Doug Pederson says he’ll know Friday if Carson Wentz will start the opener, but you won’t

Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday that he will know by Friday if Carson Wentz will be the Eagles' starting quarterback for the Sept. 6 opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

With the opener coming on a Thursday, the Eagles' practice week will start earlier. Saturday and Sunday — normally days the team would have off, as the dust settles from the 4 p.m. Saturday roster cutdown from 90 to 53 — will be practice days, and the Eagles will need to know which quarterback to prepare.

Pederson emphasized that he expects to know "privately," but that he doesn't have to make the decision public until 90 minutes before kickoff Sept. 6. It will be quite a feat if the coach can keep that secret for six days, since the players will all know, as will many of their agents, team staffers, etc.

Presumably, Wentz will undergo another medical evaluation Friday, the day after the Eagles' final preseason game, in which they host the Jets. Two weeks ago, when Wentz was preparing to return to 11-on-11 work in practice, he said there would be a medical conference that Friday, after the preseason game at New England, and that he expected to be cleared for full practice.

Wentz tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee last Dec. 10 at Los Angeles. Experts say there is a significantly higher risk of reinjury if ACL patients return to contact sports less than nine months after surgery. Wentz will be eight months and three weeks out from his repair on Sept. 6, which wouldn't seem to be significantly less than nine months. But, on the other hand, we are talking about the franchise's future, for the next decade or so, and the decision could be that another week or two of healing, just to be safe, is merited.