Bowen: Wentz sets aside surprise, starts working to fulfill trust

THEY GOT the news in different ways. Zach Ertz got an 8 a.m. call from Sam Bradford. Rodney McLeod was watching the college football pregame show when the crawl across the bottom of the screen informed him that his team's starting quarterback had been traded. Bryan Braman saw it on Twitter.

Carson Wentz himself, memorably, told reporters Monday he'd been lying "in a cornfield . . . somewhere in Jersey," early Saturday morning, hunting geese, when Eagles coach Doug Pederson called to tell him Bradford had been traded to the Minnesota Vikings.

Pederson didn't exactly spell out to Wentz right then that he was the starter, there was a second conversation, as the Wentz party gathered its hunting gear, along with the lone unfortunate goose they'd managed to bring down, and began to deal with the reality of the future arriving a little earlier than expected.

"There was a little gap," between the conversations, Wentz said. "It was kind of implied right away, and then we spoke to kind of clarify it again."

Really, neither Wentz nor any of his teammates needed a lot of clarification. This was the other cleat that was poised to drop from the moment the Eagles traded up to second overall in the NFL draft, back on April 20. Management and coaches did a good job of pushing it into the background, telling us it wouldn't drop until the season was over, but everyone wondered.

It could have happened through a Bradford injury, or because the team wasn't winning and the season was on the skids. It happened this way, instead, because Teddy Bridgewater went down in practice less than two weeks before the start of the season, and the Vikings didn't have a playoff-worthy quarterback.

"You figure the second overall pick in the draft is going to play, sooner or later," said Braman, a special-teams ace/defensive end.

In theory, veteran backup QB Chase Daniel might have expected to start at least the first several games to ease Wentz's transition, but really, he didn't. Would have liked to, was disappointed not to get the chance, but he knew.

"That was the plan all along," Daniel said. "Right when I was told Sam has been traded, I was told Carson was the starter . . . Carson is ready for this."

There were no stray corn shucks clinging to Wentz as he strode to the NovaCare lectern Monday, a man in a hurry to embrace destiny. His answers were thoughtful but the words tumbled over one another in an impatient torrent. Eagles media relations staff cut off the questions after just six minutes and change. The QB had a game to prepare for.

"The whole time, all along, it was just getting ready for whenever this time would come," Wentz said. "I knew I was ready. I knew as I was taking the mental reps, being out the last couple of weeks. Even going into the first preseason game I felt like I was very confident, felt like I'd developed at a fast pace. Now it's here. Now it's here, and I'm really confident in this team. I'm excited for it."

Pederson, at the same lectern a little earlier, had told reporters he knew from rookie minicamp that "this guy's going to be special."

Though so much has been made of Wentz's background, just 23 college starts at Football Championship Subdivision North Dakota State, and though he was able to play in just one preseason game, completing 12 of 24 passes for 89 yards and an interception, Wentz said he, too, knew pretty early he could play this year if called upon.

"Not one specific moment . . . I just knew ever since OTAs . . . diving into the playbook, and then going forward. Really that preseason game, I guess I walked away feeling really extra-confident with it," Wentz said. "It wasn't pretty by any means, but I didn't feel overwhelmed or anything, I just felt very confident with it."

Then he repeated what he'd said before: "Now it's here."

It sure is. Five days from Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns - who traded that second overall pick, not envisioning Wentz as a future star - visit Lincoln Financial Field, and Wentz becomes the first rookie quarterback to start an opening game for the Eagles since Davey O'Brien in 1939. O'Brien left pro football after two years to become an FBI agent.

Pederson and de facto general manager Howie Roseman are projecting a different career arc for Wentz.

"He's such a special guy that this doesn't bother him," Pederson said, when asked about changing the season's script so abruptly on the rookie. "The stage is not that big. He can handle this. That's why making this decision is very (comfortable) for me and really easy to make.

"Just knowing him and knowing how he prepares, and knowing what he's done in the past (brings confidence). This guy is a proven winner. He's proved it all the way up through college, and I fully expect him to do the same thing at this level."

Wentz said he wasn't worried about his credibility with teammates, about having to adopt a different manner or tone as the starter.

"Going back to even when I first got here, I feel like I've earned respect in just how I go about my business, how I carry myself," Wentz said. "There's nothing different that I've got to do now. It's still football, still be the same guy and just play ball, and I think those guys believe in me, and I'm excited for it."

Wentz said the hairline rib fracture he suffered in that lone preseason appearance, Aug. 11 against Tampa Bay, is "healed and ready to go."

Pederson doesn't seem likely to entertain second thoughts, should this Sunday, or the following Monday at Chicago, turn out to be a mistake-filled struggle. Wentz has thrown to all the wideouts, but he hasn't worked with the first-team offense.

"We understand there's going to be some bumps, but at the same time we're going to learn from those, and I don't want him looking over his shoulder," Pederson said.

"That's the way life is. That's the way the game of football is," Wentz said. "Young quarterbacks usually experience some bumps in the road. I'm just going to take 'em in stride. I'm going to learn from my mistakes, and I'm just going to keep getting better, and keep putting this team in situations to win some ballgames."

Just about every veteran teammate available during the time reporters were allowed in the locker room was asked about that "winning ballgames" part. No one would admit to having altered any expectations for the season.

Tight end Brent Celek is 31, and will start his 10th Eagles campaign Sunday. How does he feel about rebuilding with a rookie QB?

"This kid, he's a great football player. He can make all the throws. He's a smart kid; he can make all the right decisions," Celek said. "Obviously, he's a rookie. It's not like he's going to play perfect, it's not like any of us are going to play perfect. But we all gotta try and play a little bit better around him and help him."

There's no denying, though, that going with a rookie quarterback adds an element of the unknown. It makes the season more interesting, in the sense that fans can glimpse the future, but ultimately, nobody knows how ready Wentz really is. The suspicion is, the Eagles would have taken that first-round pick plus a future fourth for Bradford, whether they really thought Wentz was completely ready or not.

Celek was asked how he thinks Wentz will do if things don't go well. "He's a good kid. I think he gets it," Celek said. "But yeah, we'll see."

@LesBowen

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