QB concerns
Trio of rebuilt QBs throwing at practice
ATLANTA — Three NFL quarterbacks whose 2017 seasons were ruined by ACL tears returned to the football field Tuesday at their first fullteam practices of the spring.
Namely, Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles, Ryan
Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins and Deshaun
Watson of the Houston
Texans.
Tannehill went down early in training camp with his serious knee injury; Watson, in October; Wentz, in December.
All three are at different stages of recovery.
Tannehill ran on to the practice field without a knee brace, according to video tweeted by the Dolphins. Reporters weren’t permitted to watch Tuesday’s practice, to see how much Tannehill might have participated, if at all.
Neither Watson nor Wentz is likely close to being able to fully practise, and that’s entirely understandable given they’re just seven and five months, respectively, removed from their injuries.
Of Watson, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien on Tuesday said, “He’s just doing individual drills, taking a little seven-on-seven (reps). That’s about it. Just trying to get better every day.”
Of Wentz, Eagles head coach
Doug Pederson said, “He’s in the quarterback room. He’s in my office. We’re talking, we’re still talking about plays and
situations, so he’s very much involved, just not going through the actual practice at this time.”
That said, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweeted, “If it weren’t for the knee brace, you would hardly know that Carson Wentz was returning from major knee surgery. He’s done everything so far. Passes have been pinpoint.”
But calm down, Eagles fans. Here’s Pederson, again: “All that you’re seeing (of Wentz on the field) is part of his rehab. It’s part of his process of getting back to 100% … It changes each day based on what our medical staff and doctors want him to do.”
STILL NO BRADY
Tom Brady remained absent from New England Patriots practices. Head coach
Bill Belichick at a news conference Tuesday refused to discuss anything to do with Brady, or any other player not present at OTAs, including tight end Rob Gronkowski.
HACKENBURG TRADED
The New York Jets traded their epic second-round failure of a quarterback,
Christian Hackenburg ,to the Oakland Raiders, for a conditional seventh-round pick — so basically, for nothing. To be fair to Hackenburg, nobody on this planet believed Hackenburg was anywhere near worth a second-round pick in 2016 other than Jets GM Mike Maccagnan.
EXTRA POINTS
Philadelphia released veteran linebacker Mychal
Kendricks after six seasons … The Eagles rejected a March trade offer from the Cleveland Browns for Super Bowl hero Nick Foles, the backup QB who piloted Philly to an NFL championship, according to NFL Network. The Browns reportedly offered the third pick of the second round (35th overall) in last month’s draft. The Eagles approached Foles about the deal, but he said his preference was to remain in Philly, the report said.