Sproles shows Philly why he's a spark

THE OFFENSE could sense the defense tiring as it continued to push the pace on its first drive of the second half. Following an 8-yard completion, 11 players hustled toward the line of scrimmage to snap the ball on a crucial fourth down.

No time for substitutions, the same 11 defenders on the field for third-and-9 remained for fourth-and-1. The dizzying tempo made them late to set, the ball was snapped and the Eagles' most dynamic addition to the offense introduced himself to Philadelphia.

Darren Sproles ran straight for 49 yards, untouched until he reached the Lincoln Financial Field end zone. On the heels of the offense's woeful first half, Sproles' career-long touchdown run helped jump-start the unit and spark a turnaround in yesterday's season-opening, 34-17 win against the Jaguars.

Sproles, playing more running back than receiver like the Eagles promised all offseason, provided a valuable new wrinkle to Chip Kelly's offense like many envisioned when he was acquired in March. The 5-6, 190-pound speedster accounted for 147 all-purpose yards in his team debut, amassing 71 yards on 11 carries, 14 more on four catches and the other 62 on four punt returns.

"Those are the things he's done for years and years," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "His presence was felt in the kicking game and as a running back. We've said all year he's a running back and we're going to play him at running back, and he was running the very same plays that LeSean [McCoy] would run if he was in there. And we saw the impact he had on the game."

Yesterday was Sproles' first double-digit carry game in the regular season since Oct. 23, 2011, when he rushed 12 times in a Saints' 62-7 blowout of the Colts. He garnered 10 carries in a postseason game that same year, when New Orleans beat Detroit in a wild-card game at the Superdome. His last five campaigns have yielded more regular-season receptions (336) than carries (331).

Entering this season, Sproles' 375 receptions, 3,371 receiving yards and 27 receiving touchdowns since 2007 led all running backs. Acquired for a fifth-round draft pick, Sproles, 31, said he's heard questions regarding his age, whether he still had it.

"I wanted to come out and prove that I still got it," he said.

For safety Malcolm Jenkins, Sproles' teammate the previous three seasons in New Orleans, the running back's performance was nothing new.

"Same old. Same old," Jenkins said, smiling. "He's a spark, man, and at any point in time he can give your team that big play that they need. Whether it's a return, whether it's a run or a catch out of the backfield, he's always that threat to really blow the game open. Today his play was very, very timely and right what we needed at that time."

On his game-changing run, Sproles took the handoff from Nick Foles and headed straight up the middle. Four offensive linemen and a tight end blocked Jacksonville's four down rushers and an outside linebacker, leaving center Jason Kelce to make the key block on middle linebacker J.T. Thomas, allowing Sproles to burst through a defense far from ready to defend a fourth-and-1 play.

"I saw a 43 and it kept getting smaller and smaller," said rookie slot receiver Jordan Matthews, referring to Sproles' uniform number. "He was just gone, man."

"It was tremendous," Kelce said. "He showed I guess all of Philadelphia in this game why we picked him up in the offseason. I mean, he's a great playmaker. Having him and obviously LeSean McCoy back there, those are two very dangerous weapons and two very consistent backs. It makes our job a lot easier up front."

The run was Sproles' 10th career touchdown of 40-plus yards. Interestingly, he had plays of 40 yards or more in each of his two other team debuts, with San Diego in 2005 and New Orleans in 2011.

McCoy, who rushed for 74 yards on 21 carries and caught six passes for 41 yards, said Sproles "gives me that extra push that I like." Both were on the field together a couple times, but there's still likely much of that two-back package yet to be seen.

"The thing I've said since the first chance we had and set our eyes on him, is that he's a really good runner," Kelly said of Sproles, who twice yesterday returned punts for 22 yards. "I think people always looked at him as a receiver. But we've looked at him as everything."

Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin called Sproles "a tremendous playmaker." Cornerback Cary Williams said "it was great to see an investment come back with a great return."

But perhaps outside linebacker Connor Barwin put it best when asked about the Eagles' new complement to McCoy.

"I had to cover him a couple of times during the playoff game [against the Saints last season]," Barwin said. "So I was just happy that I wouldn't have to do that again this year."