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Eason's NFL Debut Considered a Success as He Shows Poise, Accuracy

The former Husky quarterback completes 15 of 21 passes for 183 yards in Colts' exhibition opener.
Dan Raley|
Eason's NFL Debut Considered a Success as He Shows Poise, Accuracy
Eason's NFL Debut Considered a Success as He Shows Poise, Accuracy

Showing more poise than most expected, Jacob Eason turned in a successful NFL debut as he helped the Indianapolis Colts pull out a 21-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in Indy.

The 6-foot-6, 231-pound second-year quarterback from the University of Washington led the Colts on a pair of scoring drives while completing 15 of 21 passes for 183 yards, all in the first half. 

Eason and rookie Sam Ehlinger, who split the halves, each proved efficient while playing in place of the injured Carson Wentz, now recovering from foot surgery. Under normal circumstances, the two young quarterbacks simply would be competing for the backup job, but one or both may have to open the season on the roster if Wentz is unable to go.

Colts coach Frank Reich, a former NFL quarterback himself, was pleased with the performances of his young offensive leaders.

"That's the kind of thing you want to see from your quarterbacks, mental toughness, being able to handle the blitz and come back and play winning football," Reich said. "I think both of them are probably going to grade out as playing winning football at the end of the day."

Eason, who had a couple of rough practices leading up to the game, showed off his arm strength and was accurate throughout his playing stint while he was responsible for just one turnover, losing a fumble. 

The former Husky from Lake Stevens, Washington, was particularly impressive in leading the Colts in their hurry-up offense to close the half, moving his team 75 yards in 6 plays.

Twice, he completed passes over former UW teammate Keith Taylor, a rookie cornerback for the Panthers making his pro football debut.  

Showing off his impressive arm, Eason came up completions of 37 and 32 yards.

His only major miscue was standing in the pocket and getting stripped of the ball by Carolina's Marquis Haynes, who beat left tackle Will Holden to reach the big quarterback. 

Eason's chief competition, Ehlinger, competed 10 of 15 throws for 155 yards and had a pass intercepted. The first-year player from Texas showed moxie in pulling the Colts from a 15-10 halftime deficit and securing the win. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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