Pederson, Wentz looking forward to visit toWhite House

PHILADELPHIA » Doug Pederson confirmed Tuesday the Super Bowl LII champion Eagles will be honored June 5th at theWhite House, and quarterback Carson Wentz is “cool” with making the trip.

That’s not the unanimous sentiment in the locker room, where a small handful of Eagles players led by Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long said they wouldn’t attend a ceremony, citing political differenceswith the Administration and President Donald Trump, who ripped NFL players for protesting during the national anthem.

Wentz, at a news conference, sympathized with his teammates but has a different take on the visit.

“I think it’s just a cool way to just receive the honor nationally and be recognized,” Wentz said. “I don’t personally view it like some people do. Everyone has their own opinion on it. I don’t view it as a political thing whatsoever. I don’t really mess with politics very often. But I think I will be involved in going to that.”

Wentz intimated the players still hadn’t made a collective decision on their participation, explaining “I know for me personally, if the team decides as awhole, most guyswant to go or be a part of it, I will be attending with them.”

Pederson, on the other hand, not only confirmed the date but added “I’m excited to be going and be honored as world champions.

“It’s a great honor,” Pederson said. “We’re still working through some logistics right now so we don’t have all the details of the day. But I’m excited to be going.”

Pederson added that player participation for the trip is “on an individual basis.

“It’s one of those things where again, we’re working through a ton of things but at the same time we understand that it’s an individual decision,” Pederson said.

Wentz, by the way, has progressed enough in his rehab from surgery for torn knee ligaments to participate on a limited basis at Eagles OTA’s, which began Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex.

“I’ll be involved in a handful of things,” Wentz said. “I’m not fully cleared to do everything yet, but I’ll be involved when I can.”

Wentz looked sharp throwing to receivers in the warmups and through individual drills, participating for about 30 minutes before removing the knee brace and watching the rest of the indoor practice.

Pederson said Darren Sproles and Michael Bennett would be the only guys not participating in the first phase of voluntary OTAs.

Sproles still is rehabbing from an ACL and broke wrist. Bennett’s absence isn’t related to the legal issue in Houston, one in which he allegedly shoved a handicapped volunteer acting as security at the Super Bowl LI.

“They’re two guys that I don’t have a lot of concern as far their ability to help us win games,” Pederson said. “They’re veteran players and they’ll get themselves ready to go.”