Adrian Fedkiw
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and his quarterback Carson Wentz aren’t on the same page.
Wentz threw the ball 60 times Sunday and tossed three interceptions in the Eagles’ embarrassing 32-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and there were some discrepancies between the two regarding his performance.
Pederson believes Wentz’s mechanics were to blame.
“It’s strictly mechanics,” Pederson said during his press conference after the game. “If you watch the way it’s happening, the fact that we have to get him off of his back foot and trusting what he sees down the field.”
Wentz, however, sees it differently.
“You throw the ball 60 times, you’re going to miss some. That kind of happens. I don’t think it’s the mechanics. You make mistakes. Things happen, and that’s just the bottom line,” he said.
I’m going to take Pederson’s side on this argument.
Wentz finished 36-of-60 for 308 yards and a touchdown to go with those aforementioned three picks. The mechanical flaws remain the same. He’s still staring receivers down, he’s still throwing into double and triple coverage, he’s still not setting his feet in the pocket and he’s still airmailing the seam routes. By the way, those 60 pass attempts were the second most in NFL history by a rookie.
Can't tell you how many times Wentz has overthrown the seam pass this year @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/Rmm5ts0jnx
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) December 4, 2016
Donovan McNabb was always known for throwing the low ball, but when you rifle it right into the ground it’s an incompletion. When you overthrow a receiver, the ball has a good chance of landing into the waiting arms of a safety.
Wentz is obviously a rookie quarterback and with first-year players come growing pains, but he hasn’t steadily gotten better, he’s regressed. That makes me point at the coaching staff. He’s got two former quarterbacks in Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich mentoring him. He has quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. Wentz continues to have the same mechanical problems and there’s been no progression in fixing them.