The fourth exhibition game is mostly about sitting starters and giving those fringe guys one last major audition before teams make their decisions on their 53 man roster. Facing the Jets on Thursday night in their exhibition finale, the Eagles had one very important contest still to judge: their third-string quarterback.
Judging by the efforts put forth by Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow, it wasn't even close.
Tebow threw two touchdowns and an interception and Barkley threw just the interception as the two alternated quarters.
"I think I'm getting more and more comfortable," Tebow said afterwards, via Reuben Frank of CSN Philadelphia. "More and more comfortable with the offense. Getting into more of a rhythm, especially on first down, kind of getting things going, getting the first down, which is big in this offense, and trying to get it rolling a little bit."
Tebow got it rolling on two scoring drives, dropping an 18 yard bomb in Rasheed Bailey's lap and driving left, firing a dart for Freddie Martino along the sideline. He went 11-of-17 for 189 yards, showing some mobility inside and out of the pocket, and carried four times for 32 more yards in an overall positive effort.
With his future in the NFL on the line after two years away, the former Heisman winner said he wasn't going to worry about the decision that will change his future this season.
"That's not up to me," he said. "I just try to go out there and do what I'm coached and try to improve every day and compete.
"I've said this a lot of times to you guys and I really genuinely mean it: I'm not going to worry about what I can't control. It's a blessing being able to come out here and play the game I love. It was a lot of fun out there tonight. I had a blast."
Not so much for the presumed No. 3 on the Eagles' roster, Matt Barkley. He's looked off for most of the preseason, and threw an interception on his second play from scrimmage, finishing with 45 yards on 4-of-9 passing.
"I don't know if tonight was the deciding factor," Barkley said. "We'll see if that's what it comes down to, but over the course of this camp I've shown that I can play quarterback for this team.
"Over the course of this whole camp, through training camp, practices and preseason, I think it's hard to really say [a decision will be made] out of those preseason games because it's really a small sampling and what I have shown through practices I think I've done a good job and improved in a lot of areas. I'm happy with how I've played throughout camp."
Should he be? Barkley threw seven interceptions during the Eagles' training camp and exhibition this summer. The rest of the roster threw only five between three men. Should Barkley be cut, he would likely find a job somewhere else, but after what he did when it counted the most for him, that job might not be in Philadelphia.
Barkley looks more the "camp arm" Mark Sanchez once thought Tim Tebow was.
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