Quez Watkins "Isn't a Secret Anymore"
PHILADELPHIA – He took one step off the line as soon as the ball was snapped to Joe Flacco.
Flacco unleashed a quick pass, and Quez Watkins did the rest.
Most of the rest, anyway.
Watkins got a couple of nice blocks from his Eagles teammates to help carve the lane that he burst through on his way to a 79-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the first quarter that opened up the Eagles' advantage over the Pittsburgh Steelers to 10 points at the time.
The key blocks on the play were turned in by left tackle Brett Toth and tight end Richard Rodgers.
“As soon as (Flacco) checked it, they were getting ready to blitz, I started smiling a little bit,” said Watkins following what eventually became a 24-16 loss to the Steelers.
The game was a tale of two halves really.
The Eagles held a 16-7 lead at halftime when the starters and second-team players got all of the playing time.
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The Steelers won the second half 17-0 with the deep reserves on the field, including third-string quarterback Nick Mullens, who threw a pair of interceptions.
“I thought it was a very crisp first half, a lot of good things in the first half,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “There are things to clean up, but in the first half, I thought we looked pretty sharp there. Then the second half just got sloppy. That was my message to the team.”
The biggest play of the game from either team was the Watkins TD.
“Any time you get a guy that can run like Quez can, that's obviously a very big threat to the defense,” said Sirianni. “Softens them up. We have seen that, right? You guys have been at all the practices. You've seen him get behind the defense, make some plays on the ball.
“That's what's impressive with Quez, he has good strong hands that can go up and make plays. He has that speed and can go up and make plays. So that's a weapon that we're hoping to continue to develop.”
On his way to the podium, Jalen Hurts, who was out of the game after just two drives, one of which he led the Eagles to a first-possession field goal, said one of the things he thought about was Watkins.
“One thing I was thinking about, as I walked up here was [Watkins] isn’t a secret anymore,” said the QB. “So, that’s unfortunate.”
Jalen Hurts completed 3 of 7 passes for 54 yards in just two series of work Thursday night.
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The second-year receiver has been one of the most consistent pass-catcher in training camp and a player that cornerback Darius Slay has the ability to be one of the team’s best receivers. That’s saying something considering the Eagles spent their last two first-round picks on the position – Jalen Reagor in 2020 and DeVonta Smith in 2021.
Watkins was picked until the sixth round of the 2020 draft, the 200th player taken overall, after starring at Southern Miss.
“I guess the cat’s out of the bag, just keep stacking my days,” said Watkins when asked by SI.com Eagle Maven his reaction to Hurts saying he’s not a secret anymore.
Watkins said he spent the offseason motivated by some criticism he heard from his rookie season, during which he came on late and made seven catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, a touchdown, incidentally, that was on a screen pass that he turned into a 39-yard score.
“Everything people said I couldn’t do; ‘I was only fast,’” he said. “I just made everything personal and put the work in.”
Watkins has certainly played himself into a role with this team, perhaps even as a starter, ahead of Travis Fulgham, who wasn’t targeted once.
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“That’s not the first time I’ve seen [Watkins] take one of those screens,” said Hurts. “He’s, like, two-for-two on those screens in his career. I think he’s a great player. He knows what I think of him and he could be a really good player for us. This game is no representation of what he’s been doing and the progress he’s made from last year. [From when] we both got here until now.”
Earlier, Hurts and Watkins just missed on what would have been a 98-yard touchdown.
Hurts seemed to overthrow Watkins, who was behind the defense, but Watkins said he got a late tug on his jersey that just threw him off enough to slow him down.
“In the situation like that the worst thing you can do is take a safety,” said Hurts referring to throwing out of his end zone on the play. “So, I wanted to get the ball up, get it up and down. I ended up getting up and (he) grabbed. We’ll hit it. We’ll hit it.”
NO MILES
Sirianni said Miles Sanders was held out because they know what they have with him. “Wanted to keep him fresh,” said Sirianni. “We’ll re-evaluate and see if he’ll play next week.”
Sanders ripped off a pair of long runs in a regular-season game against the Steelers last year and is from Pittsburgh.
“He was fine,” said Sirianni. “I explained to him, talked to him. His running back coach Jemal [Singleton] talked to him. We thought it was best for the team that he sat that one out. He had a couple of big runs against Pittsburgh last year, right? So, his people in Pittsburgh saw those big runs last year.”
PICK OFF
Defensive back Elijah Riley notched an interception for the team’s first turnover of the preseason. Still, the Eagles were -1 in the takeaway/giveaway department due to Mullens' two interceptions.
ROOKIE DEBUT
Defensive lineman Milton Williams played a strong game and got plenty of snaps, with some coming inside, the on the outside.
“I know this morning when I woke up I was kind of nervous, finally getting that moment of playing in my first NFL game,” said Williams, a third-round pick last spring. “Once I played the first snap, I kind of settled in a little bit and got a little bit more comfortable and then tried to do what I know. I’ve been playing football my whole life, a dream come true tonight.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
