Marcus Mariota struggles, Eagles suffer several injuries in 18-18 tie with the Browns

After contributing to a dominant day for the Eagles’ offense against the Cleveland Browns’ defense in joint practices on Tuesday, quarterback Marcus Mariota fell flat in the Eagles 18-18 preseason tie with the Browns on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Mariota, the ninth-year veteran and presumed backup to Jalen Hurts, played the entire first half of the game, a considerable playing time increase over last week’s opener agains the Baltimore Ravens when he saw just 29% of the offensive snaps. Against the Browns, he connected on just nine of his 17 attempts (52.9% completion) for 86 yards and an interception on an overthrow.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Browns report card: Tanner McKee scores well again, yet few excel

Throughout the night, Mariota struggled with overthrowing the ball. Two of his throws soared over the head of tight end Grant Calcaterra, who only caught one of his three targets (seven yards) in the first half. The protection around Mariota faltered, too, as he was sacked three times.

“I was sloppy,” Mariota said after the game. “I can do a better job of getting our guys operating cleaner and more efficiently. But that is what preseason is for.”

In stark contrast with Mariota’s play, rookie Tanner McKee led a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the second half. The drive was capped off by a 33-yard touchdown run by Trey Sermon, who found the end zone for the second straight week.

McKee later led a second touchdown drive, connecting with reserve tight end Brady Russell for a 22-yard score. The Eagles pulled off a successful two-point conversion on the subsequent play to the tie the game, 18-18, when McKee found wide receiver Johnny King in the end zone.

» READ MORE: Do the Eagles have a No. 2 quarterback problem with Marcus Mariota or is the answer Tanner McKee?

Just like his performance against the Baltimore Ravens, McKee’s night on paper wasn’t perfect. The rookie out of Stanford played the entire second half and had 10 completions on 18 attempts for 147 yards and a passing touchdown. However, a handful of his incompletions were drops by his receivers, including one in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal by wideout Deon Cain. He was also sacked three times.

Before the game, The Inquirer confirmed that edge rusher Haason Reddick will undergo surgery on his injured thumb. Reddick, who turns 29 next month, will miss the remainder of the preseason, but the Eagles expect him to be ready for Week 1 of the regular season.

The injuries kept coming on a short week. Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus left the game before the end of the first quarter with a shoulder injury, but he returned to the bench late in the second quarter. Then, early in the second quarter and shortly after helping make a five-yard tackle for a loss on wide receiver Anthony Schwartz, defensive end Nolan Smith suffered a shoulder injury. Smith returned to the sideline to start the second half. After the game, Smith said he was pulled for precautionary reasons.

The Eagles’ bad luck continued when cornerback Zech McPhearson fell awkwardly to the ground later in the second quarter when going up to make a play on an incompletion. He was helped to the sideline while favoring his right leg, was carted up the tunnel, and was ultimately ruled out with an ankle injury. Additionally, offensive lineman Josh Andrews was ruled out with an ankle injury.

In the third quarter, McKee threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland. As cornerback Gavin Heslop tackled Cleveland, the receiver landed on his neck and remained face-down on the field until the medical staff placed him on a backboard and carted him off the field. The Eagles announced later that Cleveland had movement in all of his extremities, but that he would remain out for the game with a neck injury.

With 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, rookie defensive tackle Moro Ojomo was hurt when he attempted to tackle quarterback Kellen Mond from behind. Ojomo looked to take a hard hit to the head from a teammate on the play. The backboard also came out for Ojomo, who was carted off the field. The Eagles later ruled Ojomo out with a neck injury but noted that he had movement in all of his extremities.

“You just pray,” Smith said of all the injuries. “We play a violent game. A violent and physical game. When I tell people, it may be fun and games to somebody else, but it’s somebody else’s livelihood.”

With a week of practices under his belt following his return from an ankle injury, inside linebacker Nakobe Dean saw his first game action of the preseason against the Browns. Dean started the game alongside Zach Cunningham, whom the Eagles signed during camp to bolster the competition in the linebacker room.

» READ MORE: ‘That’s why we drafted him’: Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean makes his mark in preseason debut

Dean made an immediate impact on the game. The Browns stormed down the field on their first possession of the night, bringing them to the Eagles’ one-yard line on 1st-and-goal. But Dean spoiled the Browns’ party, forcing a fumble from running back John Kelly Jr. which safety K’Von Wallace recovered.

“When I’d seen the guard block down, I kind of seen how he came off; I knew it was a run,” Dean explained. “I just shot the gap.”

Dean’s efforts went to waste shortly after the Eagles’ offense trotted onto the field for their first appearance of the game. In his first action of the preseason, running back Kenny Gainwell received a handoff from Mariota on second-and-10 while backed up in the end zone.

However, right guard Josh Sills was beat by Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate, tackling Gainwell for a loss of a yard and a safety as the Browns went up, 2-0, early in the first quarter. Sills is in competition for a depth role on the initial 53-man roster, while Gainwell finished the night with two carries for six yards on two drives.

Sermon experienced some struggles in the passing game and in protection in the second quarter. Mariota completed a short pass to Sermon, who attempted to pick up yardage after the catch, but he failed to protect the ball adequately on the 14-yard reception. Diabate popped the ball out from Sermon’s grip and Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell recovered the fumble.

» READ MORE: Trey Sermon took Jalen Hurts’ advice to heart and responded with a touchdown

Then, with one minute, 49 seconds remaining in the first half, Sermon failed to pick up blitzing safety Tanner McCalister, leading to a sack on Mariota.

However, Sermon turned around his fortunes on the first drive of the second quarter, ripping off a long touchdown run down the right sideline to put the Eagles up, 10-8. Sermon picked up 54 yards on five carries overall.