Doug Pederson wants Carson Wentz to stay aggressive

[Swoop]

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Eagles head coach Doug Pederson’s press conference started off with a question that plenty of people have had on their minds recently.

Pederson was asked why quarterback Carson Wentz‘s production and performance appear to be regressing in his fifth season playing in Pederson’s offense. Pederson said it was a “good question,” but his answer veered into generalities about needing to keep working in order to play better.

While Pederson did say that Wentz’s interception in the end zone of Sunday’s 37-19 loss to the Rams was “unacceptable,” his larger message was that he wants Wentz to stay the course. Pederson thinks some of the struggles have to do with having less time to practice this offseason than usual and that he doesn’t want Wentz to start pressing after having two bad games to start the season.

“I’m not concerned about that because of just who Carson is,” Pederson said in his press conference. “I see his work ethic during the week. One way to get out of it is you’ve just got to continue to stay aggressive, right. Stay on the attack, and I don’t want anybody to go into a shell. That’s no way to approach our business, our craft, our jobs, and for sure I don’t want the quarterback position, in this case, Carson, to do that, as well. We just have to stay on the attack, and we have to continue to work, so I’m not concerned about that at all.”

That feeling may not be shared by many around Philadelphia at this moment and Pederson will be on even shakier ground if Wentz can’t lead the team to a win against the Bengals.