle Najee Goode.
