After all, he’s a rookie from a small school who was playing in front of a crowd that was five times what he’s used to. With hardly any preseason work.
Advertisement
But Wentz insisted he wasn’t nervous – “I really don’t get nervous”, he said – and his play certainly indicated that.
Griffin was hurt in Sunday’s 29-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Eagles rookie quarterback and No. 2 overall draft choice Carson Wentz, of course, was instrumental in his team’s season-opening victory but he wasn’t the only star in attendance. Coach Hue Jackson said last week the Browns didn’t draft Wentz because he was not “the right fit.”. “He showed a lot of poise and toughness in there”.
The catch was that the Eagles were prepared for growing pains once they had gotten a first-round pick from the Vikings last week for Bradford, boosted Wentz over Chase Daniel, and rolled the dice even after he missed the last three preseason games with an injured rib. The Eagles’ Jordan Matthews was the game’s top receiver, with seven catches for 114 yards and a TD. The second half saw Griffin hammered by Philly’s defense, which piled up three sacks and forced the passer into a handful of rushed, erratic throws.
“It’s my mother”, Griffin said with a smile as he pulled the phone from his trousers pocket and looked at the I.D. He then went deep to Pryor for 44 yards down the left sideline, getting the Browns in the red zone. It takes a special quarterback to make both of those receivers look good in the same game. The rookie quarterback capped off his first National Football League drive with a lovely 19-yard touchdown strike to Jordan Matthews.
Wentz completed four of his first five attempts for 57 yards with one drop to lead the Eagles to their first touchdown, the pass to Matthews. These two teams don’t typically play in the regular season, making it an intriguing first-week matchup.
Said Eagles tight end Brent Celek: “He came right out and made a statement and that was important for everybody to see”.
“It was a great way to start the year”.
Sure, it’s only one game.
Griffin, who finished 12-of-26 for 190 yards and an interception, said “it’s just a matter of us going out and executing plays we need to execute”. After a pass interference call against Malcolm Jenkins negated a stop on third down, Isaiah Crowell ran in from the 2 to cut it to 10-7. “Carson and Zach made a great play”.
In Sunday’s season opener, the Eagles lost the coin toss and the Browns chose to give the ball to the Eagles.
And then Wentz did this. “I’ve got trust in confidence in them”.
It was a slow and painful death for the Browns and Griffin, who stayed in despite taking a shot to the shoulder during a scramble from Eagles rookie cornerback Jalen Mills.
“Once we got that lead we knew they’d have to pass to get back in the game. And that’s how it’s supposed to be done”. “To go out there in your first start with pretty much eight days notice and to not have any turnovers speaks volumes about his play”.
Advertisement
The Browns hit the reset button again following the 2015 campaign.
