Philadelphia Eagles Week 2 rookie review: Youngsters seeing bigger roles

Philadelphia Eagles rookies saw increased opportunities in Week 2.

Week 1 was rather quiet for many of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ first-year players. While Carson Wentz wowed the crowd in his first career start, many other Eagles rookies saw a minimal amount of opportunities.

But that changed in Week 2. Once again, Wentz performed like a top-tier franchise quarterback and several other newcomers saw increased roles against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

Carson Wentz

Once again, Wentz performed like a seasoned veteran. Despite facing a rather stingy Bears defense, Wentz still managed to move the Eagles into striking distance and get points on the board.

Wentz finished the night going 21 of 34 for 190 yards, a touchdown and zero interceptions, which is the first time in NFL history that a quarterback has started and won his first two starts without a turnover.

The North Dakota State product made numerous veteran throws, but this one may be the most impressive of the bunch.

This play was called back due to a bad penalty on Eagles center Jason Kelce, but it was impressive nonetheless. Despite a linebacker coming in totally unblocked, Wentz still managed to stand tall and deliver a perfect strike to Brent Celek down the middle of the field for a first down. Wentz took a massive hit on the play, but showed no hesitation while trying to make the throw. Without a doubt, Kelce owes Wentz a couple beers after this one.

He may only be two games into his professional football career, but Carson Wentz is already showing signs of being everything the Eagles were hoping for when they selected him No. 2 overall in this year’s draft.

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Isaac Seumalo

As was the case in Week 1, Seumalo was once again inactive for the Eagles in Week 2. That will change very soon, however. With Lane Johnson‘s 10-game suspension officially being enforced by the NFL, Allen Barbre is expected to slide to right tackle, potentially opening up a spot for Seumalo on the offensive line.

Wendell Smallwood

After an uneventful regular season debut in Week 1, Smallwood had a couple nice runs against Chicago. Smallwood ran the ball twice for 16 yards. The longer of the two runs went for 11 yards on a dash through the middle of the Bears’ defense. Smallwood had a lot of help from his blockers on the play, but showed good burst through the hole and made the most out of his opportunity. Expect to see more from Smallwood as the season progresses.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai

Like Seumalo, Vaitai was inactive Monday night, but could see an opportunity while Lane Johnson is serving his 10-game suspension.

Jalen Mills

With Leodis McKelvin nursing a hamstring injury, Mills saw an increased load against Chicago. Mills had some good moments and some not so good moments, but overall had a solid performance against a strong Bears receiving corps.

Starting with the bad, Mills allowed a huge gain to Alshon Jeffery in the first half of the game when he fell for a double move from the big Chicago wideout. Had the ball been thrown better, the play more than likely would have gone for a touchdown, but, you know, Jay Cutler.

It wasn’t Mills’ proudest moment, but he was able to rebound, ultimately leading the team with 6 tackles, a pass deflection and contributing to Nigel Bradham‘s pick on Cutler.

It was an up and down night for Mills, but it’s a good start for the seventh round pick out of LSU.

Stay with Inside the Iggles for more analysis on the Eagles’ top rookies.