Eagles’ Carson Wentz ‘on track to be a special, special quarterback’

Resiliency has been one of the bigger factors in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 5-1 start.

They’ve overcome multiple injuries to key defensive players, such as tackle Fletcher Cox, cornerback Ronald Darby, and safety Rodney McLeod. Coach Doug Pederson is proud of how younger members of the roster have stepped up.

‘Carson’s such a self-motivator’

But he also knows that his quarterback, Carson Wentz, has done more than his share to help pick up the slack with a season that has done plenty to validate his being the second overall pick of last year’s draft. The improvement he has made since his rookie year has gone a long way toward making the Eagles arguably the best team in the NFL.

“Carson’s such a self-motivator,” Pederson told Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt on Late Hits. “Last year, for him, it was about learning the offense, about learning the plays, learning the personnel. And this year it’s about not only understanding that, but getting better situationally.

‘His touchdown-to-interception ratio is his better right now, the personnel around him is better right now’

“You’re seeing it obviously on third down with his execution. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is his better right now, the personnel around him is better right now. And any time in this league and, really, any league when you’re playing football and you have the ability to run the ball, it takes a little pressure off your quarterback, and we’ve been able to do that in the first six games.”

Pederson has been particularly impressed with how much more leadership Wentz has shown, and the example he helps set for teammates.

‘I’ve never seen a guy quite like this, especially early in his career, do the things that he’s doing’

“He’s such a tremendous leader on and off the football field and how he studies, how he prepares,” the coach said. “I’ve never seen a guy quite like this, especially early in his career, do the things that he’s doing. I’ve been around some tremendous quarterbacks. I’ve been around Dan Marino and Brett Favre and the Alex Smiths of the world and the Donovan McNabbs of the world — guys that are tremendous quarterbacks and have had great careers and this kid is on track to be a special, special quarterback in this league.”