Eagles vs. Browns Notebook: Marcus Mariota Flops, Tanner McKee Flashes
PHILADELPHIA - The scoreboard was secondary to a rash of injuries for the Philadelphia Eagles in an 18-18 preseason draw with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Three players were carted off: cornerback Zech McPhearson (ankle), receiver Tyrie Cleveland (neck), and defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (neck). In addition to that, backup center Josh Andrews left with an ankle injury and receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and rookie edge rusher Nolan Smith both left with shoulder issues.
Cleveland and Ojomo were able to move all their extremities so the worst wasn't realized there but McPherson's injury certainly came across as serious.
For an organization that values getting to Week 1 as healthy as possible, losses of preseason games don't matter and ties are irrelevant. Player losses do matter a great deal.
-Productive performances in the joint practices earlier in the week vaulted Zach Cunningham above Nicholas Morrow and Christian Eliss on the depth chart at linebacker and the veteran started next to Nakobe Dean. Cunningham played well and was active with a team-high seven tackles, including one for loss, putting him on track to be the Week 1 starter if that continues over the next two weeks.
Complicating matters is Elliss also played well after a somewhat shaky start, producing two tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Conversely, Myles Jack, who was brought in the same day as Cunningham, is heading in the wrong direction and didn't enter the game until late in the third quarter.
-Dean playing was an interesting decision but the second-year pro needs reps. Things didn't look great early but Dean flashed his big-play skills by bursting through the line and forcing a John Kelly fumble at the two-yard line that K'Von Wallace recovered to prevent an opening-drive touchdown by the Browns.
-The starting offense, composed of the second team, was not effective at all. Quarterback Marcus Mariota played the entire first half in an ineffective fashion, finishing 9-of-17 for 85 yards, with an interception 42.5 passer rating hearing his first boos in his first game as an Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Overall the offense generated just 102 total yards with Mariota with three false starts, three sacks allowed, and a Trey Sermon fumble.
"Tonight, yeah obviously not up to his standard, but it’s about us finding what works for him," coach Nick Sirianni said of Mariota. "And that’s just us learning him. That’s us working together to figure that out."
-With rookie Tanner McKee in the second half, things changed dramatically. For the second consecutive game, the Stanford product played with steely confidence, processing quickly and getting the football out on time with confident throws. McKee finished 10-of-18 for 147 yards and a 22-yard touchdown to Brady Russell and an ensuing two-point conversion to Johnny King that tied the game. There were also at least four drops so the numbers should have been better.
"I think for me a little bit of my game, my job as a quarterback is to get the football into the playmaker’s hands," McKee told SI.com's Eagles Today. "They are a lot faster and can make guys miss and a lot of other things when they have the ball in their hands. I feel like my job is a distributor to be able to put the ball in their hands and let those guys go do what they do.”
The Eagles don't think so but you can bet the fan base is going to start a backup quarterback controversy.
"Marcus is our backup, and pleased with the way Tanner is playing," Sirianni said.
- Smith started on the left edge and had a really nice rush against fellow rookie Dawand Jones that forced Dorian Thompson-Robinson into a Kentavius Street sack. The rookie was forced to leave early however with the shoulder injury.
-McPhearson was back on the outside after playing exclusively in the slot since the spring. The third-year player was targeted often early and allowed a 36-yard completion to Cedric Tillman but settled done from there before being carted off with a right ankle injury early in the second quarter sustained on a pass breakup that Street nearly intercepted.
McPhearson has turned into a jack of all trades when you add his cornerback versatility to his punt-gunner responsibilities and his ability to return punts. The injury looked significant and would be a blow to the depth of the defense and Michael Clay's special teams units.
-The Eagles' pre-snap penalties continue to pile up. On defense, both Moro Ojomo and Janarius Robinson had offside penalties and rookie offensive lineman Tyler Steen had consecutive false start penalties in the second quarter while Jack Driscoll also had a false start.
"Those will drive you crazy as a coach," Sirianni said. "They’ll drive you crazy as a team, right? And so I wouldn’t — again, like you’re always concerned when you have — you never want to have things that — we always talk about this: Master the things that require no talent.
"So pre-snap penalties, we believe that that’s one of those things."
There were 19 total penalties in the game, 11 of them on the Eagles.
-D'Andre Swift was the lone running back to get the night off. Things were looking bad for Sermon in the first half when he fumbled the football after a 15-yard reception and missed a blitz pickup but the roster hopeful responded with three runs for 48 yards in the opening drive after intermission, including a 33-yard touchdown run.
-Rookie cornerback Kelee Ringo has got talent but isn't ready for primetime yet. The Georgia product had a difficult time tracking the football in the air and wasn't tackling well either.
-One player who might be making a run to a roster spot is safety Justin Evans. The former starter in Tampa, who was once a second-round pick before injuries
-WWE superstars Gunther, Grayson Waller, and Trick Williams were in attendance as ticket sales for Wrestlemania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field next April kicked off this week.
Williams' real name is Matrick Belton and he's a former wide receiver at South Carolina who once attended Eagles rookie camp as a tryout player.
-The Eagles return to the practice field for Saturday and Sunday sessions before a Tuesday joint session with Indianapolis in advance of the preseason finale against the Colts and old friend Shane Steichen on Thursday of next week.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
