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Eagles brass vows to give Carson Wentz time to learn and grow

DOUG PEDERSON knows better than anyone how little patience Eagles fans have. On the first play of his first start as Donovan McNabb's placeholder back in 1999, he underthrew Duce Staley on a swing pass out of the backfield.

DOUG PEDERSON knows better than anyone how little patience Eagles fans have.

On the first play of his first start as Donovan McNabb's placeholder back in 1999, he underthrew Duce Staley on a swing pass out of the backfield.

And got booed.

It wouldn't be the last time. Pederson was jeered mercilessly in the nine games he started that season, as was the man who decided to keep running him out there for two-plus months while McNabb (mostly) watched and learned, Andy Reid.

Eagles fans wanted to see the rookie from Syracuse, ready or not. They didn't want Pederson, a journeyman who had thrown 32 passes in four seasons with Miami and Green Bay.

But Reid held his ground. Except when he was dodging the cups of beer they hurled at him. McNabb didn't get his first start until the 10th game of his rookie season.

Seventeen years later, it's déjà vu all over again, with a new head coach - Pederson - and a new hotshot quarterback - Carson Wentz - whom the Eagles want to bring along slowly and whom their fans almost certainly will be clamoring for, much as they did for McNabb in '99.

"There's really no need (to rush him)," Pederson said Thursday after the Eagles selected Wentz with the second pick in the draft.

"You have Sam Bradford. You have Chase Daniel. You have two veteran guys who can help teach (Wentz). That's one of the reasons I brought Chase here. He understands and knows the offense that I'm implementing.

"He's really going to be the go-between in helping both Sam and Carson in their roles. It's going to be a great dynamic, and it's going to be fun to watch."

Bradford isn't very popular in Philadelphia right now after asking to be traded after the Eagles traded away a batch of draft picks to move up to the second spot to grab Wentz. And Daniel is a guy with only two career starts and 77 pass attempts on his résumé.

If the Eagles don't trade Bradford - and executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman reiterated Thursday night he isn't interesting in doing that - Bradford could be in for a rough go from fans this season.

The "We want Wentz" chants could start as early as Week 1 if Bradford struggles against Cleveland.

But Pederson won't rush Wentz.

"I'll tell you this," Pederson said. "This is a better football team than we had in 1999. There's much better talent on this football team. So I'm not going to speculate on if and whens down the road."

"It's a great opportunity for him to just sit back and learn," Roseman said.

Pederson's right. With Bradford at quarterback, this team is much better than Reid's '99 team, which won only two of Pederson's nine starts and finished 5-11.

Which is why they don't want to trade him right now. They think they can make a playoff run with him this season and let Wentz spend the year watching and learning. If they think Wentz is ready next year, then they will shop Bradford.

"(Wentz) needs to learn the system, for one," Pederson said. "Secondly, he needs to learn our guys, our talent. But the biggest thing is (he needs to) just be patient.

"It's a long process. We're at the end of April right now. We have a chance to work with him a little more in the next few weeks and try to get him caught up. But learning our system, learning our guys, learning our organization will be the biggest thing for him."

McNabb probably was a little more NFL-ready in '99 than Wentz is right now. He played at Division I Syracuse. He started 45 games.

Wentz played at North Dakota State, an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school. Started only 23 games. But the Eagles don't think that will stunt his growth at all. Right now, he might be a little bit behind Jared Goff, who was taken No. 1 by the Rams. But they expect him to transition easily.

"I'm not concerned a lot about that," Pederson said. "He's smart. He studies. He's eager. He's determined. He studies his craft. He hones his craft. He's an exciting guy. He's a perfect fit for what we do. His demeanor fits everything about the Philadelphia Eagles."

"He's got all of the intangibles," Roseman said. "A 40 (Wonderlic) test score. Valedictorian of his high school class. Never got a B.

"Then he has those rare physical skills. The athletic ability. The strong arm. The body type. He can be molded into whatever you want.

"When you have the coaches that we have, the support system that we have, it's exciting. One player can change your team. We know how important that position is. Investing in that position was a no-brainer."

When Reid evaluated quarterbacks before the '99 draft, he said he needed one who was "wired right" for Philadelphia.

The two he liked the most were McNabb and Daunte Culpepper. But he thought Philly would eat up Culpepper, who had grown up in a small Florida town (Ocala) and went to a small school (Central Florida).

"We felt (McNabb) was wired right to play here," Reid said after the Eagles drafted him. "He laughs things off. He tries not to take everything too seriously except the football part. He understands that's how it kind of works. He has a pretty good head for that."

You can easily disagree with some of that. McNabb didn't laugh everything off, including the infamous draft-day booing from Eagles fans in New York when he was selected. Years later, he still brought it up. But he didn't let the boos and the slights affect his play. He used it as fuel.

Wentz is a small-town kid from a small school. But Roseman feels that, like McNabb, he's "wired right" for this city.

"He's extremely mature," Roseman said. "He has incredible grit and fortitude. He fits into this city. He's a blue-collar quarterback. He'll be embraced, because of his passion and his work ethic and his knowledge of the game."

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog