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Eagles' Foles, Washington's Cousins: Class Reunion

Nick Foles talks about facing 'Skins QB Kirk Cousins, his ex-Michigan State teammate.

Former teammates Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins will meet up on Sunday.
Former teammates Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins will meet up on Sunday.Read morePHOTOS: MATTHEW HALL / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER; Associated Press

THIS SUNDAY'S matchup between the Eagles and the Washington Redskins was not on anyone's mind 7 years ago, when quarterbacks Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins spent their freshman seasons buried far beneath starter Brian Hoyer on the Michigan State depth chart.

Foles got into one game, completed five of eight passes. Cousins redshirted. At the end of the year, Foles transferred to Arizona. Cousins became the Spartans' starter in 2009 and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 2012, in the fourth round, 102nd overall - 14 slots behind Foles, who was taken in the third round by the Eagles.

Until last Sunday, Cousins was Robert Griffin III's backup, probably destined to end up doing what Foles did in college - head elsewhere to get a chance to really play. But RG3, his promise already a bit clouded by a slow recovery from an ACL tear, dislocated his left ankle early in the first quarter against Jacksonville. Cousins came in. His first throw went for 20 yards and a touchdown. Ultimately, Cousins led a 41-10 rout of the Jaguars.

After completing 22 of 33 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 109.4 passer rating against the Jags, Cousins will lead the Redskins against Foles and the Eagles. RG3 figures to be sidelined a month or more. Who knows if he will be the starter when he returns?

"It's pretty crazy to look back at our freshman year - me, him, Brian Hoyer, Connor Dixon [who would transfer to Duquesne], John Van Dam were all in the same quarterback room," Foles said. "Kirk has always been extremely talented, he's always been an extremely hard worker, a great leader, so it doesn't surprise me at all the success he's had . . . He was a great teammate for me at Michigan State . . . I'm really happy for him."

Foles said they stayed in touch after he left East Lansing, exchanged well-wishes from time to time, but it didn't sound like they were terribly close. One popular narrative is that Foles was beaten out by Cousins. Foles said yesterday he would have left Michigan State after his freshman year regardless of where he stood among the QBs. Cousins told reporters on a conference call earlier this week that he figured Foles was homesick for Austin, Texas, and that he remembered Foles being jarred by the Michigan winter.

"I'd originally committed to Arizona State. There was a coaching change there," Foles recalled. "It's a long story, but eventually I went to Michigan State. I was thankful for that year, but at the end . . . I decided it was better for me as a person to try to go elsewhere, somewhere that was a little closer to home, somewhere I was more acclimated to. I tried to stay in the state of Texas. No one wanted me. Eventually, Arizona gave me an opportunity. I'm thankful each and every day, because I met my wife there, had a great career there . . . met some amazing people.

"I always stayed close to the guys at Michigan State, always cheered them on. Coach [Mark] Dantonio, I stayed in touch with him to this day, and think very, very highly of him."

Foles said leaving Michigan State was "the toughest decision I ever made. But I knew in my gut I was making the right decision . . . I was going to have an opportunity to compete [for the starting job], but it had to do with my gut. I had to trust my gut."

Foles, Cousins, Hoyer (now with Cleveland) and Hoyer's Spartans predecessor, Drew Stanton (now with Arizona), all are scheduled to start for NFL teams this week.

Foles described Cousins in terms much like the ones teammates use to describe Foles - hard worker, good leader, smart.

"He's very intelligent and will recognize coverages, recognize blitzes," Foles said. "Just a very, very solid quarterback."

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said he was impressed by how Cousins seemed unruffled, thrown into a situation he hadn't anticipated being in last week.

"I think he's calm," Jenkins said. "He manages the game really well. Comes in, I think he was 8-for-8 last week when he first came in. He's not afraid to throw the ball downfield. They don't change the offense much when he gets in - it's not like they're playing lefthanded, they have the whole playbook up. There's really no dropoff."

Cousins isn't the running threat RG3 is, but as you might have heard, there's been a steady murmuring, since Washington went with new coach Jay Gruden's West Coast offense, that Cousins might be a better fit for that than the man who was drafted 100 slots ahead of him in 2012, second overall.

The Eagles have said all week that Sunday's defensive key isn't so much handling Cousins, or even DeSean Jackson, as it is stopping the Redskins' potent running game, led by Alfred Morris, who has 176 yards on 36 carries through 2 weeks.

"Anybody we play, with our [offensive] tempo, people are going to put an emphasis on trying to run the ball, establishing the run to kind of dictate the tempo and pace of the game," Jenkins said. "It always plays to our advantage to really stop the run early and make it a passing game."

Linebacker Casey Matthews, who alternated snaps in practice with Emmanuel Acho at Mychal Kendricks' spot, said: "[Morris] is a north-south runner. Obviously the zone [blocking] scheme is one cut and go. He just lowers his shoulders. We've got to wrap him up and force turnovers."

Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis said this week that the Redskins "live and die with that stretch run game." Acho talked about how to defend that yesterday.

"You can't be deceived thinking that the ball is just going to get outside of you," Acho said. "You have to understand that it's designed to, and will, cut back. If you get reached [and are walled off from the sideline], then it will get outside, but the backside linebacker has to know, the ball's going to come back. Don't overrun the play. That's big, obviously, with me or Casey potentially being that backside linebacker. You play a vital part in stopping that stretch run."

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