3 Eagles Who Blew Their Shot at a Job Against the Browns

Emotions are running high among Eagles fans after Thursday’s tie with the Browns. There was some good to take away from the contest, but seemingly more bad, especially on the injury front.

A few players completely underwhelmed despite having a great opportunity to impress. With that in mind, here are three Eagles who hurt their chances of securing a job in Philly.

Eagles Disappointments vs. Browns

1. Marcus Mariota

The backup quarterback battle is the biggest topic after Philadelphia’s second preseason game, and not in a good way for Marcus Mariota. The veteran looked extremely sloppy after earning the start, completing just 9-of-17 passes for a measly 86 yards.

More concerningly, Mariota’s turnover troubles that plagued him with the Falcons last year continued on Thursday night, as the former No. 2 pick floated a pass over a wide-open receiver for an interception.

Mariota promptly got booed, and it’s hard to blame fans for being disgusted by this performance. He has been hailed by the coaching staff as the team’s answer to its QB2 question, and the front office seemingly agreed by handing him $5 million guaranteed in free agency.

However, Mariota’s played nothing like a QB who deserves the job of being Jalen Hurts’ primary understudy. He’s now underwhelmed in two straight preseason outings, which is where he should be excelling considering some of his opponents won’t even be in the NFL soon.

Maybe Mariota is trending toward joining them. He had a disastrous run in Atlanta, which he ran away from before the season was even over after losing the starting job because of performance issues. If he can’t even prove to be a capable backup, how is he going to stick around in the NFL?

Philadelphia appears to have found a diamond in the rough with QB3 Tanner McKee, who took over from Mariota and immediately injected life into this offense. If McKee continues to trend upward, Philly seriously needs to consider parting ways with Mariota.