PHILADELPHIA – New Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he “cannot answer” if quarterback Carson Wentz will be on the team in 2021, as he is in the process of “evaluating everything”.
“What we need to do is evaluate the entire squad,” said Sirianni at his introductory press conference on Friday. “We have two defenders in Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts who are first-rate defenders. Many teams have none. So I’m really excited to be working with both.”
Sirianni added that he is not ready to say whether there will be an open competition in the quarterback this off-season and has not set a deadline for when he needs to choose the starter.
Wentz’s relationship with the organization was strained during the 2020 season, in which he led the league in interceptions (15) and serves (50) and was replaced in favor of Hurts in the last four games. He planned to request an exchange during this off-season because of a broken relationship with coach Doug Pederson, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Pederson was fired on January 11 after he and owner Jeffrey Lurie failed to align a vision for the team to move on.
Sirianni and the offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, spoke to Wentz last week. Sirianni said he could not talk about any problems between Wentz and the team, but that he had a “good conversation” with Wentz.
Sirianni also spoke with Hurts, the team’s choice for the second round in 2020, which gave a spark to the attack by being inserted into the lineup before it cooled down a bit on the stretch.
“The same conversation with him is that I am very excited to be working with him,” said Sirianni. “We studied him last year, he had a great college record. He played significant photos this year when he played well.”
Still in the process of hiring assistant coaches and getting used to his new role, Sirianni said he and his team have not yet delved into the game’s film, including that of the defenders.
“All positions will be evaluated and all positions will be opened,” he said, “and we can’t wait to start watching the tape and see what our players can do.”