Ron Jaworski Compares Carson Wentz To Derek Carr

Plus: Malcolm Jenkins talks about his visit to Washington, D.C. and his gameday style.

Carson Wentz. (Jeff Fusco)

Carson Wentz. (Jeff Fusco)

As the Eagles get set to travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals on Sunday, let’s take a look at some of the best articles from across the web during the week.

Former Eagles quarterback and current ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski thinks current Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz will turn out to be similar to Derek Carr, pens Tim McManus of ESPN.com.

“When you look at that lineup on Monday night, are you kidding me? Look what happened to that offensive line. Look what happened to the receiving corps. Look at the running backs. You’re counting on rookies, practice squad players, guys that weren’t even in an Eagles uniform five or six games ago. A lot has been put on his shoulders, and I thought he’s handled everything very, very well.”

By putting so much on Wentz so early in his career, do the Eagles run the risk of damaging him?

“Yes. I always worry about that,” Jaworski responded. “And I’ve said over the last couple of weeks, they have to come out and be more balanced. If he’s going to continue to be put in those known passing situations — third-and-7 or plus — there’s a reason defensive coordinators call third-and-7-plus ‘disaster down.’ There’s a reason: It’s disaster for a quarterback.

“That’s when they come with their repertoire, they open up the blitz playbook and all the designer blitzes they have, that’s when they bring them. That’s when they get after the young quarterbacks. And they can win that game with the mind. That’s what I’m concerned about: When they’re not balanced, when they’re not running the football, that’s when he can get in trouble.”

“I think as you watch him grow, it really won’t be until Year 3 maybe that you see him, or Year 4. This is Derek Carr’s third year and this guy finally made the quantum leap. He’s been good; now he’s made that leap to where, boy, you better game plan for Derek Carr. And I think with Carson Wentz, you’ll see the same thing.”

Since the two tight ends were drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, Zach Berman of the Inquirer writes that Zach Ertz has enjoyed a better career so far than Tyler Eifert.

On Sunday, Ertz and Eifert will play against each other for the first time in the NFL. Ertz has had a more productive career than Eifert, who has been slowed by injuries. Ertz’s four years include 207 catches for 2,397 yards and 10 touchdowns in 56 career games. Eifert’s totaled 115 catches for 1,409 yards and 17 touchdowns in 34 games. But the touchdowns are where Eifert has the edge, and his 13-touchdown campaign in 2015 is the reason why he’s reached a Pro Bowl and Ertz has not.

Fourteen of Eifert’s 17 touchdowns have come in the red zone. When Ertz discussed Eifert this week, the red zone effectiveness was part of his praise. But he also mentioned the way Eifert is used in the red zone, and it doesn’t take a decoder to read between those lines. Ertz has only been targeted for passes three times in the red zone this season. He’s caught one of those passes for a touchdown.

“It’s not a matter of not making the most of my opportunities,” Ertz said. “You can look at my numbers and say they’re disappointing. I think I should be used in the red zone more, but I’m not going to second guess the coaches. I’m not going to second-guess Carson [Wentz]. They’ve got reads to do, they’ve got decisions to make. When the ball’s in the air, I think I can make the play. And I want to make the play for the team.”

Ertz, who signed a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension during the offseason, has not had the standout year expected when he inked his contract. He has only 38 catches for 373 yards and one score this season, and he’s not likely to match last season’s marks of 75 catches for 853 yards. But the dip is also due to circumstance, because Ertz has caught a career-best 73.1 percent of the passes thrown in his direction this season.

Undrafted wide receivers Bryce Treggs and Paul Turner hope to see an increase in production sometime soon, notes Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com.

Unlike Turner, Treggs has been on the active roster all season after the Eagles claimed him off waivers following final cuts. (In fact, they waived Turner and put him on the practice squad to make room for Treggs.) Despite being on the roster, Treggs didn’t get a chance to be active and play until Josh Huff was arrested and subsequently cut by the team before the Giants game.

In his first NFL game, Treggs caught two passes, one of which was a 58-yard bomb from Carson Wentz. It was the second-longest passing play for the Eagles this season.

But since that game, Treggs has gone three straight with a combined one catch for 11 yards in 68 snaps.

“I don’t think it’s tough. I’m trusting the process,” Treggs said. “There’s a lot of guys who were drafted ahead of me that are home right now and I’m still here. I’m grateful for this opportunity. I have great teammates all around. I just have to keep working. I’m not going to press, I’m just going to let everything come to me.”

Linebacker Jordan Hicks is the team’s breakout player in 2016, opines Dieter Kurtenbach of FoxSports.com.

Philadelphia Eagles – Jordan Hicks

Another case of good turning into borderline great, Hicks has taken a strong rookie season and turned it into a spectacular sophomore campaign. No linebacker in the NFL — not even Luke Kuechly or Jerrell Freeman — grades out as well in coverage as Hicks.
And there’s still plenty of room to grow.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins wrote about his visit to Washington, D.C. in The Players’ Tribune.

For me, the visit to Capitol Hill represented a chance to learn more about how our federal government works, and how lawmakers are attempting to address things like police shootings, or the relationship between police and minority communities. I’m continually trying to become more informed about what I can do to help make things better, and the more engaged I’ve become on social issues the more I’ve come to realize how difficult it is to achieve real, positive change. There are always more complexities to grasp, new approaches to dissect and strategies to tweak. To be honest, everything about my activism around police brutality issues and criminal justice reform has been a learning process. And when I met with congressional leaders in Washington, I drew on some of the things I’ve already learned.

For instance, a few months before arriving in D.C. for our visit, I learned some valuable lessons when players around the league began protesting during the national anthem and taking other symbolic actions in response to the police shootings happening around the country. I was part of a group of players who wanted to do something big and ambitious during Week 1.

Organizing action on a league-wide scale proved extremely challenging. But I realized that a protest or a statement doesn’t always have to involve a majority of players, or be a huge mass movement. It can just be the acts of a couple of people that hopefully will spark the interest and spirit of everyone else.

Jenkins also talks about his gameday fashion with Stacey Pressman of ESPN the Magazine.

Do you consult your stylist every Saturday night before the game? I have a really good friend of mine, he’s a frat brother I went to school with, actually he went to a school up the street from Ohio State and he does shopping for me and he gives me some options. He’ll pick the pieces for me and I kind of put them together as I see fit. If I do a photo shoot, he will style me. But before a game I style myself and put some things together that I have in my closet. If I am stuck or I got a couple of options that I like I will text him pictures of the clothes and he will tell me what’s best to go with.

Who do you admire fashion wise? I am not really that big into fashion where I am looking at trends or what everyone else is doing. If I see something I like I will keep it in mind, but a lot of the time I am just online browsing. I will shop at Asos or Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters is probably where I buy most of my stuff from. I mix and match from different places.

I do suits, but the last two years have been a bit more casual. This year we had a change in our dress code for when we’re traveling so I’ve been doing a little more suits this year. But when I can, I prefer to be a bit more casual.

Former Eagle Terrell Owens says he never caused the famous breakup with the organization, pens Ryan Wilson of CBSSports.com.

“I never had ill will against Donovan [McNabb], but maybe he had something against me, ” Owens said. “I think it was just the way the city embraced me as opposed to when he got drafted and they booed him, and things like that may have weighed on him. To be in that stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, and have 70,000 fans chant my name, ‘T.O., T.O.,’ maybe that got under his skin a little bit.”

As for Owens’ inglorious exit, he has an explanation for that too.

“I think everyone sees and knows that it really wasn’t my fault,” he said. “Donovan was their guy. I was pretty much the scapegoat.”

That’s one version of it. But the aforementioned driveway incident was a stunt for more money. And while it’s certainly a player’s right to ask for a raise, the manner in which he chooses to do it can, in the eyes of his employer, become more trouble than it’s worth. There’s also this: Owens had a history of wearing out his welcome. There’s a reason a Hall of Fame talent played for five teams in his 16 NFL seasons.