Eagles news: Carson Wentz continues to look like a veteran

The secret to Carson Wentz's success against the blitz - ESPN

"Immediately when he got here, you knew he was very in-tune to not just the line calls, but the protections, hots [hot reads], all that stuff," said Eagles centerJason Kelce, "and usually I feel like a lot of the times with young quarterbacks, a lot of that comes second; usually you have the routes and all that stuff first and eventually you get to that understanding."

"The dude has been absolutely lights-out in terms of blitz recognition, checking plays, all that stuff. I don’t think he’s been like a rookie at all in that aspect."

This is a whole different world for Kelce. Under Chip Kelly, all of the protection calls were placed on Kelce's shoulders. The quarterbacks were involved and needed to have an understanding of what was happening, Kelce explained, but ultimately the responsibility fell on him. Now the duties are shared. Kelce and Wentz both have the ability to change protections to fend against a defense on the attack.

Ground game? Eagles will take a run at it - Inquirer

The rub for the Eagles is that, regardless of who is playing on the line, they have been a middle-of-the-road running team so far. Their ranking among the league looks acceptable in total yards gained, but that was padded by having the lead for almost all of the first three weeks. They have 43 rushing plays in the first half of games this season and 74 in the second half.

Leading rusher Ryan Mathews has the lowest yards per carry average among the four Eagles running backs. His 146 yards is 40th among the league's rushers and his 3.3-yard average is 37th. So, Pederson will be careful not to lean so heavily on the run game that the offense falls over. Against Washington, however, with a defensive line anchored by 35-year-old nose tackle Cullen Jenkins, he'll give it a try.

Jim Schwartz Wants To Get Vinny Curry More Playing Time - Philly Mag

First, it’s worth noting Curry began the season with an injury issue. He hasn’t missed any games but he was ruled questionable heading into Philadelphia’s Week 1 matchup due to a knee injury suffered in late August.

Injury alone doesn’t explain Curry’s lack of playing time. The other issue is that the Eagles are paying two other defensive ends, Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin, starting money as well. Curry is part of a rotation that only featured him on the field for 16 snaps in Philadelphia’s Week 5 loss to the Lions. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz admitted that Curry needs to be on the field more often.

“That was another one as we look back, probably like to get him and even Beau Allen, getting him some more in there,” said Schwartz.” It’s a tough situation. It’s easy to rotate when things are going [well], you know what I mean? It’s easy to tag the next guy. The next guy goes in, you’re on a roll, you’re getting stops and things like that. When you start giving up plays and you start giving up touchdowns, it becomes a little bit harder just to get those guys in rotation for a lot of different reasons.”

Redskins' Josh Norman: I'll play through pain in hand if needed - ESPN

Norman likes to play physical with receivers, especially off the line. Because he plays on the left side, he'll often use his right hand off the line to jam a receiver. This injury could impact that ability.

"That's my game," Norman said. "It's going to be interesting to see this week how that affects us. But it's my game and getting that ball out wherever I can. I like to go to my right; that's my strong, dominant hand. So I guess have to be ambidextrous and go to the left and see if I can't make plays there. That's what I love to do, man, go for that football. That's my M.O.

"I have to rely on my athletic ability a lot. Wherever I can steal an inch here or there with my hands, I'm gonna try. I won't lie and say it's easy because it's not."