NFC Notes: Carson Wentz, Commanders, Eagles, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Ron Rivera, OC Scott Turner and QB coach Ken Zampese all have spoken glowingly about what they’ve seen from QB Carson Wentz so far.

“I really like his command of our offense,” Rivera said via John Keim of ESPN. “When you listen to him in the huddle, you listen to him talk to his teammates about certain aspects of the play. I know it gives me confidence, but when he is in the huddle calling the plays the way he does, I know his teammates can feel the confidence.”

“There’s a lot of different things he’s capable of doing,” Turner added. “Obviously a very skilled player. You see him out at practice, he’s a big, physical guy. He can really push the ball down the field.”

Things haven’t gone well for Wentz the past two seasons, as evidenced by being traded twice by the Eagles and Colts respectively. It appears Wentz’s impressive size and arm strength have convinced Washington to take a gamble, though. 

“The beauty of coming to a new spot is you get to reinvent yourself,” Zampese said. “You get to start from scratch if there are any things you didn’t like about yourself at other places. I know for myself, I’d say let’s make sure that doesn’t happen [again]. … No one is holding you to an old standard. He’s just so powerful. The ball gets up and down so fast to downfield targets. For most [QBs] on a 10-yard route, it’s easy; it gets to 15-20 yards and it’s like, ‘ah.’ [Wentz] zips the ball in the same [on longer routes]. We can access the field at a quicker rate than maybe some other places can.”

Eagles

Eagles WR A.J. Brown quickly took to Twitter to defend QB Jalen Hurts after reports that the team was uncomfortable with him after a poor practice where he was supposedly sacked and threw multiple interceptions. 

“That practice stuff about Jalen is fake,” Brown wrote. “Y’all tweet and believe anything. Like how can he get sacked on 7on7 and there aren’t any rushers? I believe water is above us. Believe that too and make an article about that too. This app is crazy.”

Giants

• Giants defensive backs Xavier McKinney, Aaron Robinson and fourth-round S Dane Belton are working out with veteran DB Logan Ryan and performance coach Yo Murphy in order to prepare for the upcoming season. (Art Stapleton)