Here's how the Eagles have used Carson Wentz to prepare for Saints with Jalen Hurts as starting quarterback

Pederson said that Wentz has handled the demotion to second string 'like a pro'

For the first time in his Philadelphia Eagles career, Carson Wentz is not the starting quarterback of the franchise that drafted him. The Eagles turned to rookie second-round pick Jalen Hurts this week against the New Orleans Saints, as Wentz took on the role of the No. 2 quarterback in practice. 

How have the Eagles utilized Wentz in his week on the sidelines? Philadelphia had Wentz plying the role of Saints quarterback Taysom Hill for the first-team defense, per John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia. An upbeat Doug Pederson has been proud of how the Eagles quarterback has handled the demotion. 

"Like a pro," Pederson said in his Friday media session. "He's gone out to practice, you see him, he's taking reps obviously with the service team and providing a really good look for our defense and has done a great job in helping Jalen. He's been involved in the meetings and just what I expected."

Of the 32 qualified quarterbacks in passing statistics, Wentz ranks 31st in completion percentage (57.4%), 29th in interception percentage (3.4%), 30th in yards per attempt (6.0) and 30th in quarterback rating (72.8). He's been sacked a league-high 50 times this season, or a league-high 10.3% on drop-back attempts. Wentz is also second in the league in bad throw percentage (percentage of poor throws per pass attempt) at 22.2%, and only 70.4% of his passes are on target (passes that would have hit the intended receiver), which ranks fifth-worst in the league.

The Eagles are committed to Wentz past 2020, but that could change on how Hurts plays over the final four games of the season. Wentz still plays a major role in the organization going forward, no matter what his job status is the rest of the year. 

"He's got to take ownership, we got to take ownership, and we got to continue to be collaborative and talkative through it, continue to work and build," Pederson said. "And I said this earlier in the week, and I'm going to continue to say it: I truly believe that he can get back to the type of quarterback that he was even a year ago.

"I just think we can get him there, and I look forward to that opportunity."