Carson Wentz Is “Very Excited” to Start in Week 1

Carson Wentz was in a cornfield hunting geese when finding out about the news of him starting in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.

Now he’ll be hunting for his first NFL win Sunday.

Wentz was officially named the starter by Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson on Monday and is “very confident” and “very excited” about the opportunity.

“I got the call. I was obviously very surprised but instantly I was just really excited. A lot of excitement going on and I quickly cleaned up and got out of there. There was just so many emotions going on with my family and stuff, so now it’s just down to business. I’m very confident and I’m very excited to get this opportunity,” he said. “I feel like I’ve developed at a fast pace. Now it’s here and I’m really confident in myself and confident in this team and excited for it.”

The plan all along was for Wentz to be third on the depth chart behind Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel, but once Bradford was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, the Eagles coaching staff convened and made the decision to go with Wentz over the weekend.

“I spent the weekend with my offensive staff, everybody feels like this kid is ready to go and we drafted him to take on the reins and it’s something now we are prepared to do,” Pederson said.

That’s a complete 180 from Pederson’s old-school philosophy of redshirting rookie quarterbacks.

“Would the ideal situation be later than sooner? Sure. But right now, where we are, we got a good football team around him, great defense, special teams. So all the pieces are here for him to be successful and for us to win some games,” he said.

It’s a stunning turn of events.

Coupled with just 23 starts and 612 pass attempts at the FCS level, Wentz appeared in only one preseason game after suffering a hairline fracture in his ribs in the opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was an up-and-down performance which showed flashes of why he was drafted No. 2 overall. Wentz completed 12-of-24 passes for 89 yards and an interception to go along with 15 yards rushing on three carries.

Due to that lack of experience there might be some growing pains, which Wentz acknowledged.

“Young quarterbacks usually experience some bumps in the road and I’m just going to take them in stride,” he said. “I’m going to learn from my mistakes and I’m just going to keep getting better and keep putting this team in good situations to win some ball games.”

Aside from the bumps in the road, it’ll also be the first time that Wentz will be playing with the first-team offensive line.

Wentz also made sure to thank Bradford for “being a mentor” after finding out he was traded. They’ll now square off against each other in Week 6.