Sam Bradford and Carson Wentz shared a football field for the first time at OTAs on Tuesday morning (see Day 1 notes).
And it won't be the last time.
Bradford is back from his mini holdout and is the Eagles' starting quarterback in 2016, but Wentz is clearly the quarterback of the future after being drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft.
So what does head coach Doug Pederson expect from Bradford?
"I expect Sam to not look over his shoulder," Pederson said on Tuesday afternoon. "I expect Sam to look forward. He's getting himself ready for the season, getting ready for Cleveland. So that's what I expect from Sam.
"That is the message I gave him. No reason to look over your shoulder. You're the guy. Let's embrace it and let's go."
That message made its way to Bradford, who on Tuesday said he won't be looking over his shoulder, while admitting he knows that ultimately the job will belong to Wentz in the long term.
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"I think the minute you start looking over your shoulder, the minute you start worrying about things that are out of your control, that's when your play starts to decline," said Bradford, who signed a two-year deal with $22 million guaranteed this offseason. "Like I said before, I'm here to work, I'm here to get better. My job is to put our team in the best situation to win and that's what I'm going to do when the fall gets here."
The Eagles haven't been shy about naming Bradford the team's starting quarterback and Chase Daniel the backup. Throughout the offseason, even when Bradford left the team for two weeks and they drafted Wentz, the team has continued to say that Bradford is the starter.
Bradford, Daniel, Wentz.
Nothing has changed. At least not yet.
"I've actually talked to Sam since he's been back and I told him my feelings haven't changed," Pederson said. "He's my guy. He's the No. 1 guy. I just want him to embrace that. Let's not look backward; let's look forward."
As OTAs began Tuesday, Pederson said while Bradford, Daniel and Wentz worked with the first, second and third teams, respectively, they all got equal reps. The head coach said that's the plan for now, but the starter will need to get more reps once training camp comes.
"It means a lot that even after the past couple weeks, that I can step back in this building, continue to be the leader, continue to be the starting quarterback," Bradford said (see story). "With that being said, I don't think that changes my mentality at all.
"Obviously, going through a new system and trying to learn it, I still feel like I have to go out there and prove that I'm worthy of being the starting quarterback when Cleveland (Week 1) comes around."
