New Era Begins

The record will show Kevin Kolb's first preseason pass as the Eagles' starting quarterback was a short completion over the middle to DeSean Jackson that the fleet-of-foot wide receiver took for a 21-yard gain in the Birds' 28-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field Friday night.

As far as reboots go, it was about as good a start as the new-era Eagles could have hoped for from their quarterback. The same can't exactly be said for the rest of Kolb's one quarter under center against the Jaguars.

But for the most part, he looked sharp and poised as he guided his offense on two field-goal producing drives before he was given the night off midway through the Eagles' third possession. Kolb completed 6 of 11 passes for 95 yards for an 83.5 passer rating.

"With the talent that we have, we feel like we can execute and be consistent, and I'm not even saying I was consistent," Kolb said. "We feel like we can put up a lot of points. Like I said, there were some mistakes, but I thought it was a good start overall."

The record, of course, matters little this time of year. The Eagles squeaked by Jacksonville but most of the points were accumulated from both teams' reserves. When both first teams played, however, the Eagles score six points and the Jaguars none.

The Eagles' starting defense looked impressive in forcing Jacksonville to punt without a first down on both its first-quarter series.

"We didn't really have that many snaps; we only had six plays," said linebacker Stewart Bradley, who was playing in his first game of any kind since he tore up his knee last August. "It was short-lived, but two three-and-outs is what you want to do as a defense."

As imposing as defensive coordinator Sean McDermott's crew looked - settling some fears that carried over from last season - the Jaguars' offense, led by quarterback David Garrard, was ineffective.

It makes one wonder why Jacksonville was never a player in the Donovan McNabb sweepstakes. McNabb, by the way, kicked off a new chapter in his career with Washington's preseason game against Buffalo Friday night.

For all the supposed change that came with McNabb and other longtime Eagles' departures this off-season, Friday night at a three-quarters full Lincoln Financial Field felt a lot like the previous era.

The starting quarterback strung together a few good throws, ran for a first down when he had to and marched the offense into the red zone. But he would throw an errant pass and the offense would stall and have to settle for a field goal.

"We've got to do better in the red zone," Reid said. "It's nice to get David [Akers] some kicks, but not that many." Akers kicked five field goals.

It was a small sample to judge Kolb and the offense effectively, but there were glimpses of what could be. Four plays after Kolb opened the game with a pass to Jackson, he found receiver Jeremy Maclin alone in the middle of Jacksonville's zone for a 29-yard completion.

Kolb almost had a pass to Jason Avant picked off when he threw it behind the receiver and nearly into the hands of safety Tyron Brackenridge.

On third-and-six at the Jaguars 11-yard line, however, Kolb hit Brent Celek between the hands in the back of the end zone, but the tight end bobbled the pass and couldn't hold on for a would-be six points.

After the Eagles' first-team defense forced the first of its two three-and-outs, Kolb engineered a 12-play drive that stalled at the Jaguars' 14.

Earlier, Kolb connected with Jackson for a 26-yard pass play, but he almost tossed another interception when he tried for Maclin in the end zone. Safety Gerald Alexander jumped the route, but could not make what would have been a splendid pick.

Kolb worked one more series with running back LeSean McCoy gobbling up nine- and five-yard runs on successive plays. The play of the drive, and perhaps the game, came when Jackson took an end-around and juked Jacksonville cornerback Derek Cox on his way to a 17-yard run.

"Yeah, it was pretty nice," Jackson said. "It was good to get back into the flow."