While Mark Sanchez's starting debut for the Philadelphia Eagles garnered glowing exaltations from the far reaches of the Internet, one important aspect became clear Monday night: The quarterback loved finding rookie receiver Jordan Matthews.
"I felt like I was Jeremy Maclin," Matthews joked, per the team's official website. "... If you take too much time looking at the stats and drinking the Kool-Aid, you lose your appetite. I just try to put it behind me and move forward."
It's no surprise that the rookie had by far his most productive day as an NFL player -- 138 yards on seven catches (19.7 average) and two touchdowns -- in Sanchez's first start.
"Of course we had something going on in camp," Matthews said. "We kind of had to. We were both on the second-team at the time. So, I took the majority of the reps with him. After practice, I made sure I got extra reps with him. I knew that if I wanted to break into the lineup, I had to look good with the second-team first. That was definitely a point of emphasis for me back then. We continued to have a great relationship."
Matthews seemed to be open all night as Chip Kelly's offense exploited the soft middle of the Carolina Panthers' defense in the 45-21 blowout win.
"You can't say enough about him," Sanchez said of Matthews. "I don't want to say too much because he'll get a big head, his hat won't fit. But he's such a talent."
A talent that appears to have a tight on-field relationship with a man who's now the starting quarterback.
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