Cody Kessler has gone from competing with Nate Sudfeld for the Eagles' No. 2 quarterback job to clinging to a roster spot.
Such is life in the NFL.
Kessler returned to practice Monday, just four days after suffering a concussion seven plays into the Eagles' preseason game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
According to NFL concussion policy, if he experiences no additional symptoms 24 hours after practice - which is early tomorrow afternoon - he'll formally be cleared out of concussion protocol.
It was a quick recovery, but it may be too late.
With Kessler's struggles, the Eagles adding veteran Josh McCown and rookie Clayton Thorson putting together a strong preseason performance against the Jags, Kessler is on thin ice.
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
And he knows it.
I can't think, ‘What's the plan here, what's going to happen,' and start playing all these scenarios in my head, which is tough to do," Kessler said after practice. "I've just got to come out and practice, keep going, getting ready to play Thursday and hopefully next week and then just go from there.
Doug Pederson was clear before training camp that there was open competition between Sudfeld and Kessler for the No. 2 job.
But since Sudfeld broke his wrist in the preseason opener, Kessler has only hurt his chances.
He was a combined 4-for-10 for 23 yards in two preseason games before suffering the concussion in Jacksonville.
I was looking forward to that game, I was excited, had that first drive moving a little bit, had a little rhythm going, and then obviously things that were out of my control happened and you've kind of just got to go with it," Kessler said. "The best thing is I've known Josh for a long time, he's one of the closest people to me through football that I've met. I understood it with me being out.
Kessler and McCown were teammates with the Browns in 2016. Both began the season backing up Robert Griffin III, who ironically was at the NovaCare Complex as well on Monday as he starts his second season with the Ravens.
Now what? Sudfeld won't be back for a while, McCown just came out of retirement and Thorson is a rookie fifth-round pick.
But Kessler hasn't done anything to take ownership of a roster spot, and as of now, he's on the outside looking in.
You can't think about all those scenarios," he said. "You can play out different things that could happen: ‘What if this, what if that, what are they going to do,' trying to think about that, but at the end of the day it's completely up to the front office, and my role is to come out here and compete and hopefully Thursday get a chance to compete again.
The Eagles finish the preseason Thursday at the Linc against the Ravens and a week from Thursday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford against the Jets.
With Carson Wentz not expected to play in either game and Sudfeld hurt, Kessler should get a chance to redeem himself. But with Thorson and McCown both likely to play extensively, it's not a lock.
I've seen a lot of things happen," Kessler said. "My rookie year in Cleveland with Josh, we had RG(3), who's here also today, he got hurt, Josh got hurt, I come in, something else happened - we had like five or six quarterbacks by the end of the year. Stuff like that is crazy. … I felt like I put a really good camp together. Unfortunate really didn't get to show that Thursday. It sucks, something you can't control, but just trying to pick up where I left off and look forward to this week.
Kessler is with his third team in three years, and he's running out of time to give the Eagles a reason to keep him.
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.
