Eagles Preseason Monday Morning After Pill – Jacksonville

After months of speculation, the new-look Philadelphia Eagles finally hit the turf at Lincoln Financial Field for their first preseason game of the 2010 season on Friday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There’s a new starting quarterback for the first time in over a decade, as well as 32 new players on the training camp roster.

For the first time in years, we were completely in the dark about an Eagles team.

Eagles Offense

To paraphrase Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker’s character from Major League), you can tell a lot about a season by the first play. The Eagles’ first play from scrimmage, a 21-yard catch-and-run from Kevin Kolb to DeSean Jackson, looked every bit like the Eagles offense we’ve been hoping from the Andy Reid West Coast Offense 2.0.

Kevin Kolb Era

Overall, Kolb looked good. His final numbers (6-for-11 passing for 95 yards) appear average, but they would look much been better if Brent Celek didn’t drop a sure touchdown catch on the first drive. The things I was looking for from him — poise, quick release, and command of the offense — were all there. He forced one ball into coverage, but I’m not expecting perfection. The offense moved the ball with ease down the field against the Jaguars’ first-string defense.

Which brings me to my next point:

Trouble in the Redzone

The last 20 yards weren’t as easy. The Eagles’ first four trips deep into Jacksonville territory resulted in just nine points. All those big plays from Kolb and the offense won’t mean a thing if they’re trotting out David Akers for chip-shot field goals all season.

LeSean McCoy

Shady had an up-and-down first quarter, but it’s hard to judge him on just a quarter of work in the first preseason game. After looking hesitant on some early runs, McCoy seemed to find his rhythm and start to run really well. He spun, juked, and lowered his shoulder into defenders. Like Kolb, I’d say he looked real promising against Jacksonville. Suffice to say he better be, because a lot is riding on his young legs.

We don’t need him to be Brian Westbrook, but we need him to be the best that LeSean McCoy can be. Hopefully that’s good enough for a team used to All-Pro-caliber play from its halfback.

Eagles Defense

This was the unit that let us down in back-to-back drubbings at New Texas Stadium. Brian Dawkins’ defection to Denver combined with the death of longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and Stewart Bradley’s ACL injury in training camp led to disarray for much of the season. With a full offseason under his belt (as well as the return of his middle linebacker), Sean McDermott has a real shot now to put his best defense out on the field.

Stewart Bradley

Can he regain the form that had some talking about an All-Pro season in 2009? That remains to be seen. What was seen Friday night was a first-string Eagles defense that didn’t allow a first down to the Jacksonville offense. A lot more goes into getting a three-and-out from your defense than just the middle linebacker, but you could tell that a new sheriff was in town. (At least he played his first game in over a year and was able to walk off the field, uninjured, afterward. That’s success for Bradley in ‘10.)

Brandon Graham

Speaking of new sheriffs in town, the first round pick sure looked like a player, didn’t he? Constantly getting up field and forcing the quarterback to step up in the pocket, Graham looks every bit the part of Trent Cole’s sidekick. This is something you have to be excited about as an Eagles fan.

Bird Watching

Here are some other observances from the Eagles’ first preseason game:

• Jackson and Jeremy Maclin celebrated together after Jackson’s catch on the first play from scrimmage. Maclin got in the action a few plays later when Kolb hit him on a wide-open deep curl route for a big gainer.
• Kolb can run too, as he showed on third-and-five with a six yard scramble out of bounds.
• The game’s first series was great. Buckley knocked down a Garrard pass on first down, Hobbs made a quick, hard tackle on a quick screen to Mike Sims-Walker on second down. On third-and-eight, Asante Samuel made a nice tackle to stop a completion short of the first down.
• Kickoff coverage unit is still a work in progress. There were some gaping holes for the Jacksonville returners.
• The Eagles ran an end-around to Jackson that gained 17 yards. That’s sort of an advanced play for the first preseason game against a team you’ll be playing early in the season, wouldn’t you say?
• Second teamers on for the start of the second quarter. Michael Vick time. First play, deep ball to Riley Cooper from the former number one overall pick. An absolute rainbow off a three-step drop for a 46-yard gain. B-E-A-utiful all around. Overall, I’d say Vick looked dangerous yet mistake-prone. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Michael Vick of old is back (and it’s a good thing).
• Seventh-round pick Kurt Coleman made several nice plays with the second team — both in coverage and run-stuffing in the box. He seems really physical and looks every bit the part of a strong safety in the NFL, something Quintin Mikell might want to think about if he doesn’t rebound from last year’s poor performance.
• Undrafted free agent Chad Hall looked like a poor man’s Wes Welker out there. He’s versatile — playing receiver, running back, and both return spots — and scrappy. Call him Reno Mahe 2.0 and hope that we don’t start booing him in a year or two.
• Another undrafted rookie, left tackle Austin Howard, looks for real with the second-teamers. Jason Peters, just you try and play as poorly as you did in ‘09. This isn’t King Dunlap behind you now.
• Funny sequence at the end of the first half when Jag’s backup quarter Josh McCown — who often looked like the second-coming of Johnny Unitas against the Eagles’ backups with 11-for-15 passing for 244 yards, three touchdowns, and a near-perfect 154.9 rating — pulled a McNabb and ran out the clock as he needlessly scrambled before throwing the ball away. No worries for Jacksonville, however, as Philly rookie defensive tackle Jeff Owens knocked off a Jags helmet during the play with an illegal hands to the face penalty. The Jaguars got gift chip-shot field goal on the play, and Owens might have lost himself a roster spot in the process. (He did make up for himself later on with a strip-sack in the fourth quarter.)
• The first-half included more than 500 yards of offense from both teams — almost all of the Jags’ offense coming after the second-teamers took over the game.
• Mike Kafka took over late in the game and hit Hall for a nice deep ball.
• Martell Mallett made a strong case for the third running back spot with 15 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. His main (healthy) competition, Eldra Buckley, rushed four times for 17 yards.
• Don’t get used to this, but the Eagles rushed the ball 41 times and passed it 35 — although both Kolb and Vick scrambled several times and ran the ball during pass plays.

See ya next week in Cincinnati!