Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Mishandling franchise QB Pederson’s new mistake
PHILADELPHIA >> If you don’t think Carson Wentz is the Eagles’ savior, you haven’t paid attention to Cris Collinsworth and Jon Gruden.
Birds head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich understand how important Wentz is. They gush almost daily over his skills-set. Bright, mobile 6-5, 240-pound guys who can throw don’t grow on trees.
The Eagles mortgaged a chunk of their future to trade up in the draft for Wentz. So how in the world can an organization, as well as a coaching staff tethered to Wentz, put him back in a meaningless game Thursday night against the New York Giants? Wentz was sent to the locker room to be examined for a head injury following an illegal hit.
While we’re at it, who calls a play requiring the franchise quarterback to block on a gadget reverse featuring Nelson Agholor? Think Bill Belichick would call that with Tom Brady?
And who the heck even decided there should be a gadget play for Agholor?
At his news conference Friday, Pederson broke out the old “if you’ve ever played football” look he gives reporters who ask sensitive questions. Coach Doug had no reservations about playing Wentz, much less making him part of that bizarre reverse that startled Collinsworth, not because it netted just five yards but rather because Wentz was a handful of plays removed from being out there. Anyone who thought it was a good idea for Wentz to block 200-pound defensive back Eli Apple, raise your hand.
“He was cleared,” Pederson said of Wentz. “He went in, came out. How many guys run in for a concussion deal or a banged-up head injury? He ran in, ran out. We talked on the sideline and we talked before the play. We talked before the series. He was good. He was cleared so I had no hesitation.”
Pederson must not have studied the replays that put Wentz out of the game temporarily. Replays showed Wentz’s head bouncing up and down off the turf like a basketball, the result of a hard tackle by Olivier Vernon. The pass rusher was flagged for roughing the passer.
Following the hit Wentz looked like a fighter trying to find his corner after a knockdown. He was helped off while referee Clete Blakeman picked up his flag.
Wentz was given the sideline concussion evaluation tests, according to Pederson. The results are supposed to be compared to baseline tests before the player is allowed to return to the game. There’s really no way for the media to check if the process is followed. The information belongs to the NFL, the NFL Players Association and the player, who get copies of the assessment.
Clearly Wentz had symptoms. Near the top of the list is dizziness.
“I was taken to the ground pretty hard and landed on my head,” Wentz said after the game. “I got up and was a little dizzy. I got my bell rung a little bit. But then I got to the bench and I was feeling good. I had to go in and do the protocol. I passed all of that and got to come back in.”
Even with Wentz cleared — assuming that was the case — what could the Eagles gain from having him play on? They were eliminated from the playoffs the previous week. They lost guard Allen Barbre to a hamstring injury, giving them yet another cast of characters on the offensive line. If you want to go the Sam Hinkie route, the Eagles even blew the tanking angle. The win made their second-round draft pick a little less valuable. It was the Giants who had something to play for. Finishing a game like that basically was what the Eagles pay backup Chase Daniel to do.
“We can speculate all day, I guess,” Pederson said. “Obviously our goal in everything we do is to try to win a football game. I think the second that you sort of hesitate in any situation is a time you get beat. And again, I had no hesitation on making that play and putting him in that situation.”
No hesitation? That’s worrisome. That and the idea no one on the staff convinced Pederson to downshift from the uh, aggressive way he calls plays.
On Wentz’s first play back after the concussion protocol, he was almost sacked trying to throw down the field. The run the Eagles should have called on first down came on second down. Wentz was running for his life when Vernon grabbed him but couldn’t hang on. Wentz was so discombobulated scrambling up the field he put the ball on the ground right after his slide.
The double-reverse with Agholor ending up with the football will become a Doug Pederson classic, a play call right there with that slant instead of the run on the failed twopoint conversion in Baltimore.
“Most double reverses, the quarterback is actually, him and the tackle, in this case Jason Peters, were both out in front and he is supposed to block if there is a guy to block,” Pederson said. “He actually got the guy on the ground and actually took out our guy at the same time.”
If Wentz remembered his blocking assignment, the fogginess probably had subsided from the initial, violent hit. Exposing Wentz to a situation, specifically with that gadget play, where he again could get his “bell rung a little bit,” is so ridiculous the play caller should be flagged.
If you don’t think that’s a good idea, you don’t pay attention to Collinsworth and Gruden.
Bob Grotz covers the Eagles for Digital First Media. You can reach him at bgrotz@21stcenturymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobGrotz.