Philadelphia Eagles News

After his second game of the 2018 regular season, quarterback Carson Wentz stood at the podium at Nissan Stadium and expressed his clear frustration with the Eagles’ 26-23 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans. But the Eagles’ leader also showed confidence in his team and a lack of panic following the early-season loss that dropped the Eagles’ record to 2-2. “We’ll have to watch the tape, especially this week, but I think overall we’re just hurting ourselves too much,” Wentz said. “I think it’s something little here, here and there, and those little things just add up. At the end of the day, I’m not too worried. It’s a frustrating one but it’s one we can learn from and bounce back from.” Wentz looked to build on last week's positive performance and get more rhythm with the offense. He completed 33 of 50 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions and one fumble. Wentz’s main concern after the game was red zone efficiency. Although the Eagles have gotten points on each of their trips in the red zone this year, they had to settle for field goals on three of their trips against the Titans. One field goal was at the end of the first half following an interception. The other two came at the end of regulation and in overtime where touchdowns could have sealed a victory. “It’s frustrating obviously to come up short, especially as an offense when we had chances,” Wentz said. “We had chances to finish in the end zone at the end of the game, finish in the end zone in overtime, and we just didn’t finish in the red zone the way we wanted to. We just didn’t finish as an offense and as a team either.” A handful of Wentz’s passes were on the money but dropped in key situations. After the game, head coach Doug Pederson accounted it to a lack of focus at times. “Guys make mistakes,” Wentz said. “I miss throws, guys drop balls, O-line missed blocks, it’s part of the game. Obviously, it’s something we need to clean up for all of us but I’m not worried about it.” The defensive front for the Titans was a difference-maker in the game as rushers got to Wentz consistently and forced scrambles and negative plays. Wentz was sacked four times, hit 11 times, and had one fumble recovered by the Titans. Wentz said the offense knew that Tennessee would bring the heat all game. He wasn't willing to pass the blame on to his teammates. “It’s part of the game,” Wentz said. “I’ll look at the film and see. Obviously, there are times where I hold the ball too long and there’s miscommunications, some protections we didn’t get called right, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to watch the film and regroup on that.” “Give them credit, it’s a pretty good front,” Pederson said. “We knew that going in. It’s a good defense so I give them a lot of credit. We’ll look at the film and make our corrections. We pride ourselves on picking up the blitz and we’ll get back to that.” The Eagles’ offense missed some pieces in Tennessee as running backs Corey Clement and Darren Sproles sat out with injuries. Sproles is a stellar blocker in the backfield while running back Wendell Smallwood struggled at times in pass protection. But the Eagles did gain back wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, a key piece to spark the offense. Wentz connected with Jeffery eight times against the Titans as the big-bodied receiver gained 105 yards and had one touchdown. In one drive, Jeffery made two catches in contention with multiple defenders, the second being the touchdown that put the Eagles up two scores in the third quarter. Six of Jeffery’s completions went for more than 10 yards as he proved the time off for both Wentz and Jeffery would not affect their chemistry. Wentz’s ability to connect with Jeffery for big plays will be key for the offense going forward. “It’s great,” Wentz said. “It’s great to have Alshon back, a guy that can make contested catches for you, a guy that can provide a spark. You saw that out there today.” Missed opportunities defined the loss to the Titans. There are plays in the red zone Wentz would want back and he will need more protection going forward. But Wentz has confidence in his teammates and believes they can learn from the loss. “We just need to regroup,” Wentz said. “We’re a quarter of the way through, 2-2, obviously not quite where we want to be, but we’ve got a long way to go yet. We’ve just got to keep staying together and there’s a lot of things we need to clean up, we need to clean up some things and finish drives as an offense.”

Philadelphia Eagles News

Carson Wentz: 'I'm Not Too Worried'