Wentz has a fan, sort of, in Redskins’ Gruden
There were a couple of times pure instinct took over Carson Wentz in his last start at quarterback for the Eagles.
On each of those occasions Wentz was stood up and hammered inside the five-yard line by the Carolina Panthers. The first crash was a head-on with 235-pound linebacker Thomas Davis, the next one with 18-wheeler Star Lotulelei, the 315-pound tackle.
Thankfully for the Eagles, there was no reportable damage.
But the coaching staff ran the snaps back for Wentz, who ultimately found tight end Zach Ertz for a one-yard touchdown pass in a 28-23 victory. Those weren’t optimum times to lower the shoulder.
“We had some healthy discussions about it,” Wentz said Thursday. “It’s something that again, as a competitor, I was just trying to get in there. But we definitely had some discussions about knowing when is the right time to pick and choose those battles.”
Wentz has been pretty good about avoiding unnecessary hits this season. Quarterbacks, however, always take some shots in the pocket. And that’s when he likes to be a warrior.
“If you stand in there a little bit longer and let the play develop, there’s opportunities there,” Wentz said. “And sometimes you’ve got to take the hit. But you just keep plugging away.”
Wentz, who threw three TD passes at the Panthers, was named FedEx Air player of the week.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden, who always speaks his mind, is totally impressed by Wentz’s grasp of the position in just his second season.
“He’s progressed at a rate as fast as anybody I’ve seen, really,” Gruden said. His ability to make plays in the pocket, his ability to stand in the pocket in the face of a rush and still deliver balls accurately, his command of the offense. I think he’s already proven in this short of his career that he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league, quite frankly. And he’s going to be for a long time. And I don’t know how he got to Philadelphia, and I’m very upset about that.”
••• Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby returned to practice Thursday, albeit on a limited basis. He looked pretty good, according to teammates.
Darby wasn’t around for the open locker room as he took therapy on the ankle he dislocated in the opener against the Redskins.
“We had a couple deep ball drills and he jumped up and high-pointed the ball,” cornerback Jalen Mills said. “A lot of DBs got excited. He was looking pretty good.”
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson wouldn’t rule Darby out of the Monday night game with the Redskins.
“Stars have to align in order for him to be ready to go,” Pederson said. “But this week will be good just to get back and begin that process of practicing and getting that conditioning back.”
••• The Eagles lost special teams standout Chris Maragos to a knee injury. He’s been placed on injured reserve. Rookie Nate Gerry, the fifth-round pick out of Nebraska, took the open roster space.
Maragos was a respected leader on the team who spoke frequently with all of the team leadership, including Wentz.
“Not only a great football player but he’s a great person, a great man, a great leader on the team, in the locker room, on and off the football field,” Pederson said of Maragos. “It’s hard, but again it’s something we’ve already been faced with this season. The next man steps up and fills that role. It’s going to be a little bit by committee. Corey Graham is going to have a role in there. Jaylen Watkins is going to have a role. Corey Clements is going to have a role. So it’s going to have to be probably by committee until we can solidify one guy.” ••• In addition to Darby, Eagles defensive tackle Beau Allen (foot), linebacker Jordan Hicks (calf) and defensive Tim Jernigan (ankle) were limited at practice Thursday . ... Offensive tackles Trent Williams (knee) and Ty Nsekhe (core muscle) were held out of practice Thursday by the Redskins. Limited in practice were linebacker Ryan Anderson (back), cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland (knee) and Josh Norman (rib), guard Tyler Catalina (concussion), running back Rob Kelley (ankle) and safety Stefan McClure (knee).