PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The most notable standout from the Eagles preseason opener with the Steelers was second-year wide receiver Quez Watkins, who making a very strong case to be in the starting lineup.
The 23-year-old took a Joe Flacco screen pass 79 yards to the house late in the first quarter — showing off his speed.
Watkins saw limited action as a rookie, but if he keeps playing like this, it will be hard to imagine the new coaching staff not making him an integral part of their offense.
"This whole offseason, I just made everything personal," Watkins said postgame. "Everything people said I couldn’t do. 'I was only fast.' I just made everything personal and put the work in."
And if it wasn't for a ball overthrown by Jalen Hurts, Watkin's speedy display late in the first would have been the secondary highlight of the night. Earlier in the quarter, Hurts went a little long on what would have likely been a 98-yard strike from Hurts to Watkins.
"One thing I was thinking about though as I walked up here [for my press conference] is, he's not a secret anymore," Hurts said. "So, that's unfortunate."
It won't be unfortunate if Hurts and Watkins are hooking up for scores left and right when the games count.
"I guess the cat's out of the bag," Watkins humbly declared.
Meantime, Hurts was 3 of 7 for 54 yards in two drives - a total of 10 plays -- including a beautiful pass to tight end Dallas Goedert.
A couple of those incompletions were drops, and then of course there was the misfire to Watkins.
"I wanna come on the field, complete every pass, score touchdowns every time I touch the field, the competitor in me is like, 'Damn,'" Hurts said of his performance. "But I think it was a good day."
The Voice of the Eagles, Merrill Reese — beginning his 45th season calling the team's games on the radio (Audacy's 94WIP is the flagship station) — gave Hurts a very positive review on the broadcast.
"If I were to grade him on what we saw tonight, again on 10 plays, I would give him an A," Reese said. "I thought he played about as well as you could possibly play in that time."
Reese's assessment is quite different from what others in the media would say about Hurts and the offense during training camp practices so far, but it doesn't sound like Reese is resting much importance on that.
"Boy, the criticisms that I've heard of this team as the preseason went on, and last Sunday night — unwarranted."
The game ended in a 24-16 loss to the Steelers, but Pittsburgh's damage was primarily done in the second half when Philadelphia's third string entered the game. The Eagles expected to play in the regular season were solid in the first half, taking 16-7 lead into the break.
New head coach Nick Sirianni said the first half was "very crisp," while things became "sloppy" in that second half. However, the fact that the first and second units were productive and showed encouraging signs is something to build on heading through the rest of the preseason into the Week 1 opener at the Atlanta Falcons.