You’ve been waiting for this day forever,” Doug Pederson said with a wry smile, as he addressed the assembled media on Monday afternoon.

The Eagles head coach spent the first half of his press conference talking about the return of Carson Wentz, who will start against the Colts on Sunday afternoon. He also gave medical updates on Mike Wallace and Jason Peters and answered a few questions about the offensive talent that will be surrounding his franchise quarterback moving forward.

Notes:

  • won’t get into lengthy medical report and specific details about Carson being given the green light
  • didn’t give any thought to easing him back in, basically admitted that when Carson is cleared, “he goes”
  • will take time to get back into the rhythm and flow of the game (no duh), but Wentz is doing a ton of prep work and no issues with his mental preparation
  • no need to temper Carson’s aggressiveness, when “he’s cleared, he’s cleared,” but will still have conversations with him on how to protect himself
  • play calling: Carson is going to take hits, it’s part of the game, “I’m not going to coach scared or paranoid, thinking we can’t do this or do that.” doesn’t think that things will change too much
  • no issues from Nick Foles in taking a backseat to Wentz, “we drafted Carson to be the guy,” no egos in the quarterback room
  • Pederson says plan was in place and Wentz understood that
  • “I think we’re constantly looking” at adding talent and depth at every position (RE: question about Wentz having enough offensive weapons around him)
  • still week to week for Alshon Jeffery with the shoulder recovery
  • there was no specific timetable or target for Wentz, the organization “really put it on the medical team” and did not have a specific week picked out for his first game
  • Mike Wallace fractured his fibula and will miss “the next few weeks obviously”
  • Jason Peters suffered a quad injury, “tweaked it just a bit and couldn’t put the pressure on it that he needed to”
  • a veteran player would be easier to work with if they needed to bring in a wide receiver, “definitely gonna have to rely on the tight ends more, the running game more, and lean in that direction until we figure that out”
  • practice squad WR Braxton Miller is “another one we have to continue to coach up,” hasn’t had a lot of exposure to their offense yet
  • RE: players with a bit of a “past” (Josh Gordon and Dez Bryant) – “the biggest thing is can they play football, obviously that’s important… but you also want to look at how well will the current team embrace players,” said it’s not an “at all cost” thing that affects that decision

Video: