Eagles' coaches talk Nick Foles, Sidney Jones

Offensive coordinator Frank Reich continued the mission Doug Pederson embarked upon the day before, speaking in reassuring tones Tuesday about the Eagles' offense under Nick Foles, on the day starting quarterback Carson Wentz was placed on injured reserve.

"There will be very minor, minor tweaks to the game plan. I mean, this is our system. … We built the system; certainly, it starts at quarterback, but it's really built around all the talent that we have on offense. And good for us that all our quarterbacks are talented. Now Carson has some unique physical traits that he does exceptionally well, but it's nothing that Nick can't handle. So we're full steam ahead," Reich said.

Reich said Foles, a six-year veteran, is "very, very comfortable in his own skin, and is very confident in his own abilities and is an excellent quarterback. And he exudes that confidence, where the guys on this team see that, they feel that. You just know this guy's been successful. Just look at what he's done."

Reich said Foles is a good fit for Pederson's system "because he's really smart, he's accurate, and he's got a strong arm."

Reich said Pederson and the staff have done a good job of "taking Doug's system that he brought in, and making a hybrid that has turned into something that's ours and special and unique. We've pulled from different aspects of our offensive staff. Part of what we've pulled from is when Nick was here before [from 2012-14]. There's a certain percentage of our offense that is connected to some of that stuff when he was there. And I think everybody was probably surprised at how well Nick did in that kind of an offense with all the RPOs [run-pass options] and stuff like that back then and the kind of year he had [in 2013]. So that's just all being fast on your feet, accurate with the football, and Nick is all those things."

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said he expects rookie corner Sidney Jones to be very comfortable in his assignments as he practices with the team this week – Jones has attended meetings and practices since the Eagles drafted him in the second round, where he fell after suffering a torn Achilles in March. But Schwartz indicated Jones might be in for a tough three weeks, acclimating himself to actually practicing football for the first time since his 2016 college season ended.

"I've been really proud of what he's done there. I would be very surprised if he can't go in and execute what we're asking him to do. It's just going to be physical," Schwartz said. "I mean, there's certainly a lot of rust … all due respect to our trainers, they are not a challenge to cover, and he's only been working with those guys. So we've got to take each step along the way. It's almost like the first week of OTAs for him. It's not even really a first week of training camp. It's more like first week of OTAs for him.

"So, technique-wise, conditioning-wise, all those things are going to come into it. And he's got a little bit of time. He's been up to every challenge we've given him so far, so we look forward to seeing him on the field."

The Eagles officially placed Carson Wentz on injured reserve Tuesday and used his roster spot to try to shore up a proud special teams unit that has been less consistent since special teams captain Chris Maragos went down for the season with a knee injury at Carolina on Oct. 12.

The team brought back Bryan Braman, nominally a linebacker but basically a strong tackler and blocker on special teams. Braman came to the Eagles as a free agent from the Texans in 2014 and played here through last season but was not signed to another contract then.

Braman signed with the Saints toward the end of the preseason but was placed on IR Sept. 2 and released with an injury settlement a week later.

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