Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Torn ACL ends Wentz’s season
‘Next man up’ applies to Birds’ best man, as well
PHILADELPHIA » A day after Carson Wentz needed to be helped off the field at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Doug Pederson figured he had one major job. So he gave a hand to the rest of his Eagles, too.
Confirming that Wentz had torn his left ACL in a 43-35 victory over the Rams and that the knee injury would cost the quarterback the season, Pederson used most of his day-after press briefing Monday to argue that it barely mattered.
“I hate it for Carson Wentz,” Pederson said. “I hate it for the career and the season that he’s been having. But at the same time, it’s been the ‘next man up’ mentality. And that’s how we approach it this week.”
The next quarterback up for the Birds is veteran Nick Foles, 28, whose 6-for-10 passing in relief Sunday helped the Birds improve to 11-2. Foles, a former Pro Bowl offensive MVP, is on an $11,000,000, two-year contract for just such a purpose.
“If you don’t have a backup quarterback that’s played and had snaps in this league, it’s tough,” Pederson said. “It’s tough to continue the things that you’ve done and the things you’ve built this season. So I think it’s valuable. And I think it’s a credit to Howie (Roseman) and (player personnel director) Joe (Douglas) and the guys, and to my relationship with Nick, to bring a guy like that in here who is very capable of getting the job done.”
Foles will have that opportunity beginning Sunday, when the Eagles visit the New York Giants. A sixthyear pro, he thrived for the Birds in 2013 when he threw for 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions. But with stops in St. Louis and Kansas City, his career stagnated before the Eagles rescued him to be ready in case of an injury to Wentz. Already this season, the Birds have overcome the loss of regular Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, starting middle linebacker Jordan Hicks, veteran running back Darren Sproles, and special-teams pillars Chris Maragos and Caleb Sturgis.
Pederson insists the quarterback situation is “no different.”
“People thought our chances were gone by the wayside when Jason Peters went down, too, and when Darren Sproles goes down,” he said. “To the fans out there: You can’t lose faith. This has been a resilient football team all season long. If there’s ever an opportunity for me as a head football coach to rally the troops, now might be the time.
“We just came off a tremendous victory to win the NFC East. Guys are riding extremely high. It’s a little bittersweet. But we’ve got the Giants this week. We have an opportunity to get a first-round bye.”
With just three games left in the regular season, Pederson did not sound Monday like he needed an additional veteran back-up to complement Foles. Instead, he plans to promote No. 3 quarterback Nate Sudfeld. In case you never heard of him, he’s a sixth-round draft choice of the Washington Redskins last season and was signed off waivers by the Birds in September.
“Nate’s done a really good job,” Pederson said. “We feel really comfortable with him. So not only are we getting Nick ready but also Nate at the same time has to be prepared to go in and play. I have a lot of confidence in them.”
Wentz underwent an MRI Monday. Pederson offered no further details of the injury or recovery plan. Surgery is expected. Recovery times have been known to vary but can last nine months or more. Wentz almost certainly will be unavailable for offseason OTAs or minicamps. However, Pederson expects him to continue to contribute in other ways.
“He can be around and be in the meeting rooms,” the coach said. “He can be there on game day and be another set of eyes for the quarterbacks, for Nick. Just having his input and having him around the guys, too, would be a big boost. It is an opportunity for him now to kind of put the coaching hat on and to help Nick.”
Wentz finished his season with a franchise-record 33 touchdown passes, 3,296 yards and an MVP candidacy.
“We overcame a Pro Bowl left tackle,” Pederson said. “We overcame our middle linebacker, we’ve overcome our running back. We’ve overcome a core special teams player this year, and our kicker. This is no different. Yeah, (Wentz) is the quarterback of our football team. Each one of these guys that I mentioned is tough to replace.”
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Cornerback Sidney Jones, who has missed the entire season while recovering from an Achilles’ injury, will begin practicing this week.
“We’re just to the point of wanting to see him out there running around,” said Pederson of the second-round draft choice, “doing football activities outside of the normal workouts that he’s been doing.”
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The ankle injury to guard Stefen Wisniewski Sunday does not appear to be serious.
“He’ll be fine,” Pederson said. “He’s going to be dayto-day.”
Pederson expects Wisniewski to do some “walkthrough things” at practice Wednesday.