Bowen: Eagles confident in Wentz's readiness

WHETHER OR NOT the Eagles are right about Carson Wentz being "ready," in the wake of their decision to trade Sam Bradford to Minnesota, it's a fact that this time last week, the starters were already preparing for Sunday's opener against the Browns, and Wentz was not.

Wentz is not where he would be if the plan all along had been to get him ready to start Week 1.

This detail was hammered home Wednesday, when Eagles coach Doug Pederson told reporters he'd been pleased to see Wentz studying film, when Pederson arrived at NovaCare at 5:45 a.m. Wentz later said his arrival time had been 5:15. Pederson said Wentz and backup Chase Daniel also broke down film from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the players' day off.

"So that's just the type of person, and that's the type of quarterback that we have," Pederson said. "The way he led the huddle on Monday at practice, just what he's done in the last couple days, just getting himself ready to go, just shows you the type of leader and the type of person that he is."

In the locker room, as Wentz prepared for the starting quarterback's weekly Wednesday afternoon media session, he pulled on a gray long-sleeve Eagles T-shirt, with a green and white logo, over black shorts with red trim. A reporter joked that Wentz wasn't devoting a lot of attention to his starting-QB wardrobe.

"I don't have time to," he said. "I don't have time for much of anything."

At the news conference, though, Wentz said he always does a lot of extra work; it isn't as if this is a new concept.

"Extra preparation is pretty normal," he said. "I've been preparing even when I haven't been playing . . . all the way through . . . To me, this is just the beginning of the new normal."

"There's going to be a little unknown, but the fact is he took all of the reps Monday. He'll take all the reps the rest of the week," Pederson said. "And then we just have to be smart with how we study the tape: Is he seeing the right things? Is what we are putting together as a game plan, is he matching that up to what the film says? And what we are seeing, also, as coaches . . . We just detail all the fine points."

"Every rep is huge. Every rep is important" during his first-ever week practicing with the starters, Wentz said. "If something doesn't go right, grabbing the guys after practice, getting 'em after practice, or during special-teams drills or whatever and really just repping it (again), because the confidence that we both need to have in each other is huge . . . I'm very confident that we'll make the plays on Sunday."

Pederson indicated that the game plan won't be much different from what it would be if Bradford were still the QB, except maybe allowing for Wentz's running ability, here and there. Wentz said: "The playbook is wide open. We have everything at our disposal, and I feel very confident with everything."

Center Jason Kelce said Wentz "has been very excited the last couple of days, as he should be. It's been a pleasure working with him . . . Obviously, we've been putting more time and more effort into the communication this week, after switching (quarterbacks). He already knows the calls, he already knows everything about this offense . . . now it's just making sure that we're on the same page, not just with the calls, but how we're going to do things this week against this defense, how he feels comfortable."

Wentz and Kelce are watching film together "looking for the different blitzes, different looks they're going to give us in the game, how we're going to handle them . . . How he wants them blocked," Kelce said. "A lot of those things come down to what makes him feel comfortable."

Wentz has worked all through training camp and the preseason with the backs and receivers, in individual drills, at least. "It's nothing major that we have to get used to," starting running back Ryan Mathews said. "We don't have to (get down) timing, or anything like that."

Right guard Brandon Brooks said in practice Wednesday, Wentz "knew what he was doing, called the right checks, was looking good . . . He comes in with confidence, comes in with juice, commands the huddle."

"He's got some swagger about him," defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. "Especially in and out of the huddle."

Wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who worked to build a close relationship with Bradford, said seeing through the spring and summer that Wentz was "mentally and physically prepared" gave some context to the trade.

"Yeah, you're shocked, but you kinda understand. We get a first-round pick - it makes sense," Matthews said, though, "I'm the main person who wanted Sam here," following the 2015 season, when the team could have let Bradford walk into free agency.

"It's different, but it's something I've been used to," Matthews said. "When I was in high school, I played with five different quarterbacks. At Vanderbilt I played with six different, and I think this is my fourth different, in three years in the NFL."

Matthews said Wentz "is a leader, but he isn't one of those guys who's annoying - you know, those guys who talk a little bit too much. He talks when he needs to. When he opens his mouth, guys listen."

Matthews reminded reporters that when Wentz was drafted, there were dire forecasts of quarterback-room friction. Bradford certainly helped diffuse the tension, but Matthews said Wentz's maturity helped there, as well.

"If Carson had come in and not been the kind of person he is, then all the drama that everybody expected to happen could have potentially happened," Matthews said. "That was nowhere to be found. That's a testament to the type of guy he is and the type of leader he is. Now, once the torch got passed to him, he accepted it, and it was, like, business as usual."

@LesBowen

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