During his rookie season in 2016, Carson Wentz seemed to disagree with head coach Doug Pederson's assessment of some mechanical flaws in his game.
After a December loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati, Pederson attributed his young quarterback's struggles with correctable mechanical issues. But Wentz disagreed.
"I don't think it's the mechanics," Wentz said in early December. "You make mistakes. Things happen, and that's just the bottom line."
Well, it turns out, Wentz changed his mind -- at least a little bit. Wentz, going into his second NFL season, ended up using some time this offseason to fine-tune his mechanics with QB guru Adam Dedeaux in California.
Did Wentz go back and see issues on film that he hadn't seen before?
"Not really," Wentz said on Monday afternoon, meeting with reporters on the first day of the Eagles' offseason program. "There's things here and there at times, but nothing that was really big and evident that stuck out. I think it was just little things here and there. I think a lot of it might have been footwork and stuff and just being confident in the timing in routes and things like that. But nothing really jumped out at me."
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Wentz didn't get into many specifics of what he and Dedeaux worked on, but said there were "simple things," including footwork. He said he just wanted to make "everything efficient and smooth."
Wentz claimed, however, he did not change anything about his throwing motion.
"I think it was beneficial," Wentz said. "I don't think there was anything real specific, but just overall to help me fine-tune some things and just keep working at some things and make myself more efficient. I thought it was a productive visit down there."
While Pederson highlighted some of Wentz's mechanical issues throughout the season and said they were correctable, it would be understandable if he and the rest of the coaches and front office members in the organization weren't thrilled about Wentzworking with an outside coach. After all, the Eagles already have three high-level quarterback coaches in the building who have all been molding Wentz since the team drafted him.
"There was never really any resistance (from the team)," Wentz said on Monday.
But there also wouldn't have been much of a chance for resistance. While in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl, the Eagles found out through a media report that Wentz was going to work out with Dedeaux. At that point in the offseason, coaches weren't permitted to talk to players about football.
"It'll be interesting when we finally get him in here to talk to him and just see how he felt about (working with Dedeaux)," Pederson said at the owners meetings last month. "We just can't wait to get our hands on him, too, to begin and continue to work."
Pederson said while he didn't specifically speak with or instruct Wentz to work with an outside coach, he said he always encourages his players to "develop their talent."
And Pederson also said he wasn't worried about Dedeaux undoing any of the work he and his coaching staff have done.
"I'm not concerned with that at all," Pederson said. "I know Carson. I know his confidence, his makeup. He's got a lot of confidence in Coach (John) DeFelippo and Frank (Reich), so I'm not concerned about that."
On Monday, which marked the beginning of Phase One of the Eagles' offseason program, Wentz said his body felt great. He even denied a report that he suffered from elbow soreness at the end of his rookie season.
"It was usual general soreness, but nothing of concern ever came up," he said. "Arm's feeling great, arm's felt great all season."
