PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Wearing a brace around his surgically repaired left knee, Carson Wentz participated in all of the Philadelphia Eagles’ first training camp practice Thursday.
About seven months and two weeks removed from tearing two knee ligaments in a December game against the Rams, Wentz took a handful of reps, mainly leading the second-team offense.
“I thought he was comfortable,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. “He did some nice things today. It was very, very limited obviously, but we didn’t do too much. I think we had 30 offensive plays. It was good. It was a good first start for everybody.”
The Eagles practiced for about two hours and weren’t in pads. None of their drills involved serious contact or tackling. The team doesn’t usually practice in pads or tackle for the first three days of practice.
Nick Foles, who replaced Wentz and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, worked with the first offense Thursday in Wentz’s place. Foles said he doesn’t need any commitment at some point from the coaches that he is or isn’t the starter for the Sept. 6 season opener against the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field.
Wentz said he hasn’t yet received medical clearance for contact. Pederson offered no timetable for when the team expects Wentz to be cleared for contact practices and also didn’t say if Wentz would play in the preseason.
Also undetermined, or just unannounced: How far along Wentz is right now toward full recovery and whether Wentz can expect to be cleared to start on Sept. 6.
“I’m not going to push him or get him out there sooner than he has to,” Pederson added. “I want to make sure that he’s 100 percent. He looked good today, and we’re just going to continue to progress.”
Wentz said any decision to clear him for contact practice or a preseason game would be made in conjunction with Pederson and the team’s medical staff. Wentz, who set the team record for touchdown passes in a season last year with 33, didn’t specify if he believes it’s necessary to play in the preseason.
“My goal is Sept. 6,” he said. “We’ll see what happens with all that. But when I’m ready, I’ll be ready.”
Pederson sidestepped questions about the long-term plan for Wentz, or even a plan for when Wentz would take snaps with the first-team offense.
Asked when he needed to switch from a rehab mindset to a season preparation approach for his quarterback, Pederson said that he wasn’t in any hurry to make that decision.
“We got a lot of time,” Pederson said, when asked about shifting from rehab mode to season preparation. “Six weeks is a lot of time. A lot time. We’re still evaluating everybody. I can’t tell you exactly when that’s going to be during camp, but … I’m not going to push him. He and I are married to this deal, you know what I’m saying?”
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