It's going to be close.
That was the most telling part of Carson Wentz's interview on WIP this morning before the final training camp practice of the summer.
Wentz was asked by Angelo Cataldi how important it would be for him to start the season:
I obviously would love to be out there. That's been my goal all offseason ever since the injury. It's going to be close. It's going to be close. I'm still eyeing that date. At the end of the day, it's not just my decision. There's coaches and doctors that really have the final say. I really like where I'm at and time will tell here.
Of course, we all probably knew it was going to be close, but here's Wentz saying it just 3 1/2 weeks before the opener against the Falcons.
Wentz began training camp a few weeks ago working in full-team 11-on-11 drills, but the Eagles have backed off of him some since then. He's done just 7-on-7s for most of training camp. Head coach Doug Pederson said they saw enough from Wentz in those early sessions and didn't want to risk further injury. Pederson claimed there was no setback.
While Wentz hasn't been in full-team drills, his footwork and arm strength have been on display during individual drills and in 7-on-7s.
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"My knee feels really good," Wentz said. "Rehab and everything has been going great. Every day it feels a little better out there. I really like where I'm at so it's just a be patient thing."
When asked just how tough ACL rehab is, Wentz flatly said, "It's no fun." There was a lot of pain early in the process but going through rehab with some big-name players like Jason Peters, Chris Maragos, Darren Sproles and Jordan Hicks helped.
It's still pretty amazing that the Eagles were able to win a Super Bowl without all those guys playing by the end of the season.
Cataldi described the grim scene on his flight back to Philly from Los Angeles after Wentz went down at the LA Coliseum on Dec. 10. He told Wentz that everyone thought the season was over.
And then he asked Wentz if what happened after amazed him.
"I wouldn't say it amazed me," Wentz said, emphasizing the word amazed. "It was kind of expected. It's one of those things to the outside, it seemed like the world was ending and we didn't have a shot. That's when people started to write us off, but we knew what we had. We knew the guys we had. We knew we had Nick, who would be more than ready to go. Obviously, he stepped in and not only finished that game the right way and got it done for us but obviously finished the year unbelievable. I wouldn't say it surprised any of us at all. But probably to the world, it did."
