Cardale Jones Makes Debut: What Stood Out for the Rookie?
By Ryan Brennan
Cardale Jones makes debut against the Indianapolis Colts in the Bills’ preseason opener and almost gave us a last-second victory.
It hasn’t been an easy journey to the NFL for Cardale Jones, who at one time looked like one of the better young quarterbacks at Ohio State University. However, inconsistency led to him being benched and his draft stock taking a huge hit.
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For Bills’ fans, we’ll take it because he ended up with the Buffalo Bills with a chance to work behind another bright, young quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.
On Saturday night, we saw the rookie suit up for his first game with the team when the Bills took on the Indianapolis Colts to open their preseason at home. He entered the game early in the third quarter and manned the position until the final whistle blew.
When he entered the game, it was directly after a three-and-out by the Colts — and a 9-play drive led by E.J. Manuel that ended in a 37-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter in the drive before that. His first play of the game — a fumble that he quickly recovered.
After that, though, it was a very good first drive for the rookie. He had a 13-yard completion to Blake Annen, a 14-yard completion to Walter Powell and an 8-yard scramble before an incomplete pass to Kain Colter forced the Bills to punt.
The following drive was another good drive for Jones, which again started off poorly with a sack. He followed it up with completions to Nick O’Leary (14 yards), Greg Little (15 yards) and James Wilder Jr. (2 yards). The Bills attempted a 53-yard field goal, but Carpenter missed it — which led to the Colts’ second touchdown of the game.
The next two drives were more of a struggle for the Bills’ offense, that only saw two big plays really — a 14-yard scramble by Jones and a roughing the passer penalty on the Colts. After a Colts’ field goal with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter, Cardale Jones was given one last drive to steal the victory, down 19-12.
He started the drive off with a 22-yard completion to Jarrett Boykin. After an incomple pass, he answered with another deep shot that ended in a 40-yard completion to Walter Powell. After a couple more incomplete passes, Jones had a 12-yard scramble that brought the Bills to the 9 yard line with 16 seconds left. A holding penalty on the Colts brought the ball to the 4 yard line with 4 seconds left.
As time expired, Jones threw a bullet to Boykin for a 4-yard touchdown. Down 1, Rex said to go for 2. However, the Bills couldn’t convert and the game ended 19-18 in the Colts’ favor.
Related Story: Buffalo Bills vs. Indianapolis Colts Game Recap
It was a nice day from Jones, who has plenty more time to get accustomed to the NFL. With his first game behind him, he should feel a lot more comfortable now.
Here’s what Rex Ryan said about the young quarterback’s performance:
"“We’ve seen it on the practice field. He’s got more poise and I get it because that is what we said about him when the young man was drafted. However, almost immediately, we saw a guy that has poise. One thing that you don’t see if the work ethic that he has and he’s a sharp young man, really smart. Is he maybe improving faster than we thought? Maybe so.”"
Wide receiver Walter Powell also chimed in on his instincts:
"“You can really tell he’s going to be a good quarterback. He’s calm, he’s composed. He makes good throws and good decisions.”"
Lastly, center Eric Wood had some pretty nice things to say about Jones:
"“He’s got a big arm, he made some great throws. For a rookie quarterback, something I noticed on the offensive line, he climbs well in the pocket, sets the depth and then climbs well, which for a young guy is impressive. He’s young, too. That’s awesome to see. He did a great job. It was a ton of fun watching him take that drive down at the end.”"
What did you like most from Cardale Jones’ performance on Saturday? Leave your comments below!
(Cardale Jones Makes Debut)(Cardale Jones Makes Debut)