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Game Vs. Buccaneers: Eagles Offense

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Eagles QB Sam Bradford

On the play of rookie QB Carson Wentz:
"I thought Carson [Wentz] did a great job out there tonight. I thought he did a great job in the pocket with his movement. He looked athletic and made some tough throws. He made some really smart decisions to throw the ball away when it wasn't there. I was really impressed with the way he handled himself out there tonight in his first game."

On being healthy enough to play in the first preseason game for the first time in the past three seasons:
"Like I've said all along, physically I feel great, much better than I have in the past obviously. It was nice not to be coming off a knee injury and it was nice not to have to rehab this year and to be able to a full participant in OTA's and training camp. To not miss any time, I can't tell you how good that feels. You know it's just nice to not have to worry about my knee."

On how he has handled the news of the Lane Johnson situation:
"Obviously I heard the report but I haven't really gotten any details on it. I don't know if it is going to happen or not. Obviously you hope that it doesn't, but if it does, we've got to move on and it's the next man up."

On what he remembers from his NFL debut:
"I honestly don't remember much of it at all. To be honest, it seems like it was a blur. It seems like it was forever ago."

On whether he remembers being overwhelmed upon entering his first NFL game:
"I think for your first game there is just so much anticipation and so much build-up. By the time you get out there and play and you're on the field it happens just like that."

On the success of the running game tonight:
"I thought those guys did a great job tonight. Obviously, it's something that we know is going to be key for our success this year. We want to be able to run the ball on offense and we want to be able to get off the line of scrimmage. It's kind of hard to gage where you're at in practice, especially considering that most of it is not live."

On whether he knew the first-team offense would only play one series if it scored on its first drive:
"We knew [Coach Pederson] had said it, but I think we all weren't sure since we got the ball at their 18-yard line. But he's a man of his word."

On whether he expressed disappointment with not playing more:
"No."

On the improvement of the offense throughout the preseason:
"Like I said all camp, I think we've had a really good camp and a really good spring session during OTAs. I feel like we've really built on that this summer. Obviously next week and the following week will really tell more in terms of where we're at. But as far as the way practice has gone the past two-and-a-half weeks, I think we've really made a lot of improvement. I'm not saying that we're clicking on all cylinders, because there still a lot of work for us to do. But I think in that time, we've come a long way."

On the sideline demeanor of rookie QB Cason Wentz:
"He had a great demeanor. He was really calm. Obviously I think anyone would be nervous in that position. I know I was nervous before my first start. But he kept it light over there and he was positive. I was really impressed with the way he handled himself tonight."

On Wentz taking several big hits in the game:
"On the run on which he got upended, he and I both thought that he was going to score because it was cover zero and he made a great read and he pulled it down, and the defender made a nice play. Like I said, he made some really athletic plays out there tonight. It's probably good to take a couple of those hits and realize that you're going to get back up and it's just like in college. I thought he did a great job standing in there. It's not easy to stand in there when you're getting hit like that."

Eagles QB Chase Daniel

On his first game as an Eagle:
"We had our ups and downs, and we obviously didn't play as well as we would have liked on offense. The defense and special teams stepped up. I think they forced five turnovers tonight and you're going to win a lot of football games doing that. The offense still has a long way to go. It was the first preseason game and we're still in training camp mode, so hopefully we can fix it this week and get ready for Pittsburgh."

On why the offense struggled to move the ball:
"I just thought as an offense we just weren't very sharp. I don't know what it was, but we plan on fixing it come Saturday when we're back in pads and practicing at NovaCare. We plan to come out a lot sharper against Pittsburgh."

On the play of rookie QB Carson Wentz:
"I thought he played well. I thought he did some good things. He took some shots and I said 'Welcome to the NFL rookie' a couple of times to him. I thought he was quick with his decision-making and he got the ball out quick."

On facing Tampa Bay's first-team offense for an extended period of time:
"I saw that they left the first defense in for the entire quarter. But honestly, that's good work for the two's – not only the offensive line but also for myself and our receivers. It really doesn't matter who they line up across from us. We want to be sharp in everything we do, and we just didn't have it tonight."

On whether he heard the crowd's chant of "We Want Wentz":
"I wasn't sure what they were saying. Is that what they were saying?"

Eagles QB Carson Wentz

On how he felt about taking advantage of his ability to move:
"Some of those things were nakeds, design plays. Some of those were just improvising. I feel confident on the move and I know that was something we wanted to get on tape a little bit and wanted me to do out there. We were running the ball alright. I thought we had some good plays off the nakeds, so we'll see the tape though. "

On what his NFL debut felt like:
"It was fun. The first opportunity I had I'm running the two-minute drill, so I enjoyed that. I hadn't had a ton of reps of it in practice, but it was fun out there. I was finally able to take some hits. It's been a while since that's happened. Overall, I had a lot of fun out there and there are definitely some things to improve on for myself and as a team. But it was enjoyable."

On the tough hit on him during the last play and if he will feel it tomorrow:
"Yeah, I think I will. It was more just the wind [getting knocked out of me]. I got that one in the ribs. It was hard to breathe there for a second, but it's all good."

On if he heard the "We want Wentz" chants during the first half:
"Someone mentioned it to me. I didn't really hear it much, but I just know the fans are excited and I know it's going to be a heck of a ride here, and I'm looking forward to it."

On what determined him going in at the end of the first half:
"I think it was just based on plays. [Eagles QB] Sam [Bradford] took the team down there right away and scored. So [Eagles QB] Chase [Daniel] had a lot more opportunities than I think was scripted for him so I think it was just the number of plays and how it all worked out. I thought it was fun though. I got an opportunity to go out and run the two-minute drill, so it was pretty cool."

On if he acknowledged the crowd out there:
"I figured someone would notice that. It was thumbs up to [Eagles Head] Coach [Doug Pederson]. He was asking if I could hear him. Probably not as cool as you thought it was."

On his early takeaways on his performance:
"I thought some plays were made. I thought there were still some plays that needed to be made that were left on the field. An interception in the red zone is something you never want to do. That ball sailed on me and got away from me. Overall, there's a lot of good things to build on and as a team we're walking away with a win. So at the end of the day, that's a positive."

On how different this game felt compared to playing at North Dakota State:  
"It was a little different, but it still felt like a football game. I was still out there playing ball, taking hits. It was all kind of similar except a new offense, a new facility, a lot of new things going on. But overall it was still just another football game and I had fun with it."

On how surprised he was when he flipped on the play he thought he would score on:
"That guy actually fell off a block. The receiver was blocking for the other receiver, so I saw that it was zero blitz and thought if I got around the edge I would maybe take it to the house, but the guy fell off the block and kind of surprised me. I'm fine though, so that's a good thing."

On what he was thinking when he was mid-air and upside down:
"I hope I don't land on my neck.  I landed fine though and I was good, but a lot of guys were like, 'You have to get your butt down.' I'll learn from that."

On what he attributes to his best plays coming from when he's on the move:
"I think it's just my athleticism. I feel comfortable making plays on the run. Sometimes the play was breaking down and I just had to make a play. Sometimes we snapped one early and a [defensive end] was rushing and you just have to make some plays. I feel very comfortable on the run with it, and those plays were made today."

On one takeaway that he wants to improve upon:
"I'll have to go back and watch. It's tough to say overall. I don't know what the numbers were exactly, but I want to be more accurate than I was and complete more passes. But I'll have to go back and watch the tape to see what specifically I want to work on."

On sliding in the game:
"It was actually the first time in my life that I've ever slid, so that was pretty exciting. I was pretty proud of myself."

On his throw that missed the receiver:
"Just didn't sail it. The receiver beat his guy. We got what we wanted and I just kind of overthrew it and it kind of missed him. So again, it's something we'll work on.  The timing was a little off as well, so we have to just be more on the same page with that as well."

On his emotions going into the game tonight:
"I was really excited; ready to go and excited, especially because it was the two-minute drill. That was pretty fun. But again, I wasn't real nervous. I never really get nervous. It's just a game and I'm very fortunate to play it. I had fun out there tonight."

On what he needs to work:
"Just continuing to refine everything. The fundamentals of the reads and your footwork with the reads and everything is just something that I need to continue to rep and drill home. I like where I'm at and I just need to keep building on those things."

On whether the pace of the game felt faster tonight:
"It felt faster. But again, it's the game of football. I don't try and make it a big deal. I just go out and play and I had fun with it today. But yeah, things happen faster. But it's fun to finally be out here for the first time ever. It was a pretty cool experience."

On the bad snap that he received:
"I was just hoping I'd pick it up cleanly and turn around see what happens. I had a big guy running right in my face and I just got us back to the line of scrimmage by throwing it away."

Eagles TE Brent Celek

On opening the preseason with a victory:
"I think it went okay. The older I get, the more I realize that you can't take too much from these preseason games. We have a long way to go. Offensively, defensively and on special teams, this is really just the beginning. We just have to use this and build on it and move forward."

On whether the situation surrounding RT Lane Johnson has been a distraction:
"When you're on the football field, you don't think about it. It's easy to talk about it when you're off the field, but when you're on the field, there are no distractions. If Lane is out there, great. If Lane can't be out there then the next guy has got to step in there and play well. That's just the way it is."

On playing in extreme heat and humidity:
"It was hot. It was one of the hottest games that I've ever been a part of. I only played three plays, so it wasn't too much for me. But I think for a lot of guys it's good to get in this type of shape because we might be playing in some hot games early on in the season."

Eagles TE Zach Ertz

On how he felt about the game tonight offensively:
"We just didn't execute. That's the bottom line. We didn't execute as well as we should have. We will go back to the film and look at it, analyze it, and get better from there."

On whether he feels the offense can be run through the TE's this year:
"We'll see. I mean it's obviously very early and we'll see when the game plans start getting installed. We think we have a lot of talent in the [TE] group between the three or four of us. Every day we go out there we want to go out there and make plays. Whether it be Brent [Celek], Trey [Burton], myself, Chris [Pantale] or any of the young guys. So I thought we had a good day. There are obviously plays I would like to have back too."

On what he thought about QB Carson Wentz's athleticism tonight:
"He's a very athletic quarterback. I think you see that each and every day on the practice field and he is going to use that athleticism to his advantage. I think everyone is excited about him. I think we are excited to see him play the next three pre-season games, especially."

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