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The Eagles got off to a slow start against the 49ers on Sunday. Even when Philly got ahead by 9-0, it still felt like the game was lacking any real juice.
And then Jalen Mills’ pick-six happened. Just check out this play again:
THE @greengoblin MAKES A HOUSE CALL#Eagles go for 2 and get it. They lead 17-0 over the #Niners https://t.co/fkFxUJ2aiv
— BGN Radio (@BGN_Radio) October 29, 2017
We often see players just run straight along the sideline until they get forced out. Not Mills. He did a great job of reading the field and cutting back for the score.
This is the kind of play a GREAT team makes. A good team settles for the pick. And then maybe the offense stalls in the red zone and they have to settle for a field goal. Not this team. Mills ensures the touchdown by taking it to the house himself.
Though he has his weaknesses, Mills has been showing good signs lately. He has three interceptions on the season and now one defensive touchdown as well. That’s a big jump from his rookie year when he didn’t have a single pick.
One of the funny things about Mills’ return is that he did it in part to prove a point to his teammates and coaches. Check out this post-game transcript.
On his pick-six:
“I’ve been watching film hard all week. I’ve been studying that route. Knowing Pierre Garcon, he’s that position receiver and also their biggest route-runner. Seeing the motion go over to the receiver’s side and knowing the rookie quarterback was going to work on me, seeing that on film, I just trusted my technique and trusted my feet and my safety over the top to jump the route. I jumped the route and picked the ball off.”
On the route he ran after the pick:
“[Jokingly] I was actually about to go out of bounds, but then I thought about Malcolm [Jenkins], [Eagles defensive coordinator Jim] Schwartz, and [Eagles defensive backs] coach [Cory] Undlin have been grilling me all week and talking about how I have no return skills. That kind of went through my mind so I cut it back and I had to get in the end-zone or I wouldn’t have stopped hearing that.”
On what Schwartz and Undlin said to him this week:
“[Jokingly] That I have no return skills, that they have to give the [pass break-up] back to Patrick Robinson because he’s the only one returning pick-six’s right now so I had to shut them up.”
On what he said to his coaches after his pick-six:
“As soon as I got the pick, Malcol grabbed me so I knew I was over him. I ran straight to Schwartz and he gave me a big hug and Cory gave me a big hug and said ‘Congratulations.’”