Carson Wentz has been eagerly waiting to step onto the Eagles' practice field since the moment he was drafted by the team just over two weeks ago. On a rainy Friday in Philadelphia, that day finally came as the quarterback jogged out to the indoor facility at the NovaCare Complex and took his first reps of the team's Rookie Minicamp.
Although it took until then for Wentz to begin the physical part of his training with the team, he's been mentally preparing with the playbook since receiving it a week and a half ago. So far, Wentz likes what he sees.
"For one, I love it. I think it's a great, quarterback-friendly offense," Wentz said. "I love the intricacies of it and I've just really scratched the surface of it. This weekend is really just kind of the basic stuff and then we'll get into it more as we go, but I'm really excited to keep learning.
"With an NFL playbook you have to pace yourself. There's a lot of stuff going on in there, a lot of plays, lot of details and you got to take it one step at a time and keep building off of what you've learned. I think I've done that pretty effectively the last week."
Since his post-draft visit to the City of Brotherly Love, Wentz has been in North Dakota but he's still been aware of everything happening in Philadelphia, including news related to the Eagles' quarterback room. However, instead of getting bogged down by media reports, Wentz is focused on how he and teammates Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel can learn from and push each other this upcoming season.
He believes the competition among the quarterbacks will only help make the Eagles better in the long run, which is one of the major positives of having an abundance of talent at the position.
Although Wentz has not yet met the veteran quarterbacks, he's looking forward to doing so early next week and is excited to get to know the rest of his teammates as well. Thus far, the rookie said he met Jordan Matthews, Zach Ertz and a few of the offensive linemen but in the upcoming weeks, he wants to show his teammates what he is all about.
"You got to earn it with hard work," Wentz said. "You got to earn it like I mentioned with building relationships, being around the guys and everything. It doesn't just happen overnight. Nothing is handed to you here. You got to come in and earn the respect of everybody and I'm looking forward to doing that."
Whether or not the Wentz plays in 2016, the rookie is adamant that he will do anything and everything in his power to help make the team better. Nothing is more important to him than that.
"All I care about is winning," Wentz said. "If the team is winning, I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team, whether that's from a third-string role, backup role, starter. It doesn't matter. I'm going to do what I can to prepare and really help the team."
