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EAGLES: Bradford took a beating but kept on ticking

Schaub completed 11 of his 18 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown while Renner was successful with six of his 14 passes for 88 yards, although both threw an interception each.

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And he missed Seyi Ajirotutu down the sideline.

After shutting down the Ravens completely through three quarters, the Eagles bottom of the roster players started giving up big runs and long passes, such as the 28-yard touchdown pass Marc Anthony gave up with 3 minutes left.

We’re talking about guys that played somewhere else or weren’t on the 53-man roster and, in the case of Sam Bradford, didn’t play previous year.

The Eagles quarterback accused Suggs of purposefully targeting his knees on a read option.

Eagles’ Sam Bradford walks the field during Friday night’s preseason game against the Ravens. Bradford, a former Rams QB who was acquired in a trade involving Nick Foles during the offseason, is coming back from a second torn ACL which he hurt in last year’s preseason against the Cleveland Browns. Bradford will be leading the quick paced offense of the Eagles or the first time and will look to take an early command of his new offense.

But Bradford wasn’t the only one shaking off the rust. Instead he tried to barrel his way into the end zone during a preseason game. And he, too, showed his potential. On the Eagles’ next possession, with Mark Sanchez on in relief at quarterback, Murray scored from two yards out. He also led the NFL in touches – by a wide margin – with 449.

Mark Sanchez struggled through much of preseason game 1 vs the Colts going 2-7 for 52 yards and was saved by WR Nelson Agholor who made an acrobatic grab and ran it in for the score.

By the calendar, by the rules, by the contract with TV which mandates the whole useless exercise, the Eagles’ preseason is only half over.

Ravens offensive line coach Juan Castillo’s return to Philadelphia was event for the longtime Eagles assistant to match one among his greatest gamers in Philadelphia, Jason Peters, to present Ravens left deal with Eugene Monroe. “The key is just getting those guys back”. It was the style of run that Kelly loves, straight ahead and with total power.

More importantly for the Eagles and Bradford is that he took some major shots from the defense. Mathews had 19 yards on three carries and Sproles had 10 yards on two. Murray had five rushes for 17 yards in the first half. For tonight’s game, the spread has the Eagles as four point favorites with an over/under of 44-1/2 points for the complete game. He had a 92-yard punt return against the Colts.

Baltimore opened the game with a 14-yard run by Justin Forsett but never managed to recapture anything resembling that success through the first half. Bradford absorbed the hit after handing the ball off and got right back up. Walter Thurmond III also looked good in minimal snaps at safety with the starters.

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The presence of Murray and Mathews should free up Sproles to be used in more creative ways.

Derik HamiltonUSA TODAY Sports