And They’re Off: Turner, Reynolds use big Returns to Lead Eagles Past Jets

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In 10 days, they start to count for real. But before that, the Eagles had one more game where depth and fringe players had a chance to make the team.

Paul Turner had a good audition. Ed Reynolds made a key play as well. Two long touchdown returns, one by Turner on a punt and another by Reynolds on an interception, provided all of the offense for the Eagles in a 14-6 win over the New York Jets in the final game of the preseason on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Scoring Summary

  1 2 3 4 T
Jets 6 0 0 0 6
Eagles 0 7 7 0 14 

Both teams struggled to get offense going in the early stages of the game. But late in the first quarter, the Jets put together a drive and used two big plays to get on the board.

Bryce Petty hit Jalin Marshall for 17 yards and two plays later connected with Robby Anderson for 44 yards and a touchdown. The Jets attempted a two-point conversion and failed.

The Eagles put together a few solid drives, but struggled to get on the board. Chase Daniel had two interceptions that halted drives, including one that was over four minutes long and featured eight plays for 64 yards. 

But with just over two minutes left in the first half, Turner was back for a punt return and given time and space on the return. He made everyone miss, charging 71 yards down the field for a touchdown.

Points were at a premium in the second half as well. The Eagles were victimized by two fumbles, one by McLeod Bethel-Thompson and another on an exchange between Bethel-Thompson and Cedric O'Neal that halted two drives off to good starts.

Two plays after one of those fumbles, Christian Hackenberg was hit by Bryan Braman as he threw. The ball went straight to Reynolds, who intercepted the pass and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.

Team Leaders

Passing

New York Jets (1-3) Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Bryce Petty 4/6, 87 YD, TD Chase Daniel 14/22, 131 YD, 2 INT
Christian Hackenberg 11/31, 54 YD, INT McLeod Bethel-Thompson 13/16, 82 YD

Rushing

New York Jets (1-3) Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Khiry Robinson 13 Att, 25 YD Byron Marshall 10 Att, 22 YD
Antone Smith 10 Att, 27 YD Cedric O'Neal 16 Att, 30 YD
 Christian Hackenberg 1 Att, 15 YD  McLeod Bethel-Thompson 2 Att, 13 YD

Receiving

New York Jets (1-3) Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Robby Anderson 2 Rec, 61 YD, TD Paul Turner 6 Rec, 66 YD
Jace Amaro 3 Rec, 24 YD Dorial Green-Beckham 2 Rec, 31 YD
Khiry Robinson 3 Rec, 18 YD Chris Pantale 3 Rec, 29 YD

Team Stats

  Jets Eagles
1st Downs 10 15
Total Plays 62 69
Total Yards 202 269
Passing Yards 135 207
Rushing Yards 67 62
Red Zone (Made-Att) 0-1 0-1
Penalties 6-60 5-65
Turnovers 1 5
Time of Possession 26:48 33:12

What's Next

The regular season kicks off for the Eagles on Sunday, Sept. 11 when they host the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m.

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