On Thursday, Browns rookie defensive end Carl Nassib, a former walk-on at Penn State who received infrequent playing time in high school, critiqued the throwing motion of No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz.
“His release is a little slow,” Nassib said. “So we plan to take advantage of that.”
On Friday, Philadelphia’s first-year head coach responded to the criticism from the Browns backup.
“We’ve worked on his feet, we’ve worked on a little bit of the upper-body mechanics,” Pederson said. “We don’t feel like it’s a slow release. It can be long at times, I mean he’s such a long guy, it can be like Colin Kaepernick long at times. But anticipation, throwing the ball on time, can help that process getting the ball out of his hand fast. The design of the play can get the ball out of his hand fast. So it’s not something that we’ve really spent a lot of time addressing with him.”
For the final time before his inaugural game as head coach in the National Football League, Doug Pederson addressed the media on Friday morning to discuss the upcoming season opener. To Pederson’s delight, the team survived training camp and the preseason without any injuries that are devastating to the team’s chances of success.
“The only guy that’s out right now is Bryce Treggs,” Pederson said. “He’s out for Sunday. It’s just day-to-day with the knee.”
Treggs was signed last Sunday after being released by San Francisco. Adding the speedy wideout led to the subsequent release of preseason standout Paul Turner, who cleared waivers and was re-signed to the practice squad earlier this week.
“You’re always looking to upgrade,” Pederson said. “We kind of got the best of both worlds because we were able to get both guys. This kid Bryce, what we’ve seen on film, can be explosive. He’s got good speed. One thing Paul has for him is he knows our system and he was very productive in the preseason, so I’m just looking forward, hopefully next week, for Bryce to get out there and get some reps for him.”
With Wentz and Pederson making their debuts, Sunday’s game against the Browns will be the dawn of a new era for Eagles football. Philadelphia is currently favored by just over a field goal against Hue Jackson’s team. Jackson, a former head coach in Cincinnati, is attempting to revive a Browns franchise which has dropped 11 consecutive season openers, and lost more than twice the amount of games that they've won since 1999.
“I expect it to be electric,” Pederson said. “I know there’s gonna be a great 9/11 tribute before the game, and it’s something to remember. I think our crowds gonna be excited. Everything I’ve heard and read this week, everyone is excited to see not only Carson but just to see the team, and to see the guys play for 60 minutes. It’s gonna be a great crowd, I’m excited for it, and I can’t wait ‘til Sunday.”
You can watch the full press conference from Pederson below.
Patrick Del Gaone is a staff writer for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Del_Gaone.
