Pederson reiterates Wentz is Philly’s No. 1
Despite a rising fan sentiment for Nick Foles, Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson reiterated Tuesday that Carson Wentz will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2019.
Wentz missed the final three games of the regular season and two playoff games because of a back injury. Nick Foles led Philadelphia to four straight wins and was 27 yards away from taking the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game before his final pass bounced off Alshon Jeffery’s hands and was intercepted to seal a 20-14 victory for the Saints on Sunday.
“Yes, Carson is the quarterback going forward,” Pederson said at the start of his season-ending news conference.
Foles played after Wentz tore two knee ligaments in December 2017 and led Philadelphia to its first NFL title since 1960, earning Super Bowl MVP honors in a win over New England.
Howie Roseman, the team’s executive vice president of football operations, acknowledged it’s going to be a difficult decision.
“We would love to keep Nick Foles,” Roseman said. “You talk about a guy who we drafted here and we’ve grown incredibly close with. I don’t know a team that wouldn’t want to have Nick Foles on their roster.”
The Eagles must decide by mid-February if they want to exercise a $20 million option to keep Foles for 2019. Foles said Monday having the option to become a free agent is “extremely important” to him.
Wentz finished third in NFL MVP voting after leading the Eagles to an 11-2 record in 2017. He was 5-6 as a starter in 2018 but set career highs in passer rating and completion percentage. Briefly: Indianapolis reportedly fired fired offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, who oversaw a massive improvement in 2018 . ... Buffalo hired Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach, and is offering its special-teams coordinator’s job to Carolina assistant Heath Farwell . ... The coaching staffs of the Chargers and Cowboys have been selected to lead the Pro Bowl teams Jan. 27 . ... Referee John Parry will lead the seven-person crew of on-field game officials working the Super Bowl in Atlanta. This will be the third Super Bowl that Parry has worked. The other members of the officiating crew for the game are Fred Bryan (umpire), Edgar Camp (down judge), Jeff Bergman (line judge), Steve Zimmer (field judge), Eugene Hall (side judge) and Terrence Miles (back judge) . ... TV personality Steve Harvey will host the NFL Honors show Feb. 2, when the Associated Press hands out its individual league awards.