Pederson pumps the brakes on Wentz’s comeback talk
PHILADELPHIA » Eagles head coach Doug Pederson threw cold water on Carson Wentz’s comeback from torn knee ligaments.
Pederson said Friday that Wentz hasn’t been cleared “to do anything” but rehab.
Moreover, impressed as Pederson is with Wentz’s rehab, the Eagles head coach isn’t feeding into the frenzy fueled partly by Wentz’s vow to be in the starting lineup for the Sept. 6 opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I love the enthusiasm,” Pederson said. “I want that from all our players, obviously. … It kind of goes back to (cornerback) Sidney Jones. I’m not going to rush him out there. I don’t want to expose him. I mean, he’ll be ready when he’s ready and when we feel he’s ready.”
That’s a friendly way of saying that the Eagles have the final say on when Wentz gets back on the field. Wentz tore the ACL and the LCL in his left (non-plant) knee. The opener is on the optimistic side of the initial 9-to-12-month recovery time. We all know it takes players one year and change to come all the way back from an ACL tear. Fixating on what Wentz says won’t speed up the process.
Additionally, the Eagles just happen to have Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles on the depth chart. There’s a reason the club re-structured Foles’ contracts to include starts and games played. There’s no need to rush Wentz into action beyond, say, an injury to Foles.
Wentz isn’t the only rehabbing player whose starting status for the opener is iffy. Offensive tackle Jason Peters isn’t all the way back from tears of the ACL and MCL in his left knee. Halapoulivaati Vaitai is the guy at left tackle for now.
Veteran running back Darren Sproles is still rehabbing from a torn ACL and a fractured wrist.
“You look at the quarterback position,” Pederson said. “But I’ve got to look at the left tackle position and I’ve got to look at the running back position. They are all sort of different but in reality, they are all kind of the same. And I’ve got to make sure that everybody’s ready at those positions before we put them out there.”
Try not to get quite so amped the next time you peruse footage of Wentz having a game of catch with teammates. Pederson isn’t a fan of that.
“He’s making progress each day, and we just continue that process,” Pederson said. “He continues to throw and get stronger. It’s a fine line, too, with just this time of year of maybe trying to do too much, too soon. But our guys are on top of it and he’s on top of it.”
*** For a guy at his very first football practice, Australian rugby import Jordan Mailata had a pretty good day.
More than anything, the 6-8, 346-pounder with the size 18 shoes proved that he could bend his knees. And that he could work with a helmet.
“It’s so heavy,” said Mailata, the seventh-round draft pick. “I don’t even want to start thinking about what it will be like with the rest of the equipment until I have to.”
Mailata, who never played with head gear, sure seems like a quick study. It would appear that he faces an uphill fight to land a spot on the practice squad. But line coach Jeff Stoutland, in one practice, had Mailata going in the right direction.
“It’s like drowning,” Mailata said of the learning process. “He just throws you into the deep end. He threw me out into the deep end today. Thank God I had the guys up front help me. Pretty much my life jacket.
“As far as learning, I think that’s the best way to learn — the hard way. You kind of learn as you go. Coming from no experience, it’s something I’ve had to adapt to quite fast.”
*** Sitting down? The Eagles’ preseason dates and times are out. Here’s the slate: Aug. 9, Steelers, 7 p.m. Aug. 16, at Patriots, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23, at Browns, 8 p.m. Aug. 30, Jets, 7 p.m.
*** The list of undrafted free agents signed by the Eagles includes running back Josh Adams (Notre Dame), who sat out practice with a foot injury.
The other signees include linebacker Asantay Brown (Western Michigan); defensive linemen Danny Ezechukwu (Purdue), Joe Ostman (Central Michigan) and Bruce Hector (South Florida); an offensive linemen Toby Weathersby (LSU), Ian Park (Slippery Rock) and Aaron Evans (Central Florida); wide receiver Anthony Mahoungou (Purdue); safeties Ryan Neal (Southern Illinois), Jeremy Reaves (South Alabama), Stephen Roberts (Auburn) and Dominick Sanders (Georgia); and cornerbacks Chandon Sullivan (Georgia State) and Jordan Thomas (Oklahoma).
That group, the five draft picks and 23 rookie tryouts will work through Sunday.