The second-best quarterback, according to the experts, was this kid, Carson Wentz. Daniel signed a three-year, $21 million contract in the offseason to play behind Bradford and mentor Wentz.
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Wentz said he arrived to the Eagles’ facility at around 5:15 on Wednesday morning and began watching film with backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who arrived around the same time. There’s also a chance he’s opted to internalize those feelings as he prepares to show the Browns why they should have made his name the next one on that jersey that lists all of the names of the quarterbacks who have started for the Browns since 1999. I’m sure that struck some as odd, but for us hunters we give a tip of the cap and a big thumb’s up to you, Carson.
It should be noted that Wentz grew up in North Dakota and played for the North Dakota State Bison.
“I don’t want to harness that aggression”, said the Eagles’ head coach.
“You just try to come in and lead by example”, he said. Flacco would probably be the first to tell you that the Ravens’ run to the AFC title game in his rookie year had a lot more to do with the defense and the running game than his right arm even though he had a respectable rookie season. You get past that one, two, three plays into the game and it settles in. “And I’m excited for it”. “Right now my focus is on playing them now”.
But that’s nothing compared to the kind of atmosphere that will be on display in South Philly this weekend.
Pluto says the Eagles weren’t planning to start Wentz this week. And they ended up taking advantage of the Vikings’ desperation to get a first- and fourth-round pick for mediocre Bradford. “And I know they’ll bring the juice; I know that”.
Part of Wentz’s “inherent confidence” comes from the fact that he played in some big games in college.
Rookie coach Doug Pederson had already seen enough. “To me, this is just the beginning of the new normal”. “My butterflies will be going, too”. We can’t go out there and tell Carson to win this game. We’ve just to make sure we bring it every day, because you can get caught up if you take days off sometimes because you’re exhausted, you’re feeling bad for yourself. Somewhere in the season, will I need the yard? “I just know having been in the position that when quarterbacks get hit early it affects you the rest of the game”. “At the end of the day, I’ll look back and realize just how special of a moment that really was for me”.
Pederson was asked if he will scale back the game plan to make Wentz’s transition a little easier.
He’s not focusing on that.
So when the Browns say they don’t think Wentz has it in him to be a good QB in the National Football League, that’s ok. “I’m ecstatic to be here (in Philadelphia) and I’m ready to go”. There’s a lot of catching up to do, especially considering Wentz missed the bulk of the preseason because of a pair of broken ribs. If there was ever a case in which the process was more important than the result, it’s this one – a rookie QB from an FCS school starting his team’s opener in its first year under a new coach.
“Well, yeah, we definitely had heard the comments and all that”, Pedeson said.
And neither is his head coach.
“I think my expectations for the team are extremely high”, Pederson added. We’ve harped on takeaways, but now those takeaways need to turn into scores.
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While they haven’t been in this exact situation, this is the sixth consecutive season where the Browns will face a rookie first-round quarterback. All the pieces are here for him to be successful and for us to win some games.”But how many?”
