Adrian Fedkiw
Some doctors said there was no way he’d return in nine months. An ACL AND LCL tear, there was just NO WAY!
With Carson Wentz, though, there’s always a way.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has played it safe regarding Wentz’s recovery, but he’s been cautious with all Eagles returning from major injuries. Jason Peters, Darren Sproles and Jordan Hicks are other notable players also rehabbing from their respective issues. Here’s what Pederson had to say about them in early June during OTAs.
We’re going slow. We’re not pushing any one of these players to get back. We’re taking them slow and we’re going to make sure they’re 100 percent.
One hundred percent, huh? That’s the thing about all of this, I initially didn’t want Wentz to return until he was 110 percent. I didn’t want to take any chances, especially since you have Nick Foles in your back pocket.
But then the videos began to surface during the spring.
Wentz’s movements were fluid and sharp. He was planting and striding without any hesitation. His workload increased throughout OTAs, beginning by participating in individual drills before getting reps in 2-on-2 drills and finally by taking part in 7-on-7s.
One of the controlled environments we can obviously put him in is a 7-on-7 situation, so we’ve been able to sprinkle him in and watch him in more of an uptempo type of practice. Those situations have been good.
There was also ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, who said in early June that Wentz was “shockingly ahead of schedule” in his return from the ACL and LCL injury while appearing on the network’s NFL Live program.
I’m always one of the skeptics on something like this because it’s a 9-to-12 month recovery from ACL surgery and nine months is right up to that Thursday night opener against the Atlanta Falcons in September.
But, from people inside [the Eagles organization] who were somewhat skeptical, I am hearing that he’s not just ahead of schedule — he’s WAY ahead of schedule.
He even participated a little bit in 7-on-7 yesterday. He’s doing individual drills. He threw a ball 60 yards last week effortlessly. His legs are fast. He’s stronger. And I think now, inside, you’re starting to hear they’re not going to be surprised if he really is ready for that opener.
But Doug Pederson, everybody else publicly will say ‘We’re not rushing him.’ And there is going to be some caution. They don’t have to [rush him]. Certainly, you have to be prepared for any setback.
But right now, he’s not just ahead of schedule … he is shockingly ahead of schedule.
Like Mortensen, I’m one of those skeptics too. Especially when you’re dealing with your franchise quarterback heading into just his third season. Like Adrian Peterson, however, Wentz appears to be a different breed. He’s a freak and I’ve come around on my opinion about seeing him take the field for the Super Bowl banner unveiling on Sept. 6th against Atlanta.
There’s just one last hurdle I’d like to see Wentz cross and that’s taking a hit.
Right on that injured knee.
If I see him bounce right back up and maintain full flexibility in his knee while not wincing, that’s when I’ll know he’s fully recovered.
Wentz’s ACL has been talked about so much this offseason that we’ve almost forgotten that he’s only heading into his third season. There’s still more room for improvement despite Wentz setting the franchise record for passing touchdowns (33) last year in just 13 games. He finished his impressive sophomore campaign tied for the NFL lead in passing scores with Russell Wilson, while throwing for 3,296 yards and sporting a glistening 101.9 quarterback rating. He tossed just seven interceptions and was the main reason why the Eagles led the NFL in red-zone and third-down efficiency prior to his injury.
So what’s there to improve on?
I’d still like to see the accuracy on his back shoulder throws. It’s still a work in progress between him and Alshon Jeffery in that area. It’s Jeffery’s go-to route. It’s a perfect way for him to use his physicality and strong hands at the catch point, the strength of his game. This was a throw, however, that Wentz threw far too inside and low for most of the season. It did improve as the year went along but it is by no means perfected.
Wentz’s accuracy can get better too, especially on the deep ball. He made significant strides last year with it, however. He was just 6-of-22 on passes 20 yards or longer heading into Week 5’s tilt against the Arizona Cardinals, but that’s when he turned the corner.
That began an impressive stretch where Wentz tossed three-or-more scores in six of his final nine games. Wentz had yet to record a three-touchdown game in his career prior to that Arizona contest.
Wentz's deep ball accuracy took a turn for the better last week, so far today it's been the most confident I've seen him throw it. pic.twitter.com/QzjznHS1Cu
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) October 8, 2017
Football Outsiders conducts a Deep Ball Project, which reviews throws of 16-or-more air yards. Wentz was ranked as the 25th best deep ball quarterback.
Those two areas are where I want to see Wentz improve most, but his jump from Year 1 to Year 2 was ridiculous. Wentz showed raw potential in his rookie year, arm strength and mobility, but the sophomore campaign is when everything came together. His mechanics tightened up, he improved immensely going through his progressions and became an MVP candidate.
And had it not been for the knee, he probably would have won it.
Now onto Foles, what can you say?! He did the impossible. When Wentz went down the year was supposed to be over, especially after what we saw out of Foles against Oakland in Week 16. Foles still looked shaky in the first half of the Divisional Round win against Atlanta, but then Pederson began to call a lot more run-pass options.
That’s when Foles’ resurgence began, eventually leading to the best two-game stretch by a quarterback in Eagles history. He tossed three touchdowns apiece in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl, respectively, dominating the NFL’s best defense and out-dueling the goat in the process while winning Super Bowl LII MVP.
Here's every play of the greatest TD drive in franchise history, a 14-play, 75-yard march which took 7:01 off the clock and limited the times that Brady could touch the ball down the stretch. Ertz finished off the series with the go-ahead 11-yard touchdown!! pic.twitter.com/IJvw1zcLQk
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) February 6, 2018
With only one year remaining on his deal, the trade rumors ran rampant during the offseason, but with an impressive quarterback draft class, the Eagles never received the compensation they wanted for Foles.
Then they extended him, eliminating the trade speculation for now.
The big rumor was Cleveland offered a second-round pick for Foles, who was apparently asked if he’d like to be traded. He said no. Unless there’s a Teddy Bridgewater situation for a team who loses their starting quarterback late in the preseason, Foles isn’t going anywhere. And even then, nothing might happen.
Philly is content with having the best quarterback duo in the NFL. If Wentz were to miss some time at any point during the season, the Eagles not only have a backup who is capable of leading the team in his absence, they also have a head coach capable of harnessing Foles’ greatest strengths.
It’s easy to be content too when no Eagles are involved. Pederson commented about that in June.
I just think there are no egos involved. They’re in this thing together. Both support each other. Nick supported Carson during the season last year, and then Carson turned around and supported Nick at the end of the year. Their relationship has carried over into this spring and summer, and it’s really good. I see them working in the classroom. I see them working on the field. They keep talking. They want to get better individually. They want to get our team better.
Pederson and the coaching staff are high on third-year, third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who will be seeing the abundance of snaps during the preseason. Joe Callahan, a graduate of DIII’s Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, heads into his fourth season after playing his last two with A
aron Rodgers in Green Bay. He’s a camp body and insurance police if anything happens to the other three quarterbacks.
Sudfeld saw the majority of the time as the Eagles’ signal-caller against Dallas in Week 17, going 19-of-23 for 134 yards in a 6-0 meaningless stinker of a loss. Sudfeld also showed off some underrated wheels, scampering for a 22-yard run.
The Eagles obviously liked him. They initially plucked him off Washington’s practice squad and called him up to the roster when Indianapolis attempted to sign him off Philly’s practice squad in November. His $540,000 salary on that 10-man squad was among the highest in the NFL.
Sudfeld’s development this summer could be instrumental towards the Eagles’ potential flexibility at the quarterback position over the next few years.