Colts' Young QBs Played 'Winning Football' In Frank Reich's Eyes

Getting live game reps for the first time since their college days, both Jacob Eason and Sam Ehlinger played "winning football" in the eyes of Colts' head coach Frank Reich in the Colts' 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday. (Video via Indianapolis Colts YouTube)

All eyes were on second-year Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Jacob Eason and rookie signal caller Sam Ehlinger Sunday inside Lucas Oil Stadium in the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. 

Though the duo's stat lines are nothing to write home about yet, the two young quarterbacks played "winning football" in the eyes of veteran head coach Frank Reich, who knows a thing or two about playing winning football in the NFL. 

© Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC

“Jacob (Eason), the two-minute drive was a clinic reel. He does a great job and he hit some really nice throws the whole first half," Reich said to reporters following the win. "He had a couple of lasers and really looked good. He put the ball on the ground one time and made one or two errors, mental mistakes we’ll clean up but was proud of Jacob. I thought he went out there and showed himself well. Then, Sam (Ehlinger) came in and had the rough start with the interception and we had a mental error on that play. Somebody ran a wrong route. I have to see the tape to see how it all plays out but still wasn’t a good throw. Sam bounced back. That’s the kind of thing we want to see from our quarterbacks, mental toughness, to be able to have a glitch, and be able to come back and play good football. I thought both of them are probably just going to grade out playing winning football at the end of the day.”

In the win, Eason played the first half and finished with 183 yards passing on 15-of-21 completions, good for a 97.9 quarterback rating. Eason was sacked three times in the first half, but turned in a stellar performance in the Colts' two-minute drive in the first half, completing all four of his passes on the drive, including a strike to rookie receiver Mike Strachan for 32 yards to jumpstart the two-minute drive that ended in a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Jordan Wilkins. 

Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

As for Ehlinger, the rookie out of Texas played the entire second half and completed 10-of-15 passes for 155 yards with one interception that did appear to be a wrong route run by fellow rookie Kylen Granson. 

Ehlinger also rushed eight times for 30 yards in his NFL debut. 

One thing that was noticeable in Eason's debut with the Colts was the amount of timing routes the Colts and Reich schemed up for the second-year product out of Washington in an effort to try and speed up the game for the perceived starter should new quarterback Carson Wentz miss the start of the regular season.

© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

"Well, we’re always working on having the right timing, but like you said, speeding it up and getting it to the right timing with the play is important," Reich said. "I think Jacob (Eason) has done well there. There are times where it needs to be better, I think you’re seeing that right at times, but I think he’s making good progress, he’s very coachable and I think he’s getting better each day and each week. So, shoot, I’d same thing about our other quarterback. He had times where he was a little slow on the trigger, so he needs to speed that up but there were also a lot of good flashes as well. Real good decision making, real good timing and then made good throws.”

The ball noticeably jumped off of Eason's hand, especially on a couple of sideline routes to second-year receiver Dezmon Patmon early in the game as Eason eased into the game. Reich said those throws stood out in a big way in evaluating the young quarterback.

“Yeah, it was. That’s a great observation. It’s really true," Reich said. "He made a couple of throws, deep ball, on the seam with the in-cut. The in-cut to Dez (Dezmon Patmon), he just ripped that thing, it was a laser. That catch was right. Those are big time throws.”

Sunday's performance was a good start for the young Eason to build upon throughout the rest of training camp and the preseason. With it being his first real game action since 2019, he handled himself well inside an NFL stadium assuming the starter's role. 

“Yeah, the biggest thing was the anticipation part of it. Like you said before, it was a long time coming," Eason said to media members Sunday following the win when asked if he was comfortable. "But overall, just being out back on the football field in the live action with fans in the stadium, it's good to have that back – that normalcy. Felt great being out there with the team, seeing a live defense and the ebbs and flows of the game. Overall, it was a good experience.”

We'll see how Reich rolls out the quarterbacks on Friday on the road at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions, but for now both young quarterbacks handled themselves well in their first showings inside an NFL stadium.

Have thoughts on the performances by Jacob Eason and Sam Ehlinger? Drop a line in the comments section below letting me know how you feel! 

---

Follow Josh on Twitter @ByJoshCarney.

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.