Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Nick Foles is scheduled to miss 4-6 weeks with a broken collarbone, so it’s going to be the Mark Sanchez show in Philly for the time being. Sanchez has an excellent chance to resuscitate his career by performing well in Foles’s stead, and he certainly looked solid during the offseason. In immediate relief of Foles yesterday, Sanchez threw two touchdowns and two interceptions, though one of the picks came off of a drop by one of his rookie receivers. He was generally efficient with an average of 9.2 yards per attempt, though it isn’t hard to be efficient in the Eagles QB-friendly offense.
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Eagles head coach Chip Kelly wasn’t going to say anything else about his backup quarterback, but it was still nice to see him give the Sanchize a relatively strong vote of confidence. He said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bob Ford, “I said since day one that you better have two quarterbacks in this league. I don’t think we missed a beat offensively.”
Sanchez isn’t devoid of talent, but the Eagles shouldn’t be surprised if he throws a few ghastly interceptions between now and Foles’s return. There’s plenty on the line for Sanchez aside from quarterbacking a playoff team stocked with talent at the skill positions, because this is a chance for him to earn a shot elsewhere. He doesn’t have a great chance at parlaying this cameo appearance as the Eagles starting QB into something, but the NFL is filled with very few chances; this could be Sanchez’s last opportunity to make a statement.
With Jeremy Maclin playing at an incredibly high level, Zach Ertz making plays at TE, Darren Sproles and LeSean McCoy forming an excellent RB duo, rookie Jordan Matthews putting in work, and the offensive line rounding back into form and health, Sanchez has plenty of help.