Eagles offense goes even faster with Sanchez

On the Friday before his first NFL start in 680 days, Mark Sanchez ran wind sprints after practice. With a trainer on one end of a resistance band and him on the other, Sanchez worked out for an additional 10 minutes in blustery conditions.

He was late for his news conference, but by the time Sanchez reached the podium after walking the 100 yards to the interview tent at the NovaCare Complex, he had caught his breath. Facing a dozen reporters isn't quite like facing an NFL defense, but the Eagles quarterback was upping the tempo on his up-tempo preparations.

Whether there was a correlation to the supersonic speed in which the Eagles offense occasionally ran during Monday night's 45-21 whipping of the Carolina Panthers, Sanchez indicated that he felt the benefits.

"You take on the backup role for a few weeks and you don't quite get as many reps and then you get thrown into the game," Sanchez said. "Last week in Houston there were a couple of times where we were chasing the ball after a big play and I was kind of huffing and puffing over there and thinking, 'Dang, am I out of shape or what?' "

During the Eagles' longest drive of the night - a 10-play, 91-yarder - Sanchez was calling for snaps every 15.2 seconds, by one estimate. The offense was moving so fast that officials had to stop play after center Jason Kelce snapped the football because they "weren't in position to officiate."

The possession resulted in a touchdown, which of course was the objective, but the pace of the drive suggested that we have only now seen the Eagles offense at full throttle. It may be the one area in which Sanchez has a decided edge over Nick Foles. And for the first time since his NFL arrival, Chip Kelly seemed pleased with the tempo.

"I thought we had good rhythm going on that one," the Eagles coach said after the game.

On Tuesday, Kelly was asked how he thought Sanchez responded to running the up-tempo offense in his first Eagles start.

"He's done a good job with it since he's been here," Kelly said. "I don't see it as a response. I think he's just comfortable in what we're doing here."

It was evident during the preseason that Sanchez had a firm grip on the no-huddle elements of the scheme. He had thrived in two-minute situations for the New York Jets. But he was mostly going up against second-team defenses in the preseason and it wasn't as if Foles couldn't move the offense at a rapid pace, too. Foles ran as many post-practice sprints as anyone.

But there has been a subtle difference since Sanchez took over after Foles suffered a broken collarbone. The Texans were taxed by the third quarter last week. The Eagles didn't want to speed up the game against the Panthers in the second half, but on the 91-yard drive you could see defenders with hands on their hips, sucking air.

It's premature to suggest Sanchez could steal Foles' job. There isn't a large enough sample and, frankly, aside from the fact that Kelly couldn't care less with the Packers next on the slate, Sanchez hasn't done enough yet to separate himself.

Kelly said Tuesday that he wasn't pleased with the offense's performance against the Panthers. While not strictly an indictment of his quarterback, if Sanchez regresses in Green Bay there will be a mass exodus from his bandwagon and calls to rush Foles back before the end of the season.

But there was too much evidence that Sanchez won't take a step back, particularly against mediocre Packers, Titans, and Cowboys defenses over the next three weeks. He quarterbacked the offense. He didn't turn the ball over, made throws downfield when necessary, and often threw on time.

In two games, Sanchez has gotten the ball out in 2.5 seconds, according to Pro Football Focus. Foles, in an eight-game sample, took 2.8 seconds. The disparity may be a result of Sanchez's stepping up in the pocket rather than drifting back as Foles had become accustomed to.

"I had a chance to step up and get vertical in the pocket," Sanchez said, "and those are the ones that feel the best, where you move forward and really just cut one loose."

Sanchez, who was hit only once all game, effectively maneuvered in and out of the pocket. Foles had taken a bevy of hits before his mechanical problems, but was he getting pressure because of his lack of mobility and decision-making or because of his protection and the defenses he faced?

"I think it's a combination with what [the offensive line] did up front," Kelly said of Sanchez's success in the pocket, "and he did a good job of pushing up in the pocket sometimes when we had some wide rushes."

When he did get popped in the third quarter by safety Robert Lester, Sanchez gave the Panther a hand slap as they jogged upfield after a long completion. He seems to not only revel in his second chance and simply playing the quarterback position, but also in the Eagles' up-tempo offense.

"It makes it exciting going that quick," Sanchez said. "We sure don't win the time of possession, but it's still fun."

@Jeff_McLane