Murphy: Flawed QB plan now on back burner

CARSON WENTZ emerged from the tunnel in the southwest corner of Lincoln Financial Field and exchanged some awkward handslaps with a the gantlet of 20 or so kids that flanked the approach to the end zone. As the crowd behind him roared in recognition, Wentz wore the expression of a man who is still not entirely comfortable with the notion that his every move is being watched. His head moved in an erratic swivel, like he was searching for someplace he might anchor his focus, and thus distract it from the adulation pouring down from the stands.

Wentz Mania has been a strange thing to observe, mostly because it exists within its own little bubble of an NFL team that is otherwise engaged in the normal run-up to a season. Ahead of him on the depth chart are two quarterbacks making a combined $25 million, neither of whom signed with the expectation that they were here to prepare the way for the chosen one. Perhaps that's what lends a level of discomfort to greetings like the one he received on Sunday night. There are a lot of veterans in the vicinity whose sole focus is winning football games in 2016. At this point, Wentz is not expected to factor into that quest. And, yet, wherever two or more Eagles fans are gathered and the rookie arrives, the roar ensues.

Yes, it's been quite strange, and it is only going to get stranger now that Wentz is sidelined with a rib fracture that he sustained in his NFL debut against the Bucs in Thursday's preseason opener. He showed up to Sunday's practice wearing black shorts, gym shoes, and an Eagles cap to go with a jersey absent of shoulder pads. He spent the two-hour session watching his battery mates run their respective squads through scrimmages and drills, chatting with assistant coaches, a rolled up 8 1/2x11 paper in his hand.

"That's part of being a backup quarterback," Wentz said. "You have to get the mental reps whether you are hurt or on the field, so that's what I've been doing."

At some point, though, real reps matter, even more so now that Wentz could miss most or all of what practice remains between now and the start of the season, when the focus in practice shifts toward getting the first team offense ready for each week's opponent. The process does not ordinarily include a lot of free time with which to develop the third-stringer into a starter.

This is part of the reason why few NFL teams have ever attempted to sail the course that the Eagles charted for themselves this offseason. The fact is and always has been that the Eagles drafted Wentz to be the cornerstone of their franchise for the next decade-plus. When they paid the price they paid in order to acquire him, they essentially said, look, this guy is our future, he's the best shot we have at winning a Super Bowl, nothing really matters until he's the starter. For a team in that situation, you would think that the No. 1 priority on a daily basis would be getting their would-be franchise quarterback to that point. That everything else else would be secondary. Because, again, that's the thinking that led them to make the pick in the first place.

This is why, in normal circumstances, a team brings in a journeyman type to start while the would-be franchise quarterback gets up to speed. Because the kid is the priority. A football team isn't big enough for two different quarterbacks who need to be accommodated. You can plan around one guy. You can't plan around two. Either Sam Bradford gets the kid gloves, or Wentz gets the kid gloves. Unless you're going to have your first team offensive line take every snap of every practice and preseason game, you can't do both.

While Pederson was technically the Eagles' starter in 1999, the entire season was built around getting Donovan McNabb ready to play. Pederson wasn't there to be his own man. He was there to help facilitate the transition. Even before McNabb became the starter, he was taking 40 percent of the first-team reps in practice on Wednesdays and Thursdays during game week. Because the priority was not preparing to beat Team X on Sunday. The priority was on preparing McNabb to start for the next 10 years worth of Sundays.

A lot of wise men have said a lot of words about the dangers of attempting to serve two masters. One might even suggest Wentz's injury itself as an example. Sure, it's a tenuous example, but it's worth asking: Is it really an optimal situation for a developmental quarterback to be playing behind a third-team offensive line against a third-team defense full of players fighting for their livelihoods and their coaches' attention? Judging by how many hits Chase Daniel took, playing with the second-teamers might not have made a difference. That said, you don't buy a Bentley and park it on the curb so you can keep the Corolla in the garage, even if you take the Corolla to work every day. That's not to say the Eagles are at fault for Wentz's injury. Tackle football is a physical sport. Players get hit. Sometimes they get hurt. There doesn't always have to be a culprit. Pederson played things pretty much by the preseason book on Thursday, at least within the framework he and the front office built for itself this offseason.

It's the framework where any fault lies. Not for the injury itself, but for creating a situation where the Eagles might potentially disadvantage both of their desired ends - winning games in 2016 and developing Wentz for the future - with their insistence that they do not need to prioritize one.

@ByDavidMurphy

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