On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Indianapolis Colts by the score of 36-10.
Many of the Eagles young players were big contributors in the team's victory.
Eagles' first-round pick Nelson Agholor made some nice catch-and-runs. Agholor made a leaping catch and scampered down the sideline for his first NFL touchdown reception. However, he made a couple of easy drops. This is something that has plagued him throughout the course of training camp.
Eagles' second-round pick Eric Rowe may have been beat on a couple of occasions by Colts' receivers. Yet, the rookie defensive back from Utah sure has a knack for the football. He forced a fumble on Colts' wide receiver Phillip Dorsett. Also, he was in on the tackle when safety Chris Maragos came in to force another fumble.
In the post-game press conference, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly explained that he is pleased with the development of his young players, but he pointed out there is plenty of room for improvement.
"The one thing you don't know about any of those guys is what they are to be like until you get them into a game and that's the encouraging thing," Kelly said. "Sometimes the guys stand out on practice. That's been history and all of a sudden you get in the game and they are not the same player, and then other guys that were not so good standing out in practice, stand out in the game."
Although Kelly is enthusiastic about where his young guys are at right now in terms of their development, he expects that the young guys will learn from their mistakes by reviewing game tape in the film room.
"We are excited about those guys," Kelly said. "It's just one step for us, but we feel like we've got a lot of really good film to teach off with officials, legitimate down and distance, all of those things; a lot of good situations that we can get in the meeting room with those guys when they come back on Tuesday and really start to grow with this team."
Quarterback Matt Barkley looked impressive yesterday. Barkley went 12-20 for 192 yards and an interception.
Kelly seemed to be pleased with where Barkley is at right now. He even admitted that the interception wasn't entirely Barkley's fault.
"I thought he did a real nice job," Kelly said. "We screwed up a bit on the naked [bootleg] where it ended up getting tipped, but that guy should have been blocked. Our tight end was lined up too tight, we should have has a pin block on him and got him to the corner and given him an opportunity to throw it, but I thought he did a really nice job out there."
Also, former Oregon Duck running back Kenjon Barner rushed the ball six times for 29 yards, including a nine yard touchdown run.
However, Barner's biggest play of the game came on a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Kelly contends that if Barner keeps playing like this, that the Eagles will have no choice other than to keep him around as part of this football team.
"If he continues to perform like that, we have to fit him in," Kelly said. "We are going to find a way to keep the best 53 players here but when you get an opportunity to do something, you step up and do it. If he continues to play like that then he's going to put himself in the mix."
It will be interesting to see how much the young guys progress as the Eagles head into their second preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
