Domo: Wentz excited about Eagles' preseason opener

FOR SOME reason, when Carson Wentz mentioned Monday that a "number of people" from his home state of North Dakota would be at the Linc for his NFL preseason debut against Tampa Bay, that scene from "Hoosiers" - where a caravan of cars and school buses filled with Hickory Husker fans making the long drive to Indianapolis for the climactic state championship battle against the South Bend Central Bears - started running through my head.

I'm guessing Carson won't have quite that many friends and family in attendance. And the ones who do come probably will fly. But you can bet most of the folks in Bismarck and Fargo and towns in between will be huddled around their Philcos Thursday night listening intently to Merrill and Mike describe Wentz's first NFL steps.

Doug Pederson said Monday that Wentz will play most of the second half. Starter Sam Bradford and backup Chase Daniel will divvy up the first half, with Bradford expected to play only a series or two.

And if you're thinking of doing something stupid like paying for a plane to fly over the Linc with a "We Want Wentz" banner, please, don't. Give the money to charity or spend it on therapy.

"It's real exciting; it's been a long time coming,'' the rookie first-rounder said. "We've been out here (at practice) going against each other for quite some time now. We're ready to face someone else.

"I'm excited to play at the Linc and play in front of these fans and finally get my opportunity.''

Wentz will get a chance to play a lot in the preseason and whet the appetite of Eagles fans who thought the decision to swap five draft picks in April for the opportunity to take him with the second overall pick was pure genius. I didn't, but you probably already know that if this isn't your first trip to this byline.

Anyway, after the preseason, Wentz will be shipped off to boarding school for a year, or until Bradford gets hurt or the Eagles are mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. Then he will become the Eagles' starting quarterback.

Pederson's plan is for Wentz to spend his rookie season watching and learning as the team's game day-inactive No. 3 quarterback. We'll see how that goes. Particularly if/when the Eagles lose a couple of games in a row and the fans start getting surly. I know. Hard to believe.

The boarding-school plan has Wentz's seal of approval. He's a smart kid who knows what he doesn't know. And he knows he's not ready to be an NFL starter quite yet. He's just looking forward to getting his feet wet in the preseason and learning as much as he can from the experience.

"I'm just gonna go out there and show what I can do,'' Wentz said. "The rest will take care of itself. I'm not gonna try and blow anybody away. I'm just gonna go play ball.''

Wentz has been up and down during training camp, which is what you'd expect from a rookie with just 23 starts at an FCS school.

But Daniel, who was brought in by Pederson to help both Wentz and Bradford assimilate the offense, has been impressed by the rookie's progress.

"He has made a lot of strides,'' he said. "Not just on the field, but also in the classroom. He's starting to understand, really, the whole scheme of the offense, from a 40,000-foot view up.

"And he's really starting to dig into the details of it, not only the routes and the formations, but the protections as well. And that's pretty impressive.''

Said Wentz: "The biggest thing is being (able) to play faster. Knowing what's going on, knowing what's happening with protections and everything. I feel like I've come a long way, and I feel I'm very confident with that.

"Again, I'm not a finished product. We're going to keep learning, keep getting better every day. But so far, I feel comfortable with where I am.''

Wentz is looking forward to finally shedding the red "do not hit" jersey Thursday that all quarterbacks wear during practice. Chip Kelly used to say you couldn't accurately assess a quarterback until you saw him against live bullets. Wentz completely agrees.

"Live bullets will be coming,'' he said. "The reaction will be a little different. The game will be a little different.

"Us quarterbacks were talking about that the other day. We're kind of ready to just get hit. We've been out there in practice with guys running by us, tagging us. To finally get out there and play real football, it's going to be exciting.

"I feel very ready. I feel definitely prepared. I feel very comfortable with the playbook, with the protections and all that stuff. I'm just excited and ready to go and play.''

Asked what he expected Thursday night, Wentz said, "I expect a lot of excitement and I expect a lot of competition. We've got 90 guys (on the roster). It's going to be cutdown (day) eventually. We've got a lot of guys fighting for spots. So it's going to be a lot of fun out there.''

Wentz, of course, isn't one of those players fighting for a roster spot. But a good performance Thursday certainly will further endear him to Eagles fans.

He insists he's not at all nervous about Thursday night.

"I don't get real nervous in this game,'' he said. "I don't sweat too much about it. I just go out and have fun with it. If anything, I'll just have to calm down my excitement. But that first snap, I'll be ready to play.''

@Pdomo Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian.com