Buried in the White House and Bryan Colangelo news was a report on Tuesday afternoon that Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is “shockingly” ahead of schedule in his return from the ACL and LCL tear.

That’s from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, who appeared on NFL live, saying, in part:

“…from people inside (organization) who were somewhat skeptical, I am hearing that he’s not just ahead of schedule — he’s WAY ahead of schedule.

He even participated a little bit in 7-on-7 (Monday). He’s doing individual drills. He threw a ball 60 yards last week effortlessly. His legs are fast. He’s stronger. And I think now, inside, you’re starting to hear they’re not going to be surprised if he really is ready for that opener.

But Doug Pederson, everybody else publicly will say ‘We’re not rushing him.’ And there is going to be some caution. They don’t have to [rush him]. Certainly, you have to be prepared for any setback.

But right now, he’s not just ahead of schedule … he is shockingly ahead of schedule.”

Doug Pederson was asked about that report today, Wednesday, and confirmed that Wentz began participating in 7v7 drills this week:

“Again, part of rehab process with him is just giving him a little.. I don’t want to say ‘freedom,’ but a little more practice time. And so one of the controlled environments we can obviously put him in is 7 on 7 situation. So being able to sprinkle him in and watch him in more of an up tempo kind of a practice, I know situations has been good, we’ll continue to do that these next two days and next week and just keep building as we go.”

So here are some more videos of Wentz at OTAs, which you can compare to his mechanics and form and fluidity from weeks prior:

This one might be my favorite drill. I would like to try this. Let’s find a way to set it up:

The Eagles open on September 6th against the Falcons, so exactly three months from now. Wentz went down injured on December 10th in Los Angeles, so if he does play in week one, his entire recovery would clock in at just under 9 months.