For 100 reasons, Wentz expects big year

PHILADELPHIA » On payday, on Doug Pederson’s depth chart, in the way the Eagles have allowed him to grow, Carson Wentz has never lacked for pro-football respect.

Everywhere else, it often seems, there’s a disconnect.

This year, it was the NFL Network that kicked off the trolling. That, the league’s own network did by polling its players about the best performers in the sport, then releasing its Top 100.

Wentz, apparently, was tied for 101st with everyone else not on the list.

So it goes again for a Pro Bowllevel talent who once didn’t play a postseason down as his team stomped to a world championship: Perhaps because he so often has fallen out of sight, he has fallen out of mind.

At some point, though, the disrespect will to test Wentz’s patience.

That point is close.

“I usually don’t get too caught up in that kind of stuff,” Wentz said Thursday, on a conference call, during a break from training camp. “When I see it, I usually wish I didn’t see it or didn’t hear about it. But you can always use anything and everything as just a little bit of motivation.”

Ordinarily, such otherwise frivolous offseason click-baiting would be dismissed by any seasoned pro. So when Wentz acknowledged the report and promised to use it to his and the Eagles’ advantage, it resonated.

“That is what it is,” Wentz said. “It’s voted on by the players. It is what it is. I’m not going to let that cause me to lose sleep or anything. But I do look forward to going out this year and showing what I can do with my team.”

As challenges go, a Top 100 list was just another to have collided with Wentz in an offseason, one that for him began early after a postseason collision with Jadeveon Clowney. There was the fact that yet another of his seasons ended with an injury. There was the reality that the Eagles would use a second-round pick on a quarterback, Jalen Hurts. There was a change not just in offensive coordinators, but in the entire system, with Mike Groh being replaced by a panel of offensive experts.

Then, there was a certain situation that would compromise every player’s ability to prepare for the season, and which continues to threaten the prospect of a full NFL season: The coronavirus and its complications. Yet just as he did with that Top 100 carry-on, Wentz considered the health challenges and chose to play on, confident that he could do so successfully.

“I’m obviously very well aware of the circumstances we’re all living in,” Wentz said. “It’s unfortunate. And when this thing first hit in March, no one knew what this season would look like. And through it all, everyone was wondering in the back of their mind, ‘What does it look like for me, safety-wise? What does it look like for my family, safety-wise?’ I was no different. The health and safety of my family is different from players who may be single or don’t have wives or kids. So you definitely have to take all those factors in. But I feel safe here.”

With that, Wentz has returned to work, preparing for, yes, his fifth season.

“It still seems crazy to think this is my fifth year,” he said. “I definitely feel like a veteran now.”

The nature of an essentially lost offseason having all but eliminated the possibility of a playing-time competition with the rookie Hurts, Wentz has been diligently working to improve, embracing a list of on-field priorities.

“Red zone and third down,” he said. “That’s something I am going to hit on every year, whether we’re first in the league or last in the league. I realized over the first couple years of my career that those downs make or break ballgames all the time.

“I would also love to see us have some more explosive plays. We had a lot of long drives last year and obviously, hopefully, getting DeSean (Jackson) back and a lot of these younger guys, that will lend itself to more explosive plays. Maybe we don’t always have to have a 15-play drive. But if that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do.”

The 15-play scoring drives produce as many points as the three-play variety. But maybe they don’t win as many popularly-contest votes. All Wentz knows is that at age 27, after a rare healthy offseason, with a veteran coaching staff and a relatively familiar surrounding cast, that his conditioning is right and his fifth season can be his best.

“I have been very fortunate,” he said. “I have a gym at my house and have a lot of space to do my workouts in. So I feel more than ready.

“A big part of this early training camp mode is just making sure guys are on the same page with their strength and conditioning and be ready to go before we really hit the ground running with practice.”