Speculation 'Blows Up' Around the Struggling Eagles

Quarterback Carson Wentz's practice habits are now being called into question

PHILADELPHIA - Another day, another explanation for Carson Wentz's difficult 2020 season.

The latest spin on the less-than-stellar play by the Eagles' QB1 during an ugly 3-5-1 start is "sloppy practice habits," that according to NFL Network reporter Mike Silver.

Doug Pederson may have too many voices in his head and is amenable to all of these offensive assistants and their suggestions and the game plan lacks cohesion because of this, according to @MikeSilver on @nflnetwork ⬇️
pic.twitter.com/IIc0bJVrhD

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 16, 2020

Per Silver, Wentz has been “allowed to perpetuate” some bad habits in practice with examples cited like “not checking the ball down, or knowing when to give up on a play, forcing the ball to predetermined receivers, and maybe overestimating his once elite athleticism.”

Some of that is certainly true.

For instance, Wentz tried to force the ball into rookie receiver Jalen Reagor on a key fourth-and-10 play late in the 27-17 loss to the New York Giants Sunday, a play in which Pro Bowl-level corner James Bradberry was in coverage.

"On that particular play, they played a two-deep man coverage," said head coach Doug Pederson on Monday afternoon. "Carson saw the one-on-one outside. I do know that Carson would probably want to have that throw back a little bit. Probably make a little different throw in that situation.

"We had some opportunities on that particular play to go other places, and I think that's a play we would all want back."

Silver is certainly not a regular at Eagles practices but is very plugged in when it comes to league circles. The veteran reporter also claimed if the "downward spiral" continues the Eagles could "blow it up," whatever that means.

Sunday in Cleveland starts the toughest stretch of the Eagles 2020 season with games against five straight teams with winning records who could be playoff-bound.

After the Browns, the murderer's row will continue against Seattle, Green Bay, New Orleans, and Arizona. Philadelphia will likely not be a favorite in any of those games, which include two at Lincoln Financial Field against the Seahawks and Saints.

Due to the increased COVID-19 cases in the area and around the country, there will no longer be the 5,000 or so fans that have been at Eagles home games recently as well.

A 3-10-1 record would amplify the flames that Silver was fanning.

"Listen, they drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round," said Silver. "That was clearly a signal that they are not necessarily standing pat at that position. So I think organizationally, they would like to continue to build this around Carson Wentz but I think if this downward spiral continues, there’s a sense it could all be blown up.”

Pederson remains well-liked inside the building, according to Silver, but the reporter also claimed that the muddled offensive coaching staff is seen as a problem.

“There’s a feeling that Pederson may be listening to too many voices," said Silver. "There are a lot of offensive assistants on that staff and Pederson is amenable to their suggestions and the game plan doesn’t really fit together … a lot of frustration swirling in the air in that building.”

That's where the heavily-speculative report comes off the rails, however.

The changes in the offensive coaching staff can be traced directly back to owner Jeffrey Lurie's insistence that Pederson fire Mike Groh and bring in voices from outside the organization.

Pederson was asked about the Wentz part of the report at his Monday press conference.

"First of all, I did not see the report and secondly, you guys are only out there for a short period of time, so I don't know where the information is coming from," the coach said. "Practice is where we perfect our craft and we do the things with all of our players to detail their work, whether it be fundamentals in the individual periods, all the way through to even for me sometimes even stopping practice and repeating a play because we've made a mistake.

"So I don't understand where that's coming from, and we're just going to continue to coach and make sure we hold everybody accountable."

When pressed on whether his QB's practice habits were sloppy, Pederson responded with a simple, "No."

Mechanics have been an issue dating back to Wentz's rookie season when Frank Reich and John DeFilippo were here.

DeFilippo, Wentz's first position coach who was with the Eagles through the 2017 Super Bowl season before getting the offensive coordinator job in Minnesota, was known as a stern taskmaster while it's fair to say current QB coach and passing game coordinator Press Taylor is more understated.

Former OCs Frank Reich, who also left after the 2017 season to be the head coach in Indianapolis, and Groh were also strong-willed coaches that pushed Wentz and forced the now fifth-year player to strive for attention to detail, according to team sources.

The amalgamation of Taylor, senior offensive assistant Rich Scangarello, senior offensive consultant Marty Mornhinweg, along with Pederson, might be crossing streams so to speak but again, that's a Lurie-fueled creation.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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