Eagles' Bradford: Never seen anyone work as hard as Matthews in practice
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews entered Week 9 among the leaders in dropped passes, but in the Eagles' Week 9 33-27 overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys, Matthews finished with 133 yards receiving and a touchdown on nine receptions. His 41-yard touchdown in overtime sealed the win. After the game, Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford revealed the secret to Matthews' turnaround.
"You can't say enough about the way Jordan worked this week in practice,'' Bradford said to reporters, per NJ Advanced Media. "I don't know if I've ever seen anyone work as hard as he did.
"It was Thursday and he dropped a pass in a red zone drill. He stayed out there and took every snap to make up for it. He never came off the field. When he wasn't running with the ones; he was on the scout team. I've never seen a starting receiver do that before. He just wanted to work at it. He's relentless.''
Bradford had a redemption game of his own -- he completed 25 of 36 passes for 295 yards, no interceptions and the game-winning touchdown.
After the game, Matthews broke down what he saw on his game-winning 41-yard touchdown reception.
"Byron (Jones) played a great game against me," Matthews said to reporters after the game, per The Dallas Morning News. "We were battling the entire time. He's a real aggressive guy and really athletic. I knew late in the game, if I was going to get open against him, it was going to have to be using my strength and a little bit of deception. Teams have been covering on those overs all year and he did a great job defending me on those overs too, so I just kind of gave him a move to that over and got to the outside.
"Right when I caught the ball I saw daylight, and (receiver Josh) Huff actually looked at me and said 'Oh, let me cover my guy' and once he hit the corner I knew I was scott free."
If Bradford and Matthews can establish the connection everyone was hoping they would in the preseason, the Eagles can turn their season around fast. They are currently just one game behind first place in the NFC East, and they have a win in their only meeting with the current first place team -- the New York Giants.
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