What We Saw: Preseason Week 3

Some guys earned a spot on the roster while others will be looking for a new home shortly

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
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Eagles @ Jets

Final Score: Eagles 31, Jets 31

Writer: Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)

 

As far as meaningless games where almost no starters play go, this one was pretty exciting once it got started. Kickoff was pushed back due to field conditions after a rainstorm, but by the time the game started the conditions seemed perfectly fine. The Jets trailed for most of the game, as the Joe Flacco-led Eagles scored a touchdown on three of their first drives. The Jets got their offense going in the second half, but after a failed two-point conversion attempt they trailed by one with less than two minutes to go in the game. With the Jets out of timeouts, the Eagles forced a fumble and had the defender just gone down the game was over. Instead, the Eagles returned the fumble for a touchdown to take an eight-point lead with about a minute left in the game. The Jets proceeded to get the ball to midfield with six seconds left, and then James Morgan threw a hail mary to the end zone that Kenny Yeboah came down with relatively easily. Josh Adams then fought his way into the end zone to score the two-point conversion, and with that, the game ended in a 31-31 tie.

 

Philadelphia Eagles

| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |

 

Quarterback

 

Joe Flacco: 13/16, 188 yards, 2 TD, 2 Sacks, Fumble | 1 carry, 4 yards

Nick Mullens: 10/14, 98 yards, Sack

 

Joe Flacco started the game and looked great. At one point, the Eagles’ broadcast referred to him as Patrick McFlacco. He showed off his arm strength a few times and did a great job of extending plays with his legs. Since he’s not very fast, those plays almost all translated to throws to the running back or a receiver running a shallow cross. Still, McFlacco made several really impressive throws back across his body while rolling to his left, and just generally looked to be in command of the offense. His first touchdown throw was a short pass that Boston Scott did magical things with, but the second touchdown Flacco threw was a great play.

 

 

Flacco saw that the defender was not looking for the ball and directed his receiver up-field before delivering an on-target pass while moving to his right. This was easily his best performance of the pre-season, and even though he was playing against a second-string defense Flacco looked like a capable backup.

The Eagles did not seem to agree, as the next morning they traded a conditional sixth-round pick for formers Jaguars legend Gardner Minshew. The result of that trade was that this was Nick Mullen’s final game with the Eagles, although based on how Mullens has played that was probably destined to happen either way. I don’t want to dwell on Mullens since he’s now a free agent, but he looked pretty bad in this game and had a total of one pass that he threw further than five yards that was delivered accurately.

 

Running Backs

 

Boston Scott: 1 carry, 4 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 49 yards, TD

Kenneth Gainwell: 5 carries, 32 yards, TD | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 27 yards

Elijah Holyfield: 16 carries, 60 yards

 

Boston Scott got the first snaps at running back and quickly showed that he was probably too talented to need to play in this game. He didn’t have much room to operate on his first two touches, but on his third touch, he had enough room to embarrass two Jets defenders en route to a 49-yard touchdown.

 

 

It’s not too uncommon to see a defender miss a tackle as the first defender in that clip did, especially since it looked like there was some confusion pre-snap after Scott flipped sides in the backfield. The second defender is going to want to burn the tape, as he got his ankles broken without even touching Scott. Kenneth Gainwell was the next running back in, and it already appears that he might have the best hands of any of the Philadelphia running backs. He didn’t look bad as a runner either, although it would be nice to see him show a little more explosiveness in space. He did a good job of taking what his blockers gave him, but he wasn’t really adding anything after he got through the initial hole.

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Jalen Reagor: 1 target, 1 reception, 18 yards

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 57 yards, TD

John Hightower: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 21 yards

Travis Fulgham: 2 targets, 1 reception, 18 yards, Fumble

Greg Ward: 2 targets, 1 reception, 11 yards

Jack Stoll: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 14 yards

 

While most of the Philadelphia starters sat out tonight, both Jalen Reagor and Quez Watkins made an appearance tonight. The word out of camp is those two are locked into playing in three-receiver sets, so it was a little strange to see them play even on a limited basis in this game. Reagor’s only target came on a short crossing route, but after he caught it he did shrug off a defender before going down. Watkins wasn’t targeted. Former starter Travis Fulgham fumbled at the goal line while trying to fight for extra yards, and Greg Ward had a terrible drop on what should have been a routine catch for a fairly significant gain. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside had the best play of the group, on the above touchdown pass from Flacco, and seems to have done enough to make the team. He is a former second-round pick, and he does have the size that the other Eagles receivers are lacking, so he could be worth monitoring as a potential red-zone target assuming he does make the team.

 

New York Jets

| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |

 

Quarterback

 

Josh Johnson: 7/8, 73 yards, TD | 1 carry, 4 yards

James Morgan: 13/23, 158 yards, 2 TD, INT, Sack, Fumble

 

Josh Johnson was fine. He showed off his legs on a few designed roll-outs, and he was delivering the ball on target while on the move. He had one play where he was scrambling on third down and probably could have had the first down easily but instead decided to run into the defender and fall down. I can’t fault him for deciding he didn’t want to get hurt in a preseason game but it was a disappointing play to watch.

James Morgan came into the game early and provided a much more fun experience, in both good and bad ways for the Jets. He struggled with his accuracy at times, but he also completed a Hail Mary.

 

 

Hopefully, for the Jets, neither of these guys play this season, but at least we got that moment that is probably the peak of hype for the fourth quarter of a preseason game.

 

Running Backs

 

Michael Carter: 7 carries, 12 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards

Ty Johnson: 13 carries, 53 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards

Josh Adams: 12 carries, 62 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 17 yards

 

Ty Johnson got the start for the Jets, but he also played into the fourth quarter so it’s tough to tell where the team views him within their running back rotation. He had a few runs where he sought out contact and finished his runs aggressively, but he didn’t really showcase any open-field ability. He looks like he would be a good fit for the short-yardage and goal-line role, as he demonstrated on his touchdown run.

 

 

Michael Carter was also involved on the first drive and played through the first half. Carter looked a little more shifty, but he wasn’t as effective running through contact and with the way the Jets’ offensive line struggled to open up running lanes being shifty wasn’t as valuable tonight.

 

 

Josh Adams rounded out the New York running back rotation tonight and scored the two-point conversion to secure the tie. Similar to Johnson, Adams did a good job of running through contact and falling forward.

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Kenny Yeboah: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 100 yards, 2 TD

Vyncint Smith: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards

Lawrence Cager: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 21 yards, TD

Jeff Smith: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards | 3 carries, 44 yards

Keelan Cole: 1 target, 1 reception, 8 yards

 

The star of the game was Kenny Yeboah, an undrafted tight end who caught two touchdowns including the Hail Mary pass as time expired. His other touchdown was probably more due to bad defense than anything, but he was quick to break out of his route into the zone’s soft spot.

 

 

The more potentially fantasy-relevant play was the several designed receiver running plays for Jeff Smith. Smith received two end-around style handoffs, as well as a backward pass, and was given the chance to operate in space similar to how someone like Deebo Samuel was utilized in San Francisco. With the new Jets coaching staff bringing over their version of the 49ers offense, it isn’t hard to imagine a player like Elijah Moore getting a lot of manufactured touches in space.

Lawrence Cager caught an easy touchdown on a goal-line fade after the defensive back both failed to press him at the line and mistimed his jump for the ball, but Cager also allowed a defensive back to rip the ball away from him for an interception.

 

 

 — Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter).

Series Navigation
Introduction
Colts @ Lions
Eagles @ Jets
Steelers @ Panthers
Vikings @ Chiefs
Packers @ Bills
Ravens @ Washington
Bears @ Titans
Cardinals @ Saints
Buccaneers @ Texans
Rams @ Broncos
Chargers @ Seahawks
Jaguars @ Cowboys
Raiders @ 49ers
Dolphins @ Bengals
Patriots @ Giants
Browns @ Falcons

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