NFL: Jacob Eason, Quintez Cephus flash potential in preseason finale

The Indianapolis Colts came back to beat the Detroit Lions 27-17, to remain undefeated in the preseason finale on Friday, August 27 at Ford Field in Detroit. Jacob Eason got the start for Indianapolis and impressed for a third straight game, completing 10/14 passes for 74 yards and 5.3 yards per attempt in one quarter of play. Eason will start the season opener next week if Carson Wentz is still unavailable after foot surgery in early August. Sam Ehlinger was also competing for the job before going down with a knee sprain against Detroit. Ehlinger was 3/3 for 63 yards, including an eye-opening spin and throw downfield. Brett Hundley and Deon Jackson helped close out the win, sealed by Jackson's 42-yard sprint in the final minutes.

Eason talked about the QB situation and his preseason performance following the game per the Indianapolis Colts: "A series of unfortunate events what happened there with Carson. You never want that to be the case. In terms of my growth and development process, everything was sped up. I just got thrown in there. It was great for me. Attacking it a day at a time. I've learned a ton and every day, I held onto one or two things and just continued to learn and develop day in and day out... I'm very pleased with what I did. There's a lot of things that I wish I could go back and clean up obviously, do some things better, in terms of my mental growth and actually getting the experience. It's only growth and more experience from here."

After leading 14-9 at halftime, Detroit was only able to add a field goal in the second half as the offense sputtered. David Blough finished 13/21 for a game-high 117 passing yards but a costly fourth quarter interception gave the Colts a chance to regain the lead which they wouldn't relinquish. Jermar Jefferson, running back selected in the 7th round out of Oregon State, led the team with 43 yards on 11 carries. Free agent acquisitions Bruce Hector and Nickell Robey-Coleman were engaged defensively, while rookie Jerry Jacobs (team-high 5 tackles) pushed to make the 53-man roster. Quintez Cephus also flashed some potential against the Colts, totaling 35 yards and one touchdown on three catches as his sophomore season approaches.

"I think Cephus did some good stuff. We wanted to get him in there with that first group and see where he was at. I thought he competed other than the hold. I thought he did some things. He kind of brings a little different flavor to that room. He's a little more physical and plays bigger, so that was encouraging," said head coach Dan Campbell via the Detroit Lions. Campbell also went onto discuss areas to improve: "We gotta be able to hit some shot plays on offense and get off the field on third down. It was good to see us applying pressure today but we're not getting guys down. We gotta finish. I think from that standpoint, those are the things that are revealing because now you're in a real game with live bullets and guys are flying around."

Photo Credit: The Athletic.