Aug 11, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz (11) attempts a pass to tight end Zach Ertz (86) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field. It won’t show up on his highlight tape, but it is a play that would have been much more hard for Sam Bradford or Chase Daniel. Still, the Eagles and their fans did need to see numerous things that Wentz would put on display in just over a quarter of second-half work. Just making sure that you feel as good as you possibly can.
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Rough start: Roberto Aguayo (yes, he was drafted in the second round) hit the upright on his first National Football League extra point. Najee Goode forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and Chris Maragos recovered at the Bucs’ 18. There were plenty of mistakes for Wentz to learn from, but there were also more than enough plays for Pederson to be excited about. It’s undoubtedly upsetting to see the rookie get hurt early, especially when he isn’t expected to play in the first half of the regular season. “I’ll visit with [offensive line coach Jeff] Stoutland this week, and we’ll evaluate where we need to go from here”.
Asked whether seventh-round rookie corner Jalen Mills is ahead of Eric Rowe, last year’s second-round rookie who started down the stretch, Pederson said, “at this time he is, yes”. Head coach Doug Pederson looks to put his stamp on the Eagles franchise.
The Eagles were already without left tackle Jason Peters, out with a quad injury, and they face the prospect of losing right tackle Lane Johnson to a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy.
“He’s just sore today”, Pederson had said.
Tampa Bay returns to One Buc Place for practice on Saturday morning, starting preparation for next Saturday’s preseason game in Jacksonville against the Jaguars. Turner led the Eagles with six receptions for 34 yards.
When the Eagles won the coin toss and deferred their possession choice, it seemed they had cleverly arranged to maximize the optics of Wentz’s debut. Jacob Schum punted five times for an average of 41.2 yards while Bryan Anger finished with an average of 45.5 on two punts. Koetter tabbed one aspect of the Buccaneers’ play as the best thing to come out of Thursday’s opener, and it probably won’t surprise anybody who watched the game. They can not give up as many big plays this season as they did last season otherwise the team as a whole will struggle because they’ll be playing from behind so much.
Afterward, Wentz said he got the wind knocked out of him. Cornerback C.J. Smith clinched it with an end-zone interception in the final seconds.
Daniel was sacked as many times (four) as he had completed passes. He also threw to no one from his end zone while pressured, but the officials ruled a receiver was nearby, avoiding a safety.
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Philadelphia had three sacks, one each by Cox and Steven Means, a half apiece for Connor Barwin and Beau Allen.
