There were plenty of people who were happy on Thursday night when the Eagles-Ravens preseason game was canceled with 11 minutes and 43 seconds still left to play.
Clayton Thorson was not one of them.
“Really disappointed,” Thorson said this week. “You come here to play football and you practice throughout the week and you don’t play in the game. It was disappointing, but I don’t control that so I can’t sit here and think about that all the time. It’s kind of the 24-hour rule when you play a game. You’re in and you’re out.
“Just a bummer. But gotta come back and have a good week at practice and then play well this Thursday.”
Last Thursday night was supposed to be a chance for Thorson to build on his positive performance in Week 2 of the preseason. But in his third taste of NFL action, Thorson played just three snaps. He threw just one pass, an incompletion.
After Thorson’s three-and-out, the Ravens’ offense was on the field early in the fourth quarter when a bolt of lighting drew “oohs” and “aahs” that could even be heard on the game broadcast. The field was cleared and players were forced to return to their locker rooms.
Twenty-four minutes later, the game was canceled. Fans and players were told to head home.
NFL
“That was weird,” Thorson said. “It was crazy, we just had our first possession and it was like we just got struck by lightning basically. It was a bummer. But then in the locker room, after a little bit of time, they came to us and said, ‘We’re going to call the game.’ Definitely bummed, especially because you only get a few opportunities.”
The Eagles’ fifth-round developmental quarterback from Northwestern was coming off an impressive performance in his second preseason game and a really great week of practice. That came after a horrendous performance in the first preseason game. So Thursday was a chance for him to build on his progress.
He threw one pass.
The good news is that after his impressive performance in Week 2 of the preseason, Thorson looked like a completely different guy at practice against the Ravens. It was clear that his confidence peaked. There’s a lot for a rookie quarterback to deal with and worry about early in training camp, but he’s made huge strides over the last month.
“I think just starting out your first training camp, I think there’s so much to learn,” he said. “So I think I’ve learned in every facet, whether that’s having a routine, whether that’s going about reading defenses, knowing our offense. I think everywhere has improved. I think it’s been a good camp.
“I think as I get more comfortable in the offense and seeing the defenses, I think it has slowed down.”
The Eagles will eventually have a decision to make about Thorson. They can either try to cut him and sneak him through waivers to their practice squad or they can keep him on the 53-man roster as their fourth-string quarterback. It won’t necessarily be an easy decision because they don’t want to risk losing him.
And with the game this Thursday in North Jersey against the Jets to close out the preseason, Thorson can make that decision a little harder — as long as lightning doesn’t get in the way again.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Thorson said.
For his sake, hopefully Mother Nature is too.
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