The Eagles' two quarterbacks who will be in action on Thursday night when the Eagles close out the preseason against the Jets have been friends for much longer than they have been teammates.
Nick Foles will start and is expected to play the first quarter. Trent Edwards will finish the game from there.
Foles was at the University of Arizona and Edwards was with the Buffalo Bills when they first met. Since Foles arrived as a third-round pick, the two have been roommates in Philadelphia and on the road.
Edwards has been a mentor for Foles. The two both came from Pac-10 (now Pac-12) schools with Edwards having played his college ball at Stanford. They were both college quarterbacks who were battered because of substandard offensive lines, but eventually became third-round draft picks. Edwards was thrust into the starting lineup as a rookie when J.P. Losman was injured. Foles has also started because of injury, albeit just this preseason.
"Trent's a great guy and I've been fortunate to know him for several years. It's just like anything. You have to realize it's a business and just approach everything one day at a time and work hard," Foles said. "He's an extremely hard worker, being around him and just learning from him and just seeing how he works and doing things together has really helped me continue to mature."
Fans want to know everything they can about Foles since he unleashed that 70-yard touchdown pass to Damaris Johnson against the Steelers. Edwards wouldn't elaborate too much on Foles' personality off the field except saying that he likes to take a lot of naps and is a "goofy kid." Edwards has been more concerned with helping Foles remain focused on becoming the best quarterback he can be.
"Don't make anything bigger than it needs to be," Edwards said. "It's just like 11-on-11 on the practice field. He was probably a little bit more excited for (the Cleveland game) being a starter. I just tried to keep reminding him of that. It's been fun to watch."
It'll be fun to watch once again on Thursday night as Foles looks to carry everything he's learned and get ready for the regular season.
"With anything you do in life and anything, you don't want to make the same mistakes. Sometimes you're going to mess up, and sometimes it's going to be similar, but you have to keep moving forward and not letting that affect you," Foles said.
"That's really just going out there, playing at a high speed, and having no fear of making mistakes. You can't go out there and play and be afraid to go out there and be afraid to throw into tight coverage, zip one in there. Stuff is going to happen, and there are great players on the other side of the ball, too, but I know (offensive coordinator) Coach (Marty) Mornhinweg really wants us to be aggressive, really go through our reads, and be smart about it. We just want to be aggressive and be sharp."
Unlike Foles, Edwards' spot on the team is not certain. Edwards has been around the league long enough to know that he can only be concerned with things that he has control over.
"I've said all along that I'm going to control the things that I can control, and those decisions aren't up to me," said Edwards. "I'm going to do what I've been coached to do. I feel that I have progressed, and I feel that I know where guys are going and what I should do with the football now. This is a great offensive system to be in. That's one of the reasons that I came here was to be coached by these guys and play with the guys in this locker room. It's going to be fun on Thursday night to get out there."
They are friends and roommates, but it will be interesting to see if Foles and Edwards remain teammates following Friday night's roster cutdown.
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