Keeping Carson Wentz safe is a work in progress for Eagles | Bob Ford

The return of Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz last Sunday was a success by the only measure that truly has lasting meaning.

"We won. That's what really matters," said left guard Steve Wisniewski. "We moved the ball well at times. We've got to try to make some more big plays down the field, but we also had some nice long drives."

The interplay between the quarterback and his offensive line is still a work in progress, however. Wentz, just nine months after tearing two major ligaments in his left knee, was sacked five times, hit behind the line of scrimmage seven times overall, and forced to scramble on three other occasions. There is no padding of the corners in the NFL. It is a dangerous game and Wentz is not eligible for bubble wrap. Still…

"It wasn't the cleanest game, but we'll get it fixed," right guard Brandon Brooks said. "One thing we're really good at is making adjustments. Whatever wasn't working last game, we do a good job of focusing on it from week to week. But Carson's fine, man. That's life. Nobody's perfect. Quarterbacks are going to get hit. The defense is getting paid, too."

Looking at Wentz, who is wearing a brace on his left knee, but otherwise seems as strong, agile and impervious as ever, there should be little worry. Of course, minus the brace, he looked that good last December, too.

"Every year, it takes time to start clicking," Wentz said Wednesday. "Hopefully, it will be sooner than later, but that's the story of the NFL every year."

Nothing matters as much to the Eagles as keeping Wentz on the field and protecting him when he is there. That doesn't mean that every hit or every sack is on the offensive line. Wentz has to readjust to the pace of a live game, when to get the ball out, and all the things that can't be replicated in even the most arduous of practice sessions.

"It's tough for him to come back to full game speed, and we have some guys still missing," right tackle Lane Johnson said. "He did his part. He made some amazing throws and felt comfortable running around. He took some hits and was fine from the hits. I think he came out of that game even more confident than he was last week."

"I don't know anything about being a quarterback, but I'm sure it takes a while to get used to a lot of stuff," Wisniewski said. "There's the speed of the receivers, the speed of the defense, the speed of the D-line, getting hit, all that stuff. We were pretty good overall, but we have to do better."

In the first two games of the season with Nick Foles at quarterback, the defense surrendered a total of just five sacks. Foles did take some hits, but he was more apt than Wentz to hit a quick checkdown pass than go through a long string of progressions. The younger quarterback isn't made that way, and he does take punishment. It's up to the offensive line to limit it, and this week against the Titans would be a fine time to start.

Tennessee has recorded seven of its eight sacks in the last two games, both wins, and registered a total of 14 quarterback hits in those games. Tackle Jurrell Casey, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, has three sacks already.

The Eagles line is also coming off a game in which it was on the field for 82 offensive snaps, and the line has totaled 233 snaps this season, second-most in the NFL. It will be hot and humid in Nashville on Sunday, and that is just part of the job.

"We've played a whole lot of snaps," said Brooks, who along with Wisniewski and Johnson has been on the field for all 233 of them. "One thing we've done a very good job of since Doug [Pederson] has been here is possessing the ball. So, you get a lot of plays and Doug is aggressive, so we stay on the field. A lot of teams punt with fourth-and-2. But conditioning's not an issue. I don't think anybody's really ready for 80 plays in 100-degree heat (they played 79 snaps in Tampa in Week 2), but we practice so hard, it's just not an issue."

The issues, such as they are, are the same ones every team faces. They have to protect the quarterback as well as possible in a very risky game. Factor in Wentz's natural tendency to extend plays and that becomes even harder. For the first time out, however, everyone agrees that it went pretty well.

"There's things all the time that you have to clean up," Wentz said.

At the end of the game, as long as the quarterback doesn't have to be cleaned up as well, that's a successful day.