Eagles preseason Week 1 game balls, slightly disappointing performances

Here are a few more game balls for some solid Eagles performances.

We can hand out several game balls as quite a few Birds had great nights. Throw the following names on that list.

Gardner Minshew, quarterback

It’s long been known that Gardner Minshew’s spot on the roster is certain. He’s a capable backup should anything happen to Jalen Hurts. On the night, he completed eight of 12 passes, resulting in 81 yards.

His accuracy wasn’t great, but it was good enough. His pocket awareness wasn’t always excellent, but what we saw was decent for the first preseason game. We even saw some of his ability as a scrambler. Things aren’t perfect, not yet, but head coach Nick Sirianni can feel very confident about what he has in the quarterback room.

Nakobe Dean, linebacker

It looks like Howie Roseman may have gotten that steal after all. Third-rounder Nakobe Dean hasn’t had the best training camp. He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s a nice piece of clay that we expect to molded into something special. On the night, he racked up five tackles, one being a nice-looking TFL (tackle for loss) on Jets tailback Breece Hall. It’s going to be interesting to see how he’s deployed during the regular season.

Jordan Davis, defensive tackle

Jordan Davis, Philly’s 2022 first-round selection continues to impress. He has the makings of a dominant force. Good luck blocking this young man for four quarters. He’s faster than some might think. We know he’s strong, and all of that was on display in the first preseason game. He’s going to be fun to watch in Philadelphia for a while.

Jalen Hurts, quarterback

How about another round of applause for Jalen Hurts? How about that perfect 158.1 passer rating? Hurts scored on a rushing touchdown that was called back due to a penalty, but he made up for it with a pretty pass to Dallas Goedert.

He isn’t in mid-season form yet. After all, ‘this is the Jets’, but the Eagles starting quarterback was as good as you can be from a performance standpoint. That should give everyone cause to smile for the rest of the weekend.

Honorable mention: Jason Huntley, Reed Blankenship

48 yards on 16 carries only amounts to three yards per carry. Jason Huntley was a nice watch in this one. He’ll be an entertaining watch all season. Rookie undrafted free agent Reed Blankenship was a tackling machine. He had seven tackles in this one.