Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Wentz adjusts to Matthews trade
Drove best friend to airport following deal
PHILADELPHIA » Shaken by the trade of his close friend, Carson Wentz gathered himself Saturday and took one for the team.
Life went on for Wentz and the Eagles, who the previous day shipped popular receiver Jordan Matthews and a third-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for cornerback Ronald Darby.
It was the stinker of all practices. Like the preseason opener in Green Bay, it seemed the 2-hour, 40-minute marathon would never end.
Shortly after Doug Pederson blew the final whistle, Wentz didn’t sugarcoat the loss of Matthews, his most productive receiver, spiritual buddy and best friend forever.
How tight were Wentz and Matthews? The quarterback drove his friend to the airport Friday night after an emotional dinner with teammates Zach Ertz, Trey Burton, Jordan Hicks and Chris Maragos. Guess who picked up the tab?
“On the personal side it’s tough,” Wentz said. “This is my
“On the personal side it’s tough. This is my first time experiencing this with someone who’s one of my best friends. Seeing him yesterday, it was tough on him, too. It was kind of out of the blue.” – Carson Wentz
first time experiencing this with someone who’s one of my best friends. Seeing him yesterday, it was tough on him, too. It was kind of out of the blue.”
Wentz downshifted into an extended pause. Just when you thought he was too choked up to continue he gathered himself.
“There’s really no other way to put it,” Wentz said. “It’s just kind of tough personally.”
Matthews was the Eagles’ most productive receiver the past three years. He’s also the guy management hadn’t much use for after signing Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency, and drafting Mack Hollins, Shelton Gibson and Donnel Pumphrey, who they think can play slot.
While it was obvious the Eagles needed a starting cornerback, Wentz can only trust that football operations chief Howie Roseman has not weakened the wide receiver position at the expense of doing so.
“The football side of
things, you’ve just got to trust what they’re doing upstairs,” Wentz said. “Ultimately, they’re the ones who make those decisions and whatever they think is best for the team, I’m going to be in support of 100 percent. They haven’t let me down, or this team down yet.”
The Saturday practice, excuse the transition, was a huge letdown. Darby didn’t work, the newcomer watching the action and taking mental reps. That was the highlight.
You knew it was going to be a rough day when Hollins, who is proof that being tall doesn’t qualify you to play the slot, set the tone by dropping Wentz’s first throw in 7-on-7s. Hollins later pulled up and objected to an elbow in the mouth from linebacker Jordan Hicks while running a route across the middle. There is opportunity for Hollins, just not in the slot, at least this season.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, playing as hard as I can every day at practice and trying to make plays,” Hollins said. “And wherever I end up is wherever I end up.”
No Eagle had much success
hanging onto the ball, including Pumphrey the fourth-round pick who fumbled early in the live tackling drills. In the preseason loss to the Packers, Pumphrey turned the ball over on a muffed punt and fumbled on a run.
“We have to continue to work through that,” Pederson said. “Today was a very humid day. The guys were sweating a bunch. You could probably attribute it to that. I don’t want to make excuses for guys. The emphasis is obviously hanging onto the ball, whether he’s catching a punt or obviously in the backfield.”
Nelson Agholor, the first candidate to play in the slot, wasn’t as challenged as his teammates. He didn’t do much in Green Bay with the exception of losing one yard on a jet sweep and failing to bring down a high throw from Wentz on a two-point attempt.
Agholor’s biggest fan beyond offensive coordinator Frank Reich is safety Malcolm Jenkins.
“Today Nelly lined up in the slot and I think that’s a good spot for him,” Jenkins said. “I think he’s going to add a (speed) dynamic to
that position that’s going to be really good for us. From a production standpoint, we’ll be fine. It just sucks to have a guy who meant that much to a lot of guys on the team to not be here.”
The latter was a reference to Matthews, who Jenkins sought out and competed against to get better.
“There’s only a few guys that I could say probably work harder than me and he’s one of them,” Jenkins said. “And that’s been since he stepped foot in the league. We’ve had to slow him down many times because every catch he wants to take all the way to the end zone or he’s over-working himself or he’s fighting through injuries and not complaining, not causing any trouble and I think he’s earned a lot of respect from his teammates because of who he is every day. He’s earned that respect from me and pretty much everybody on the locker room.”
Matthews expressed angst and disbelief, not respect in a tweet he sent out after landing in Buffalo.
“I’m still trying to dissect what’s real and what’s true as I move forward,” Matthews tweeted, including
an emoticon with a frown.
Wentz and Matthews developed a solid chemistry on and off the field in their season and change together. They worked at their craft as well as their faith.
“It will be different,” Wentz said. “It will be tough. But like I said I think it just speaks to the type of guy he was. Everyone loved him. He was the ultimate competitor. It was always about the team first. Replacing a guy like that in the locker room definitely isn’t going to be easy.”
Wentz said that Roseman informed of the trade shortly after it was done.
“I just said, ‘that’s part of the business,’” Wentz said. “Obviously he knew how I felt with Jordan being one of my best friends. On the personal side that’s tough, he knew that, but keeping business, business, that’s part of it.”
With the Eagles entertaining the Bills Thursday, Matthews will be on the other side of the field. That’s not what either envisioned.
“It’s going to be weird,” Wentz said. “It’s going to be really weird. It’s not going to be fun, I’ll tell you that.”