Philadelphia Eagles roundup: A date for Carson Wentz, Christian Hackenberg on the Jets
We get a little closer to a date for Carson Wentz’s return (well, not really). Christian Hackenberg discusses the New York Jets before facing them. It’s all here in ‘Philadelphia Eagles roundup’.
Let’s talk Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks. Why not? That always seems to be an interesting topic of discussion. Philly’s head coach, Doug Pederson, discussed both Carson Wentz and Christian Hackenberg in his most recent press conference on Tuesday.
It’s been a little over one week since ‘Dougie Fresh’ almost went ‘Hulk Smash’ on a member of the Philly media for asking him yet another bland question about a possible return date for Wentz (we’re exaggerating.. it wasn’t quite that bad).
Recently, reporters are finding new ways to ask the same questions over and over, and Philly’s head man appreciates it. On the subject of Wentz’s status and expected date of return, Coach Pederson stated he’d know by Friday whether or not Wentz is cleared to play, but the actual deadline to make a declaration would be 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
That doesn’t mean that he’ll share any of that information with us, but it’s Coach Pederson. You all should know how these things go at this point.
And now, to Philly’s bottom two quarterbacks on the depth chart.
An interesting question was asked of the coach during his press conference on Tuesday:
When you look at your bottom two quarterbacks, Joe Callahan and Christian Hackenberg, what would you like to see out of them Thursday night?
Pedersons response:
"Well, one, we haven’t seen much of either one of them. Christian obviously hasn’t played in a game here. Joe played a little bit in the first two games, but really (we want to see) overall execution…. Joe’s obviously been here the longest, so (we want to see) how well can he process the information and call plays in the huddle. It’s a little different from a practice setting. We’re looking at it off of a card, servicing the defense, things of that nature, so (we want to see) execution and scoring points and how well they can handle and manage the game…"
But, what about the other guy?
Hackenberg was drafted in round two of the 2016 NFL Draft, 51st-overall. In 2017, he was beaten out by Bryce Petty for the role of backup quarterback and didn’t play a down during the entire season.
On Thursday night, he’ll suit up to face the team that made his NFL dream a reality. Recently, he shared some of his thoughts on the subject:
Video courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles’ official YouTube page
At this point, it’s hard to imagine any scenario where Hackenberg makes this roster. He arrived too late. Philly seems as though they already have a plan for who they want in their quarterback room, so Thursday night’s game will serve as an audition for another team.
Will Hackenberg finally shine in the spotlight. We’ll soon see.