McCaffery: Wentz can help Birds overcome
PHILADELPHIA » Doug Pederson showed up Tuesday in the NovaCare Complex in a pair of shorts, a ball cap and an untucked golf shirt. Might have been Oakmont. Whatever it was, the wardrobe message was clear. There was no reason for mourning.
The question would come at his regular day-after press briefing, and the Eagles coach was ready. And it would come at once, a buyone-get-one bargain involving not just Jason Peters but Jordan Hicks, too.
“Here we go,” Pederson said, interrupting the first question, one syllable in. By then, there was no place to duck anyway. Two of his more important players, one on offense, the other on defense, had to leave the Birds’ 34-24 victory over the Washington Redskins hours earlier, accompanied by doctors, and not just the sports-science kind, either. There was a problem. There was no secret.
“Both of them,” Pederson revealed, “are significant.”
Peters had shredded his 35-year-old knee. Hicks ruptured his Achilles. Both would be lost for the year, joining Darren Sproles and Chris Maragos on the injured-reserve list. The future Hall of Fame offensive lineman. The best linebacker. The most accomplished runner. The most reliable special-teams playmaker, non-kicking division. Catastrophe? No. “We still have a lot of football left,” Pederson said. “And we still have a game this Sunday. And the season’s not over.”
For one reason, that season is not only not over, but as Alshon Jeffrey said after the Birds improved to 6-1, “We’re just getting started.”
That’s because for the same reason Howie Roseman maneuvered to acquire him in the first place, Carson Wentz is the only player the Eagles cannot lose and still remain viable as contenders. That reason: In that league, quarterbacks rule. And on that team, Wentz rules more than most.
“He’s amazing,” Jeffery said. “He must have Spiderman vision. He’s great. He does a great job just making plays and seeing guys.”
Because the Eagles are 6-1, and because their last two games were on primetime TV, and because he not only has been successful but, Monday at least, borderline magical, the legend of Wentz is peaking. Where it winds up will matter more than the fact that he is the presumptive Player of the Month in October. But if it wasn’t crystal before, it has become that way: It will be Wentz and the way he plays that will determine whether the Eagles can snake a few rounds into the postseason tournament. And as long as he is healthy, he should be able to play well, no matter how many talented Eagles are not.
“My job’s so easy with Carson,” Zach Ertz said. “I just run and he puts the ball exactly where it needs to be every time.”
He does that with Ertz and Jeffery, veterans of some achievement. He has done it with Nelson Agholor, still young and removing his pass-dropper tattoo. He does it because he can wait out all manner of developing trouble around him, escape to safety, and calmly make a play, even if it is to a rookie. That’s what he did against the ’Skins, locating Corey Clement and Mack Hollins for touchdown passes.
“You’re seeing the guys around him elevating their play and playing better around him,” Pederson said. “And the defense is creating some turnovers. That’s all part of it. Special teams. Field position is huge. So this is a collective effort. Obviously there’s some great individual effort. The quarterback, Carson, played extremely well, very efficient. And it’s just the type of guy he is.”
At some point, in some game, most likely in the playoffs when only the great teams are still grunting, the Eagles will miss Peters’ experience. But against Washington, and on one play in particular, Wentz proved that even if the pass protection disintegrates, he can concoct a play. That’s what he did with 14:55 left, the game still tight, and surrounded by burgundy helmets, squeezing through an impossible gap for a 17-yard gain.
“Yeah,” Ertz said. “That was ridiculous.”
It was. And it might sound ridiculous that Wentz is so elusive that the Eagles can afford to lose just about any other player and continue to thrive. But his play just makes even injuries to his teammates vanish.
“Well, if you’re still scoring and winning games, then if that’s masking an injury, I guess so,” Pederson allowed. “But it’s going to take everybody. It’s all hands on deck.”
Team game. The usual sports hum. All that. And maybe the loss of Hicks could cost the Eagles a game. Give him that much.
But as long as the Eagles have Carson Wentz, the standard golf-course rules apply. Just move onto the next hole and casually forget all the divots left behind.