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Let’s get this out of the way right from the jump: Eagles beat reporters are only allowed to view a limited portion of practice. It’s a tiny snapshot. They don’t really get to see every single mistake or hard rep the players work on. So when a damaging report surfaced earlier this week citing “sloppy practice habits” by Carson Wentz, a lot of people inside the organization were miffed.
Doug Pederson denied any validity to claims that Wentz was careless or reckless while debunking the insinuation that the Eagles may indeed “blow the whole thing up.” Then, Wentz himself doused the reported dumpster fire with his own 10-gallon water bucket.
“Are my practices perfect? No, that’s why it’s practice,” Wentz told reporters on Wednesday. “As far as sloppy practice habits and those things … for one, you guys are out there every day and then you are asked to leave so media isn’t even out there so I don’t know where that is coming from, but it is what it is.”
Paging Allen Iverson: We talking about practice. Not a game. We talking about practice.
“I know I’m not perfect and that’s why it’s practice,” Wentz said, “and I got to be better but I’m always out there working and I know everybody else is. So I haven’t seen any of that from myself or really from anybody. We’re out there busting our tails every day and do mistakes happen? Absolutely. But is that something that I’ve seen or that I’m worried about from anybody else? No.”
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Eagles QB Refuses to Listen Outside Noise
Wentz has a pretty strong social media presence and often uses his Twitter handle to promote his AO1 Foundation or post cute baby photos. Sometimes he’ll throw in a hunting trip or comment on a recent game.
It’s all positive and he never delves into the negative. It’s something he has made a conscious effort to do so as to avoid all the “outside noise.”
“I don’t really listen to a lot of the noise because all that matters is inside this building,” Wentz said. “I’ve made it a habit and a point of emphasis of staying off social media for the past couple of years, whether it’s good or it’s bad. All that matters to me is the locker room and this organization and how we’re going to get better.”
But Philly reporters often clue Wentz into what has been said in the media, including last week’s inflammatory comments from Brett Favre. NFL Network’s Michael Silver was the latest to take aim at Wentz and offered that the Eagles may have “too many voices” in his ear. Maybe all those contrasting personalities are stunting the quarterback’s growth.
“As far as coaches, yeah, we’ve seen a couple of different personalities, a couple of different coaching styles, everything,” Wentz said. “I have a great relationship with all these coaches and I think they all work their tails off just like us players. And, honestly, right now we’re just not hitting on all cylinders but I’m really confident we’ll get it turned around.”
Wentz Trying to Up Completion Percentage
One of the biggest things Wentz wants to get turned around is his completion percentage. The quarterback has completed just 58.2% of his passes through nine games this year, the lowest mark of his five-year career.
It’s a key statistic that Wentz has often mentioned wanting to improve dating all the way back to 2017 when his completion percentage sat at 60.2%, arguably the lone blemish on an otherwise MVP season. It’s something the 27-year-old continues to work on.
“Are there missed passes and things I’d love to have back? Every week, without a doubt. Should that number be higher? Absolutely,” Wentz said. “I’d love to see that higher. Do all of us around here, myself included, strive for that to be much higher? Absolutely. And I’m looking forward to kind of getting that thing going in the right direction and I think that will lead to a lot more success offensively.”
Another idea for getting that number up has to do more with his legs than his arm. He seems to thrive when the coaches put him outside the pocket, going off-script to make plays on the run. They should probably do it more.
“I love it,” Wentz said. “I love when I’m out of the pocket and just kind of make plays and change the launch point, but coaches do a good job of sprinkling that in when it applies.”
Wentz added that his decision-making in the heat of the moment can be better. And, yes, the face of the franchise is aware he sounds like a broken record.
“I feel confident in my decisions and everything and just trusting my eyes and my reads and progressions,” Wentz said. “Is it perfect? No. I’m going to say the same thing over and over again. Are there mistakes for me every week? Absolutely. And can it be better? For sure.”
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