Nick Foles had a rough return in his first NFL game since Super Bowl LII.
After sitting out last week’s 31-14 preseason opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP left early in the second quarter of Thursday night’s 37-20 defeat to the New England Patriots with a shoulder strain. On a second-and-8, Foles was strip-sacked by defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn, and rookie linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley — a fifth-round draft pick out of Purdue — scooped it up to run 54 yards for a touchdown. By that point, the Patriots led 17-0 and third-string Eagles quarterback Nate Sudfeld replaced Foles, who finished just 3 for 9 for 44 yards.
Foles has since been listed as questionable for next Thursday’s game at Cleveland. The only good thing the young quarterback got to experience was shaking reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady‘s hand, something that never happened after Philadelphia beat New England in this year’s Super Bowl. Brady insisted to reporters after Thursday’s game that he didn’t try to intentionally avoid Foles after the Pats lost in February.
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“That was kind of made up to me because that was never my intention that I would be a bad sport,” Brady said after Thursday’s Super Bowl LII rematch at Gillette Stadium. “But, I have a lot of respect for Nick and Carson [Wentz], all those quarterbacks, and that team and the way they played. They’re a great team.”
Foles seconded Brady’s comments in his own post-game press conference, saying he had nothing but respect for the five-time Super Bowl champion and that the media “made a big deal” out of the lack of a handshake after this year’s national championship game.
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“I think everyone’s made a big deal about it. There’s a lot of craziness. I’ve always respected Tom, I met Tom several times and it was great to see him,” said Foles of Brady. “He’s a heck of a player, one of the greatest of all time, and you know, to say hi, that’s what quarterbacks do after games. I know everyone made a big deal of the Super Bowl, but the Super Bowl’s chaos after. But he was nice, as he always is, so I wished him the best of luck this season.”
Besides Foles, Philadelphia lost several other players to injury: among them were tight ends Richard Rodgers and Joshua Perkins, receivers Bryce Treggs and Kamar Aiken and defensive back Stephen Roberts.
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