Joint practices just what Foles needed after loss

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – After a disastrous first preseason game, this was exactly what Nick Foles needed.

Day 1 of joint practices with the Patriots was a good one for Foles and the Eagles’ first-team offense.

Foles was sharp and accurate and moved the offense consistently against the Patriots Tuesday afternoon, four days after throwing two interceptions in nine attempts in the preseason opener against the Bears.

“I feel like today we played well,” Foles said. “There’s things we need to do better, but I felt it was a competitive day on both sides of the football.”

With first-ballot Hall of Famer Tom Brady across the field, Foles shredded the Patriots’ defense despite missing starting wide receiver Riley Cooper for most of the drills. Cooper is still recovering from a foot injury.

“I felt like we had a good day, but we have to have a better day tomorrow,” Foles said.

Foles made big plays to Brent Celek down the seam, LeSean McCoy on a wheel route, Ifeanyi Momah for a touchdown, Darren Sproles a couple times for huge gains and Jeremy Maclin for a TD over Darrelle Revis.

He didn’t miss many.

Earlier in the day, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick praised Foles, who was competing with Michael Vick for the starting job during last year’s joint practices in Philly.

Belichick called Foles “outstanding” and said, “I don’t think anybody saw that coming, but they made more explosive plays than anybody in the league.”

On the way to Pro Bowl MVP honors, Foles threw 27 touchdowns and two interceptions and went 8-2 in 10 starts last fall after replacing an injured Vick.

Foles was asked about Belichick’s comments and, as he always does, he shrugged them off.

“I guess it does surprise people,” he said. “I guess it’s one of those things where I don’t look too much into it.

“He’s one of the greatest coaches to coach this game, and it’s a great honor for him to say that, but I want to keep getting better. Everybody’s going to want to talk about last year, but last year’s over.”

As for rebounding from Friday’s poor performance, in which he failed to generate a single point on three series in Chicago, Foles said he was over it by Saturday, citing his 24-hour rule.

“Has it been over 24 hours? It has? I’m past it, I’m over it,” he said. “I’m having fun out here. I looked at it, made my corrections and moved forward.

“Will I make mistakes again?  Yes. I will make mistakes but I want to overcome them, and I want to show my teammates that it’s not going to rattle me, I’m going to keep moving forward.

“It’s been fun coming out here and practicing. When you have games that you don’t feel like you played well, you love coming out here on the practice field and working on stuff, because that’s what it’s about. It’s about getting better and moving on.”

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