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Doug Pederson met with reporters Wednesday morning, ahead of Sunday’s game against the Ravens. Here’s what he talked about:
On what the situation at right tackle looks like
Pederson said Halapoulivaati Vaitai would remain out of practice on Wednesday. Matt Tobin, of course, is on Injured Reserve with an MCL sprain. And Allen Barbre, who left the Eagles’ loss to Washington with an injury, was also to be held out of practice on Wednesday.
So, what’s the plan at right tackle for this weekend in case Barbre can’t go? What’s the team’s fifth option?
Pederson said he expects Barbre to be able to play right tackle on Sunday, in which case the line would be:
LT: Jason Peters
LG: Isaac Seumalo
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Brandon Brooks
RT: Allen Barbre
However, if Barbre is unable to play, Pederson said Isaac Seumalo would be the pick at right tackle. Seumalo’s getting first-team reps at right tackle on Wednesday.
If Seumalo plays right tackle, Pederson said Stefen Wisniewski would be the team’s left guard, and the line would look like this:
LT: Jason Peters
LG: Stefen Wisniewski
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Brandon Brooks
RT: Isaac Seumalo
On his desire to limit Carson Wentz’s volume throwing the ball
“I’d love to manage that a little more for him. I think it’s putting him in a tough situation. And as you mentioned, we’ve gotten behind. Last week we had the two-minute drive to go down, everything was a throw. The week before we’re down so early and so fast that we have to throw more. ... We’re going against a tough run defense this week, and yet we still have to be patient with that to help our quarterback.”
On Baltimore’s run defense affecting that run-pass balance
“There’s ways to run the ball. You don’t necessarily just have to line up and run at them. We do some things with our RPO game. I even think the three-step passing game, the quick passing game, can offset your run game a little bit. It keeps your quarterback from being hit. But yeah, you still have to line up and go toe to toe with a good defense.”
On whether he expected Wentz to throw it so much late in the year
“I didn’t anticipate him throwing the ball quite as much. We felt, or I felt, that he was capable of doing it, but you never want to expose a young rookie quarterback. And listen, he’s done some outstanding things for us. ... It’s just making him a better quarterback for us, not just for this year but going forward.”
On Wentz talking to coaches about preferred targets
“It’s open dialogue, and I welcome that, within ... obviously as coaches we tend to have final say on certain things. But listen, he’s the quarterback. And he’s comfortable with all his receivers, but at the same time he’s got more time invested with guys like [Zach] Ertz and Trey [Burton], and we keep working with everybody. DGB’s missed the last game and a half, so we get him back and he can get back in the fold. I enjoy those conversations, during the week or on the sidelines, as we piece game plans together.”
On the abundance of false starts this year, including at home
“We utilize so many cadences. And the other thing, too, is when you’re playing the quarterback position and you see the defense react a certain way, you can pause your cadence and redirect protection, and sometimes as a lineman you might hear something that can simulate the snap count, and it triggers a false start. When we use the silent count it’s obviously predicated on the tap and the head movement by [Jason] Kelce, and we, as tackles, we teach them to anticipate that. With a new quarterback, a young quarterback, you keep working through it and keep practicing. It’s something that we know we have to address and fix.”