Carson Wentz is doing 11 vs. 11 drills and Brandon Graham is off the PUP list.

Two big positives for the Eagles as they head into Thursday night’s 3rd preseason game against the Cleveland Browns.

Let’s hope the offense looks better than it did last week, because it was not a great outing for Nick Foles and company in Foxborough. Foles finished 3-9 for 44 yards, was sacked three times, and left the game with a minor shoulder injury.

We’re 20 days away from the season opener against Atlanta, and that seems like a very short amount of time to get Wentz fully prepared, unless he’s somehow ready for reps in the final preseason game. He spoke today to reporters, along with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and offensive coordinator Mike Groh.

Wentz:

  • will not play Thursday against the Browns
  • felt good, knee was feeling good, good day
  • “I want to be out there every day,” want to be a full participant in everything, just not my call
  • “it’s gonna be close” as far as being ready for the season opener, being cleared for contact is not my call
  • not sure when he’ll have final answer as to when he’s cleared for hitting
  • doctors have final call on when he’s ready, “I’m gonna trust what they say.. there are a lot of medical brains in there trying to make the decision”
  • doesn’t need to see anything specifically from himself to feel at ease heading into the opener, just wants to get continuity with the first team
  • present for some conversations with doctors, but not all of them
  • blah blah blah (same questions over and over again, not sure what else the guy can say at this point)

Jim Schwartz:

  • not sure how much Brandon Graham will be back in the mix, important step is just getting back in the first place, probably “will be limited to just some individual stuff” as they work him along
  • even if he wasn’t on the field, Graham has been around the building, around the team, in meetings – “it’s not like we lost him”
  • slot corner is still a work in progress, each guy brings different skill set, different strengths and weaknesses to the position, the competition is good and the third preseason game will “go a long way” to determining who’s out there in the season opener
  • the defense will have a meeting later today where they look at helmet penalties and try to learn how to adapt to the new rule, “we don’t have any guys that are headhunting or being selfish, they’re trying to play within the rules,” it’s hard to deal with world class athletes who are moving targets
  • says the team often looks at penalties and fouls committed by other teams and incorporates that into weekly film sessions
  • Ronald Darby has had one of the best offseasons of any player, wants him to turn pass break-ups into interceptions

Mike Groh:

  • need to get off to a faster start on offense
  • confidence in Big V at left tackle, he admitted that last Thursday was not his best game, but we know he’ll bounce back
  • good to have Carson Wentz back in the huddle, everybody is on the same page and it’s good for Nick to be able to share responsibilities, no conflict in terms of snaps or getting those guys ready to play, it’s just about introducing Carson back to team work
  • “when they give us a green light that he’s cleared,” we’ll start ramping it up to get Wentz ready for the games
  • doesn’t see a learning curve with getting first group together, just need to get everybody back and working together (Jeffery, Wentz, Agholor, Peters, etc)
  • Shelton Gibson – pleased with his progress, been diligent coming to work, been doing everything he’s asked to do
  • “just a decision” to have Vaitai play first and second team reps on Thursday night over Jordan Mailata (no injury)
  • pleased with Mailata’s progress, “just played his first football game two weeks ago,” been attentive to every detail

More of the same shit, really, but Thursday is significant because the 3rd preseason game usually gives us the best indicator as to what the team is going to look like in week one. There aren’t a ton of positional battles that are still up in the air, but WILL linebacker and slot corner are probably the biggest two.

Video, for your viewing pleasure: