I got knocked down by some weird 48-hour virus event of the biological type. On Wednesday it felt like I was coming down with a “summer cold” on the hottest day of the year. I took an Excedrin and some extra Kleenex with me and got through the day. On Thursday (game day) it got worse with a slight fever, some serious coughing and more congestion. As kickoff approached on Thursday night I lay down on the couch for what I thought would be a rejuvenating nap. Fourteen hours later I awoke. What the…?
So I missed the game, the post-game interviews and of course the feedback from you loyal readers to what should have been a timely game recap here.
Weirdly enough, I feel okay now, just a few residual sniffles, the fever and headache and overall malaise are gone. I’m still not sure what hit me.
What I missed was really a lot of questions—did this guy or that guy do enough in the final PS4 game to either make the Eagles roster or make a solid impression enough to attract another NFL team?
From what I can glean from the post-game reviews, the play of the game was when Aziz Shittu stopped Thomas Rawls on fourth down at the Eagles 1 late in the second quarter. The Jets had begun the drive at the 8 after J.J. Wilcox intercepted Christian Hackenberg’s pass and returned it 25 yards.
That’s possibly a good omen for Shittu’s chances to either stick with the Eagles or get picked up by someone else.
As for Hackenberg, I didn’t expect a great outing, but wanted to see him get a prolonged look, a chance to shake off the proverbial rust. The reviews were not good. Hack was basically playing to showcase himself for another NFL job somewhere. After replacing Callahan in the first half, Hackenberg threw two picks on his first three drives. He drove the Eagles from the 1 to the Jets 20 in the final 90 seconds of the first half, but ran out of time after a 19-yard scramble. Oops, not a good look on letting that clock run out…The former Penn State star also lost a fumble and finished 7 of 16 for 69 passing yards. He ran for 66 yards.
Joe Callahan (who started the game) returned to play the fourth quarter and threw an interception in the end zone with 4:02 left. But he completed his last seven passes, including the winning TD to Matt Jones.
I was pleased to see Jake Elliott nailed a 55-yarder for Philadelphia. Also, Cameron Johnston had another good game punting, averaging 55 yards and pinning ’em deep on one of them.
According to most published accounts, these people who were playing for their NFL survival had good outings, at least good enough for practice squad consideration or free-agent signing by other teams:
Deep safety Jeremy Reaves;
DE Steven Means;
CB Chandon Sullivan;
WR Tim Wilson;
DL Elijah Qualls.
WR DeAndre Carter appeared briefly then was held out in the 2nd half, I’m told. This is being taken as a sign that Carter may have already made the team, at least the practice squad.
Same goes for Donnel Pumphrey. He flashed on a few RAC outlet passes but was held out in the 2nd half.
RB Josh Adams apparently had a rough night, 27 yards on 13 carries. I saw several reports that expressed dismay at his lack of cut-back movement, that he looked “stiff” as he hit the hole.
TE Billy Brown caught 5 passes (31 total yards) but dropped 2… that could be the end for the guy with my favorite name.
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