We've seen some good signs in Carson Wentz's rehab recently. He's been running, he's been throwing, he's been wearing his red practice jersey.
And he said he's "very confident" he'll be ready for Week 1.
But just five months removed from tearing his ACL and LCL in December, there's still a long road ahead.
"I love the enthusiasm," head coach Doug Pederson said Friday morning. "I want that from all our players, obviously, Again, go back to Sidney Jones (who had a torn Achilles and missed most of his rookie season) …
"I'm not going to rush [Wentz] out there. I don't want to expose him. He'll be ready when he's ready and when we feel he's ready. Right now, we're encouraged with the progress he's making, love his enthusiasm."
While the Eagles have sent out videos and photos of Wentz on a football field, Pederson said the franchise quarterback hasn't yet been cleared for anything other than rehab. That's what he'll be doing this spring when OTAs start on May 22.
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Even though Pederson might have tried to temper expectations Friday, Wentz has continually said his goal is Week 1 and everything seems to be on schedule.
"I'm highly encouraged about where he's at right now," Pederson said. "He's making progress each day. We just continue that process. He continues to throw and get stronger. It's a fine line too, with this time of year, trying to do too much too soon. Our guys are on top of it, he's on top of it. He's managing it really well and again, encouraged where he's at."
Pederson on Friday was also asked about Tim Jernigan, who needed surgery for a herniated disc this spring. Pederson declined to give a timeline for the starting DT, refused to say how the injury happened and said he doesn't yet have a plan for how to replace Jernigan if he's not ready for Week 1.
The Eagles have several players coming off significant injuries. And Pederson has been impressed with the guys who have been around the offseason program so far.
"You watch Chris Maragos and Darren Sproles and Jason Peters, and you watch these guys work and I'm hoping the rest of the team sees that and feeds off of that," he said. "For me as a coach, to have those guys not there at the end of the season, that's motivation. That's motivation for the rest of us to get off our tails and pick our games up to where they are. That's what I'm encouraged by and that can rub off on the team."
When asked for a few names of players who have come back looking impressive after the short layoff after the Super Bowl, Pederson mentioned Jay Ajayi, Nick Foles, Fletcher Cox and Malcolm Jenkins.
The Eagles' three-day rookie camp is this weekend, followed by OTAs for a few weeks in late-May and early-June, before the mandatory minicamp in mid-June.
