Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Starting QB still anyone’s healthy guess
PHILADELPHIA » After Carson Wentz completed his weekly mantra, the one where he says doctors and coaches will decide when he’s well enough to play football again, you couldn’t help but wonder who in the world actually has the final say.
Is it Dr. James Bradley, the orthopedic surgeon who repaired the ACL and LCL ligaments in Wentz’s left knee? Dr. Christopher C. Dodson, the team’s head orthopedic physician? Head coach Doug Pederson? Vice president of player personnel Howie Roseman?
Obviously, the medical guys are going to check out the Xrays, bone scans and whatnot. Then what? Do rock, paper, scissors, shoot?
The Eagles like to keep us guessing. They really think it gives them a competitive advantage. It’s tough to debate their collaborative approach to decision making after they won the Super Bowl. But it’s only collaborative until it’s time to choose between rock, paper or scissors.
What we all know is that if Wentz reinjures the knee, the Eagles will be second-guessed from here to Bismarck, N.D. for the process they used. They got rid of the old medical staff and brought in new docs and trainers.
Wentz reiterated Monday he’s still shooting for the Sept. 6 opener against the Atlanta Falcons, although he concedes the race is too close to call right now. He also said that while the timetable was personal, it was done using the medical knowledge of the previous staff as well as the surgeon.
“It was definitely with doctors input and my surgeon at the time,” Wentz said. “It was a realistic expectation but there are a lot of factors involved. So that was moreso just a personal goal.”
Anyone who watched Nick Foles labor last week at New England in his preseason debut has to be leaning toward Wentz as the quarterback who would give the Eagles the best chance to beat Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1.
Even if Wentz’s rehab, in that event, would be less than nine months, which already is pushing it. Wentz is tough. He had one untorn ACL when he rifled that scoring pass to
Alshon Jeffery against the Los Angeles Rams.
That’s not to say Super Bowl MVP Foles is washed up. He simply is what he is: a spot starter who can be really good or really hurt. Right now, Foles is fighting through neck and shoulder issues aggravated by three sacks versus the Patriots.
Foles was so ineffective in that game it was impossible to overlook the steady progression of Nate Sudfeld, the 24-yearold product of the University of Indiana who has played so well in two preseason games that Lane Johnson told him he’s playing like John Elway.
Sudfeld’s arm talent and decision-making get better as games wear on, and not necessarily because of the level of competition. He’s completed 32 of 53 attempts (60.4
percent) with five touchdowns, three interceptions, a 95.8 rating and an average yards per attempt of 8.5. At this point he’s at least a healthier option than Foles. It will be interesting to see how long Foles plays, if at all, in the third preseason game Thursday at Cleveland.
Wentz won’t play, and that’s a decision anybody with common sense can understand. There’s really no need for him to risk him to injury in the preseason.
“It’s the doctors decision,” Wentz said. “I’m going to trust what they say. And there’s a lot of them, a lot of medical brains in there who will try to make the decision. I know how I feel and where I’m at with it. It will ultimately be their decision and a coaching decision.”
There’s only one way to look at Wentz splitting the first-team 11-on-11 snaps with Foles in practices this week. And that’s the obvious concerns with Foles. Is the Super Bowl LII MVP up to countering the defenses which have studied his success in the playoffs? Everybody studied his three-game run, which was carefully choreographed by a coaching staff that included Pederson, Frank Reich and John DeFilippo. Reich and Flip have moved on.
Wentz, on the other hand, can figure out just about anything. He’s told coaches how he wants to do things.
The issue with starting Wentz in the opener is whether he and his knee ligaments are healthy enough to escape injury while acclimating to live action against a brutal
opening schedule in which five of the Eagles’ first eight opponents are playoff teams.
That basically would be Wentz’s preseason and first month of the season all rolled up in one. Will he still be in the lineup when the Eagles oppose the Jacksonville Jaguars and their vicious pass rush in London? An aside: Wentz’s blindside protection is 36-year-old Jason Peters, who’s coming off ACL surgery.
Wentz also has to get used to the new playcalling dynamic with firsttime offensive coordinator Mike Groh and quarterbacks coach Press Taylor. Reich, now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. was a valuable resource to Pederson, Wentz and Foles.
And then there’s the first wave of hits. You can
count on Wentz being tested physically.
“I feel good out there,” Wentz said. “Obviously I haven’t been hit yet. Team drills, guys are kind flying around out there, and I don’t feel like I have any mental hesitation. I’m personally not worried about it.”
Want to know who is worried about it? Bradley, Dodson, Pederson and Roseman. And the owner, of course.
The Eagles went all-in trading up to secure the second-overall pick to select Wentz. They don’t need to go rock, paper, scissors and shoot themselves in the foot by rushing him back.