The Philadelphia Eagles had a surprise absence from practice starting on Monday: Quarterback Carson Wentz. A day after the team announced Wentz was sitting out for precautionary reasons amid a soft-tissue lower-body injury, coach Doug Pederson has attempted to quell concerns about the QB's status for the start of the 2020 season. Asked Tuesday about the severity of Wentz's injury, Pederson said the issue is "nothing major" and declared that Wentz will be "ready to go" for the Eagles' Sept. 13 opener against Washington.
Wentz, who has finished three straight seasons on the sidelines as a result of injuries, is currently listed as "day-to-day" on the Eagles' injury report. All players with that designation, however, are on track to suit up for Philadelphia in Week 1, Pederson explained.
Not only that, Pederson said, but Wentz would have been in line for extra rest at this point in the offseason anyway. Had the preseason schedule not been wiped out amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the coach indicated Wentz would've been given time off ahead of the Eagles' fourth and final exhibition.
The QB started all 16 games for the Eagles in 2019, helping lead Philadelphia to a third straight playoff appearance under Pederson. But a concussion early in the club's Wild-Card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks forced him to miss most of his first career postseason start. Wentz, of course, has also dealt with other major injuries during his career, suffering a torn ACL during the 2017 campaign, in which he led the Eagles to an NFC East title en route to the team's Super Bowl run with Nick Foles; and missing five games the following year, mostly due to a back fracture.
