With the Philadelphia Eagles sacking Doug Pederson, the organization appears to be hoping that a new coach can “fix” Carson Wentz.
But the reality is that Carson Wentz needs to play an important role in the recovery of Carson Wentz. It is naive to believe that a new coach will make all the difference if the 28-year-old quarterback is no longer receptive to coaching.
I know I already won the “Wentz is not trainable and that is a major concern”Drum to death. I highlighted my my conversation with Joe Santoliquito at Rádio BGN countless times so far.
If you’re still in denial, perhaps some new reporting by Jeff McLane from the Inquirer will finally change your mind. McLane shared some very insightful details about Wentz’s struggles and how the Eagles spoiled him too much. It’s really a must-read column, but I’ll share some highlights and reactions here:
Wentz’s Type A personality can also be credited for his previous success. Many prominent defenders share the same characteristic. But the 28-year-old increasingly rejected advice, defied criticism and fought with former coach Doug Pederson last season, Eagles sources said. “Every great defender wants to be trained and wants to be trained hard and by the best, and it doesn’t seem [Wentz] wants it, ”said a source. “It’s like his coach is working for him. But it cannot be so. “
Yes. We have all heard about how Wentz did not like being coached by John DeFilippo, despite his success with him.
In the quarterback’s room, when his mistakes were pointed out, Wentz sometimes made irrelevant excuses and Taylor didn’t correct him. For example, there would be a play in which he did not play for an open receiver. The reading was prepared as planned, the coverage went as expected and he would be asked why he did not pull the trigger. And Wentz would say that the look was not there, or he would overemphasize the quick pass, and when it was suggested that the play be performed again in practice to get it right, he would object.
We have already said for some time that Wentz’s relationship with his defender coach is very close.
There was a disconnect even before Wentz was suspended, however. Pederson would call a move only to his quarterback to occasionally kill him for no other reason than his personal disgust, the sources said. It became “a difficult match” between the two, said another source. […] Pederson’s joke was also doubtful. He would go long periods without rolling Wentz out of his pocket to take advantage of his ability to launch on the go. Wentz, meanwhile, made “bizarre deaths that made no sense and were effectively becoming sloppy,” said a source.
I mean, this is pure insubordination. And it is in line with what I said earlier about Wentz having a lot of power (read: a lot) in this offense. The 2020 fights can hardly be attributed to Pederson alone.
Wentz is not only responsible for the ineptitude of the eagles, too. He was certainly disapproved by the organization in certain ways. But Wentz himself undoubtedly played an important role in his own and, later, in the fall of the Eagles.
I wrote at the time of the Wentz trial that I expected the experience to be humble. But it doesn’t really look like it was. Before Pederson’s resignation, there were reports of how he wanted to be negotiated. And one can only believe that the information came from the Wentz field, considering that it is not as if the team gained an advantage with its quarterback wanting to leave. It just doesn’t seem like Wentz is willing to admit that it has been a big part of the problem.
A new start for Wentz and the Eagles may really be the best for both sides at the moment. Of course, all that money Jeffrey Lurie owes him doesn’t make it easy for the team to move on.
But the current dynamic just doesn’t seem sustainable. The Eagles cannot continue to serve Wentz the way they have so far.