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Philadelphia Eagles News

Game Vs. Colts: Eagles Offense/ST

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Eagles QB Mark Sanchez

On the up-tempo offense:

"That was great and that was what we've been seeing in practice. Our speed is really an advantage for us and it makes it fun. It makes it tough on the other team. So we have to continue to be in great shape and maintain our good conditioning and then go out and play really well, make good decisions and throws and all that when we're on the move like that."

On the grade he would assign to today's game:

"I don't know. We got the win. I thought we took care of the ball okay. There were a couple of throws and stuff that I know some of the guys wanted back and we don't want to turn it over. You'd like to be clean that way, but we'll let the coaches grade it out. Obviously, a win's big and we'll just move on from here."

On whether it felt good to get back out on the field:

"It was great just to be back in the stadium, to hear the fans and to go through the whole drill again. It was nice to just get things going. It's nice that it's almost September and it can't come fast enough. It's great."

Eagles QB Tim Tebow

On whether he had butterflies:

"I always do. When you care about something, you want to go perform."

On his touchdown run:

"It's fun. We were getting looks that I couldn't really pull it for a while. It was kind of close and I wanted to take it. It was fun."

On how he would assess his play:

"I think there were some things that were decent and some things that we have to work on. Just try to be more consistent and improve communication with the offensive line and receivers. That's a big key, especially when you're running a fast tempo in this offense. Everybody being on the same page is huge. It's never as good as it seems and it's never as bad as it seems. It's one more day to try to improve and try to get a little bit better tomorrow."

On whether he thinks the changes he's made are starting to pay off:

"This is the first time [in live game action], so I thought there were some throws that I made that were decent and I just want to continue to improve."

On what it was like for him to be back out there after not playing for a few years:

"It was fun. Playing ball. I loved it. You want to be focused and you want to focus footwork, reads, communication with everybody. So enjoy the moment. You won't always have it."

On the fan reaction to him coming into the game:

"I was grateful, but I was also like they're not going to be able to hear me."

On how special it was for him to be playing:

"It's a blessing to put in work for something and be able to see that work, to be able to get to a point where you're back playing ball and having fun. I'm grateful for this opportunity."

On whether his opportunity has been everything he thought it would be:

"Playing for Coach Kelly and the way that everything is done here is so professional. I think they do a lot of things that are very innovative, and things that are changing the game. I'm glad to be a part of it."

On whether he feels like he has a fair shot to make the team:

"I was just worried about today and I'm going to just try to get better tomorrow."

Eagles QB Matt Barkley

On how comfortable he feels compared to last year:

"Feel like I have come a long way. Right now, where I am at, I feel great that I can lead this team, score points and move the ball down the field. I feel good about how we moved the ball today, but we definitely left a little meat on the bone. There were a few tough third downs, but I feel like we did okay for the first preseason game."

On why he thought he was more comfortable today than he was in the past:

"Just experience. I am confident in my arm and my timing with the receivers. My knowledge of the offense has grown tremendously from last year. The combination of all those things helped me play fast."

On whether he wanted to make a statement today with the way that he played:

"I just wanted to play good football. If I made a statement, so be it. But I wanted to come in and make plays. I think the important thing with this offense is to get the ball rolling, get completions and get yards right away. Once drives start moving, plays open up. I think we did that tonight."

On whether he has a better feel of the tempo then he did in the past:

"Yeah, I feel like [head coach Chip] Kelly just wants to push the tempo as much as he can. It worked in college when Oregon played [USC]. I understand where it is coming from. If you can get the defense on their heels, plays open up. I feel like, starting with our offensive line, they did a good job of pushing the tempo. I was just trying to get it going the whole time."

On what his reaction was to the fans cheering for QB Tim Tebow:

"He's a fan favorite and he's a good teammate. He played well today. He did a good job. It's pretty funny to see their reaction. It happens wherever he goes, as it should. He's a good person. I love him as a teammate. It was a good showing."

Eagles WR Jordan Matthews

On WR Nelson Agholor's game:

"All I know is that Nelson balled today. I am proud of him. He makes it look easy. Like I said, when you practice fast and you're as fast as he is, the game is going to slow down a lot quicker. Then, on top of his natural ability, he works extremely hard and he's smart. I think this game is going to come easy for him. He's going to come into his own quickly. I think he's going to help this offense a lot."

On this year's receiving group, considering all of the turnover over the past few years:

"It was a good showing. Even [WR] Rasheed [Bailey] going and making that crazy one-handed sideline catch. That is what you love to see. That is what this game is about, everyone coming out and making plays. Our room of guys, we are like brothers. We are not putting any labels on nothing, none of that 1's, 2's or 3's. It's about being a core, being a family and wanting the best for each other. When you have a bunch of guys going out there and making plays. That is what you want to see. Now we just have to continue to bring the whole room together. We are all going to make plays, from top to bottom. I just love seeing guys on our squad make plays."

On how important it will be for him to get in-game reps with QB Sam Bradford:

"Of course. It's no secret that Sam has been running with the ones in practice. He's doing a great job, nothing but positive. Of course it will be important to get reps with him. I think he's going to play on Saturday. Whenever he is in there, I know he is going to ball. I just can't wait to get on the field with him."

On Agholor's game speed:

"Oh yeah. You know, when I saw [WR] Josh [Huff] last year, he was so quick side to side. I was like, wow. When you talk about running straight forward, my boy, Nelson goes zero to one hundred. He does it day in and day out. He is explosive in practice. That cat has speed. He runs on every single catch, so it's no surprise when he takes a hitch to the house like that. I think he almost made another big play on a hitch. He had three short catches that were or could have been big gains, because of his raw athleticism. I think he's going to help us out a lot. Adding him to this offense is huge."

Eagles WR Nelson Agholor

On what it feels like to score a touchdown on his first NFL reception:

"It felt like a pass that I was targeted on in practice. Good habits on the practice field carried over to the game. [QB Mark] Sanchez and I connected on multiple hitches in practice and it wasn't any different today."

On whether he was the first read on the touchdown play:

"Sanchez had multiple options, he just gave me a shot. I'm grateful that he thought enough of me to get me the ball on that play and I just finished the play."

On whether he was surprised to see daylight after he caught the ball:

"I just caught the ball and tried to finish. Every day in practice we try to turn catches into more."

On how he feels knowing that his speed translates to the NFL:

"At the end of the day, you just train to finish. Different people may catch you, I don't know. I'm not the fastest guy in the world. Some days, guys won't be able to tackle me. On that play, I continued to finish very hard and I got away."

On whether there were any plays that he would like to get back today:

"Yeah, I absolutely would have loved to get back two 3rd down situations. One of them was an in crossing route. It's considered a basic route and I felt like I could have come back to the ball a bit stronger. Then there was one on the sideline. I need to work on just finding the ball and not looking who is throwing the ball. I think my eyes went to the quarterback. At the end of the day, I like the fact that that happened today. It's a good thing to learn from. I look at my timing, because sometimes when I look back to the quarterback, I can see both. But, different things happened today that were good."

On whether he had any first game jitters:

"It's always business. This was a great opportunity for a lot of us. We are in preseason right now. You learn from the good and bad plays that you make. That is what it is still about. We are still in progression mode. Come game time, you have to capitalize on all the opportunities. Right now, it's all about getting better."

Eagles C Jason Kelce

On the ovation that QB Tim Tebow received from the fans:

"Tebow's a great guy. I'm really happy for him that he was able to go out there and play some football again. He's one of the hardest workers on the team. He's a great guy, a great teammate and a great player, so I'm happy for any accolades he gets."

On how it felt to play next to G Andrew Gardner:

"I've played next to Gardner, both last year and a lot this offseason, so he really didn't do anything surprising [to me] out there. Every time he's been put in the mix, and every time he's played right guard, he's done a solid job for us. We had a really good double-team block on one play. As far as I know, in pass protection he held up pretty darn well. I think I speak for the entire team when I say we're confident in Andrew Gardner and we're confident in a couple other guys who have been rotating in that spot. I think one of the good things about whoever is going to play that right guard spot is most of those guys have seen action in games and they're guys that I think our offensive line and coaches are comfortable with."

On RB Ryan Mathews:

"He's been great in camp. Obviously full contact and tackling is a little bit different than training camp. The running plays always tend to be a little bit different in games. You watch the way he hits the hole, he hits it downhill, the speed, the agility, the elusiveness. He's a dynamic back. Having him and [RB] DeMarco [Murray], and [RB] Darren Sproles. [RB Raheem] Mostert looked really good out there too. We have a lot of good running backs. As long as this offensive line can do what they're supposed to, I think we're going to make hay in the running game."

On whether he thinks the offensive line has made strides during the offseason coming together:

"We have a lot of depth at the offensive line position. We have good players here, we have a coach who is dedicated to really making sure the guys are blocking the right way, to developing the younger guys and the second-tier players because you know there's a chance they could play. That's not always the case in the NFL. [Offensive line coach] Jeff Stoutland does a great job making sure everybody is ready to go, if need be."

Eagles K Cody Parkey

On whether there was something about the distance – 33 to 34 yards – that he was having difficulty with:

"No, that should be very easily made by me. Obviously it's all on me. I missed the kicks. That just shows why we do the preseason – to get some kicks under your belt, to get some plays under your belt and feel natural and feel good going into the first game."

On how the changes to the extra point rule affect him:

"It doesn't affect me at all, you just have to hit a straight ball and it won't miss."

On when he started preparing for the new extra point rule:

"We've been doing it since last year. No excuse to miss, ever. Just go out there and do my thing."

On where his confidence is right now:

"It's sky high. Couldn't be better. We have the best holder, the best snapper in the league. The best protection. I just have to go out there and kick and do my thing."

On whether today's performance was just a blip on the radar:

"Yeah, I think everybody is human, everyone misses a kick here or there. It's obviously pretty embarrassing to go out there and miss two in the first game. It sucks for me to do it, and I'm just going to go out there next week and do better."

On whether there were any issues on the snaps that caused him to miss:

"No. Perfect snaps, perfect hold."

Eagles RB Kenjon Barner

On his success in the run game today and whether the running plays were to his liking:

"It's just the playbook. Everything we ran today was just our playbook. One of the reasons we were having success was because our offensive line was doing a great job of moving guys and re-establishing the line of scrimmage on the opposite side of the ball. I was able to [play] off of them and they were just doing their job."

On his punt return touchdown and the decision-making process of either calling for a fair catch or making the return after catching the ball while backpedaling:

"I had a long conversation with [Eagles RB Darren] Sproles during pre-game. He told me [Colts P Pat McAfee] was going to give me plenty of opportunities and he was going to outkick his coverage and sure enough, throughout the game, you see that he was kind of outkicking his coverage and our guys did a great job as gunners. Usually gunners are the first guys down there to make or break a play. So I was able to see that they were taking care [of that] once the ball left the punter's foot. So you catch the ball and do what you can."

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