The Eagles' quarterback room was dealt a blow Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field when Nate Sudfeld landed awkwardly after being hit by Titans defensive tackle Isaiah Ford and broke his wrist.
Although the injury is not season ending, according to head coach Doug Pederson, it will cause him to miss some time.
The situation is less than ideal, but the NFL does not allow teams to sit and wallow in a setback. In this league, you have to move forth or as the old cliché goes, have a next-man-up mentality.
Quarterbacks coach Press Taylor echoed that sentiment Friday during media availability, as his focus has to now turn to the other quarterbacks on the roster – Cody Kessler and Clayton Thorson – to see who the primary backup behind Carson Wentz will be.
"Right now, obviously, that moves everybody up the totem pole a little bit," Taylor said. "Everybody will get more reps and we'll just continue to attack it like we have dispersing reps throughout the group like we've been doing."
Kessler, like Thorson, is new to the Eagles but he is not new to the league, as he has 12 career starts under his belt. Against the Titans, he completed 3 of his 6 passing attempts before giving way to Thorson early in the fourth quarter.
"Obviously, he's new to the system and stuff like that, so the reps he gets I think he's maximized really well," Taylor said of Kessler. "Like I said, there's more reps to go around now. It'll just be more opportunities for him to learn our system and continue to grasp it."
"He's started and won games in this league," he added. "He comes in with a plan every time he comes into a practice or a game situation, understands what he wants to get done, and I think he just has a poise about him, a guy that looks like he's played before."
In his first NFL action Thursday night, Thorson looked like, well, a rookie. He completed only 2 of his 7 attempts and threw an interception.
Taylor chalked up Thorson's performance to adrenaline and nerves.
"I felt like he saw things pretty well," he recalled. "He probably didn't make the throws that he wanted to make, but it's a guy that played his first NFL game last night and I know he's excited to get back after it this week."
"We've got three more preseason games coming up and more practice opportunities," he added. "He's ready to get going tomorrow. I know that."
A lot of rookies struggle mightily with learning encyclopedia-like NFL playbooks. However, Thorson apparently has not had that issue so far.
"I really liked where his eyes were," Taylor said. "He was in the right place. He understands our offense, the scheme of things. I think there was just some adrenaline probably pumping through his body – the first time wearing an NFL uniform and walking out and playing a game like that."
"All correctable stuff that we're excited to get him back on the practice field and keep working with him," he added.
