Wentz only appeared in one preseason game and suffered a rib injury. But Wentz has been cleared to return – the full clearance came Monday – and Pederson wasted no time turning over the franchise to the player anointed for the role in April.
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“Yeah. I feel ever since I got here, I felt very comfortable with things”, Wentz told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show while promoting a child’s passing clinic for the Eagles Charitable Foundation. “I’ll probably know more further down this week as far as that goes”.
The Browns will open the year on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game that will mark head coach Hue Jackson’s first in charge of the team, Robert Griffin III’s first as a starting quarterback in nearly two years, and more rookies in Orange and Brown than seems possible.
But while no one wants to be passed on by a team, Wentz should be glad the Browns passed on him in 2016.
“The whole time, all along, I was just getting ready for whenever this time would come”, he said.
Maybe it’s because more colleges are using pro-style offenses. He averaged 45.2 yards with a net of 39.1 during his career with the Broncos and won a Super Bowl last season. “It takes reps. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of either of those”, Bradford said as quoted by Star Tribune. “Would the ideal situation be later than sooner?” It is really about our football team. Paxton Lynch, the third quarterback taken in the first round, attempted 1,205.
This may only be an angle built up by the media, but competitive spirit alone should be enough for Wentz to want to prove something.
Neither can Wentz’s teammates.
“I feel like I’ve earned respect just from how I go about my business, how I carry myself”, Wentz said. “Really that first preseason game I walked away feeling extra confident with it”.
Jackson won’t be able to dodge the questions about Wentz all week. Why can’t they do the same with Wentz?
Wentz reached out to Bradford this weekend and expressed his appreciation for the veteran, who Wentz said had been a mentor. But, this past week, Philadelphia traded Bradford to Minnesota, whose quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, got injured and is out the rest of the season.
“Chase was brought in here for a reason”, the Birds’ coach said.
“I have a great opportunity right now to grow with somebody and I think that’s cool”, receiver Nelson Agholor said. I believe in. This is why we drafted (Wentz). I’m just going to take them in stride. Carson is ready for this. It’s about what gives us the best shot to win moving forward, and obviously some guys think that’s Carson, and that’s fine.
Yahoo! Sports senior National Football League writer Charles Robinson also thinks it’s likely Wentz will be the team’s Week 1 starter if he’s healthy. There is a full commitment to the former North Dakota State star, and Pederson said the stage is not too big for Wentz. It’s two potentially bad teams going up against one another. The second-best quarterback, according to the experts, was this kid, Carson Wentz. “What he did in all OTAs, what he’s done around this building, the plays he’s made in practice, in the one preseason game has given me confidence that he can lead this football team”.
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“It wasn’t pretty by any means”, Wentz continued.
