Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Wentz has been on a worrying hitting streak
PHILADELPHIA >> The fumbles, the opportunities, the drops, the missed tackles and the slips will all balance out. At least that’s what the Eagles believe after their 1-2 start.
Then there is the stat that alarms, the one that they know they cannot tolerate for much longer.
Carson Wentz, he of a certain history of physical trauma, has been sacked three times in each of the past two games.
Though Wentz has needed just one quick trip to the examination tent for a concussionprotocol obligation, he knows the risks of continued collisions. He also is armed with some solutions.
“First of all, I can get rid of the ball faster,” the quarterback said Tuesday, after a walkthrough practice at the NovaCare Complex. “We can get rid of the ball faster. Sometimes, it’s cover sacks, the defense doing some good things. It’s the process of taking what the defense gives me and getting rid of the ball faster.”
Though the Eagles have had consistent offensive line upheaval through much of their first three games, Wentz understands that it’s good business not to blame his protection for his seven total sacks.
“I’m confident in the guys up front,” he said. “They have been doing their job effectively, and they’ll keep doing it. And I think we’ll get going the right way.”
That could be a function of opposing defenses. Concentrating heavily on stopping backs Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard, Wentz has been presented with opportunities to run. By design or not against Detroit, he rushed four times for 33 yards, including a 19-yard sprint to the one on third down. One play later, Howard capitalized with a short TD burst.
“Every week, we talk about using your legs when you need to,” Wentz said. “But it’s not, and it is never going to be, something that I’m going to go looking for. Just like you saw, when it happens, it happens, It’s not something I am going to go looking for.
“But when it opens up, I’m going to try and convert some first downs and do some different things.”
The Eagles are paying Wentz $128 million to be himself, and his ability to escape out of the pocket is high among his valued traits. Yet because of his injury history, there is eternal concern.
As for Sunday, as if he hadn’t been under enough threat of impact, Wentz was even forced to make two tackles. Only eight Eagles provided more.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “The last time I had two tackles was probably in high school, playing safety. So hopefully that’s the last time I’ve got to make two tackles.”
Despite his obvious skill, Wentz is happy not to take part in team tackling drills.
“We don’t really work on that,” he said.
• • • On their first play after recovering a second-quarter fumble Sunday, the Lions ran a successful reverse play, good for 44 yards.
Alerted that film study showed that it “looked like” there were only 10 Eagles on the field at the time, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz could do little more than plead guilty.
“It didn’t just ‘look’ like it,” he said. What happened? “That was an unfortunate situation and our substitution pattern broke down,” Schwartz said. “We were rolling guys through quite a bit trying to keep guys fresh. And Derek (Barnett) had gone down with an ankle injury. And we were sort of in the middle of getting that settled and all of a sudden we were on the field after the turnover and we had a miscommunication of who was going out there. “We know we paid a heavy price for it.”
• •• Linebacker Kamu GrugierHill was a full participant in the walk-through Tuesday and plans to play for the first time this season Thursday after recovering from a knee injury. He was uncertain whether he would start against the Packers.
“I just want to get my body right, get some plays in and just get acclimated,” he said. “I missed all of training camp and minicamp. So I have to get going.”
Grugier-Hill, a 2017 Pro Bowl alternate for his special-teams skills, started 10 games last season and was expected to be a heavy contributor this season. But he sprained his knee ligament in August.
“It was good to be in practice,” he said, “and just try to pick up where I left off.”
• •• Alshon Jeffery was a full participant Tuesday. Doug Pederson has been confident that his wide receiver would play in Green Bay after missing the Detroit game with a calf injury and playing only six snaps in Atlanta.
“I’m hoping to have him back,” Wentz said. “Obviously, Alshon out there is a difference-maker. He’s a matchup problem for a lot of guys. Even when he’s covered, we always believe he is able to some things that are special. To have him back is a huge boost for our offense.”
With Jeffery back, the Eagles waived wide receiver Greg Ward and promoted cornerback Craig James from the practice squad.
Also practicing fully Tuesday were banged-up J.J. ArcegaWhiteside (heel), Andre Dillard (knee), Nathan Gerry (calf, knee), Dallas Goedert (calf), Grugier-Hill (knee) and Nate Sudfeld (left wrist).
Ronald Darby (hamstring), DeSean Jackson (abdomen) and Timmy Jernigan (foot) did not participate.
Barnett (ankle) and Corey Clement (shoulder) were limited in the workout.