He calls the gig with the Browns a blessing and is grateful for “getting this opportunity to go out and lead them”.
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He’ll be in the weeds Sunday. Wentz will start for the Eagles against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Monday’s brief practice at the NovaCare Complex marked the first occasion he’s ever worked out with the starting offense.
This ranking is indicative of where the Eagles are right now, not a commentary on the Sam Bradford trade.
Actually, he hasn’t thrown many at all lately.
But they also know Wentz suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs August 11 in the preseason opener, forcing him to sit out the final three exhibition games to let the injury heal. He sat out the last three preseason games. They got rid of a quarterback who hasn’t been great and they didn’t need anymore once they drafted Carson Wentz. Earlier this week, I half-jokingly said that DePodesta should just come out, full-villain style, and proclaim that the Browns’ odds of winning went up tremendously with the No. 2 overall pick now under center. All offseason, we heard that Wentz would be best served not playing. And you know, I knew I was ready. “I wished him luck, we exchanged some nice words and I appreciate everything he did for me when we were here together”. The 49ers got a second-round pick for Alex Smith in 2013, and I’d much rather have Smith than Bradford. “Now it’s here and I’m really confident in myself and confident in this team and I’m excited for it”. Pederson can understand what Wentz will be going through after experiencing the same emotions as a player, and expects to have similar emotions on Sunday.
And the Eagles fans who have been clamoring for the rookie to start all along finally got their wish. I do have more faith in Carroll to do so as he has been consistently the best cornerback the Eagles have. But there’s this: Since 1990, 28 of the 53 teams that had an undefeated preseason made the playoffs.
It wasn’t supposed to be that way. “I don’t try to spend any time worrying about what ifs”.
“I feel like I’ve earned respect with how I go about my business, how I carry myself”, said Wentz, 23. With Bradford and $7 million-a-year backup Chase Daniel on the roster, Wentz was expected to be eased into that future. Would an ideal situation be later than sooner?
“We weren’t looking to move Sam”, Roseman said.
There have been teams that succeeded behind rookie quarterbacks – Atlanta with Matt Ryan and Baltimore with Joe Flacco in 2008, Indianapolis with Andrew Luck and Seattle with Russell Wilson in 2012, to name a few – but I just don’t see it with the Eagles. But not having first-round pick in 2017 hurts the rest of the team’s rebuild. But it’s a good first test since the rookie missed all of the preseason, minus one game, due to a rib injury. He has played in 55 National Football League games, completing 50 of 77 career attempts for 464 yards, one touchdown and one interception in six-plus years.
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Although in O’Brien’s defense, he was throwing a football that looked like a watermelon. For Wentz, coming from an FCS school in North Dakota, it seemed especially prudent to take things slow. I also don’t have the time or the brain space to worry about those kind of things.
