Eagles Coach Doug Pederson has praised the performance of his rookie quarterback Carson Wentz in his NFL debut last week, when Wentz threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns against the Browns.
Next up is Wentz’s first road game — and first national TV game — Monday night in Chicago. And though Pederson was upbeat about Wentz’s performance and the Eagles winning Pederson’s first game as head coach, he said he’s already talked to Wentz about the week-to-week nature of the NFL and the importance of moving “on to the next opponent” and putting the previous week behind.
“You just have to take each game in stride,” Pederson said. “It’s a Monday night game coming up, national spotlight. It’s a road game, noise, the whole thing.
“[My message is] ‘enjoy this one, but we’ve got to come to work ready to play again.'”
Though Pederson knows greater challenges are ahead, he didn’t hide his excitement for the way Wentz handled some key situations in his debut. Wentz played 38 snaps in one preseason game before being sidelined by a rib injury, then learned just six days before the opener that he would be the starter.
“For him to have that kind of poise in the pocket for the first start and really having only four series throughout the entire training camp, you just can’t teach that,” Pederson said. “The patience he had to let receivers come open…those are the things you see from more veteran-type quarterbacks, where young guys tend to want to scramble in those situations. The poise was tremendous. That’s just who he is and I look forward to another opportunity to work with him this week.”