Sielski: Keep Wentz's terrific debut in perspective
At the end, Carson Wentz did what all NFL starting quarterbacks do, finding his counterpart at midfield for a handshake, a half-hug, and a brief exchange of best wishes. Wentz didn't spend more than a few seconds with Robert Griffin III after the Eagles' 29-10 victory over the Browns. But the moment, that framing of a young quarterback on the ascendance and one who used to be, was enough to serve as a reminder to maintain perspective during what promises to be a wild week around here.
At the end, Carson Wentz did what all NFL starting quarterbacks do, finding his counterpart at midfield for a handshake, a half-hug, and a brief exchange of best wishes. Wentz didn't spend more than a few seconds with Robert Griffin III after the Eagles' 29-10 victory over the Browns. But the moment, that framing of a young quarterback on the ascendance and one who used to be, was enough to serve as a reminder to maintain perspective during what promises to be a wild week around here.
The whole town will be tipsy over Wentz's debut: his 22 completions in 37 attempts, his 278 yards, his two lovely touchdown passes, his zero turnovers, his 101 quarterback rating, his composure, his knowledge of the offense, the sense he created that somehow he had been here and done this before.
He was a sight to see Sunday, but bear in mind: Before injuries and arrogance - his and the Washington Redskins' - conspired to derail his career and turn him into a hope-and-prayer project in Cleveland, Griffin broke into the NFL in 2012 with a performance that made Wentz's look like nothing special. At the Superdome against the New Orleans Saints, a team that had gone 13-3 the previous season, Griffin went 19-for-26 for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-32 win. He owned Washington then just like Wentz owns Philadelphia now, and it took maybe the wisest man on the Eagles' roster, one who was there to witness Griffin's incandescent first game, to insist that everyone take a step back and appreciate how far Wentz has yet to go.
"We were licking our chops - 'Yeah, we got a rookie quarterback' - and he lit us up," said Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, who started for the Saints that day. "It takes one of those games for people to take you serious. Going forward, they'll see the variety of throws [Wentz] can make, that his arm is legit. But we're not going to get too far ahead of ourselves."
It was particularly noteworthy for Jenkins to offer that more cautious outlook on Wentz, because so many in the Eagles' locker room were in such a hurry to toss laurels at the kid's cleats. Wentz was terrific Sunday, no doubt: changing a pass-protection call at the line of scrimmage to set up a 28-yard completion to Jordan Matthews, flicking the ball to Zach Ertz on fourth-and-4 for five yards and a first down, feathering a touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor on the next play as if he were dropping a quarter into a soda-machine slot from 35 yards away.
But the reality that this was just one game against the Browns, whose new front office decided to hollow out a team that stormed to a 3-13 record last season, did little to temper the giddiness. There were no pleas for patience. There were no admonitions that, over time, the league will get a good long look at Wentz and start to figure him out.
Coach Doug Pederson: "He prepared like a five-, six-year veteran, and obviously he played that way. . . . How he handled himself with the maturity level was outstanding."
Tight end Brent Celek: "First game as a rookie, I don't know how you could do much better than that. He was calm in the huddle. It was awesome."
Left tackle Jason Peters: "He can throw it just as good as [Aaron] Rodgers on the move. He's got a good release. He's real accurate on the run. That's who he reminds me of, is Rodgers, when he gets moving and can dart the ball on the run."
Any comparison to Rodgers, to the most gifted all-around quarterback in the league, would be bound to rev up the hype machine for Wentz, especially here, especially for a team that has been searching for a franchise quarterback since Donovan McNabb departed six years ago. But Peters was undaunted.
"We expect that out of him," Peters said. "We're going to get better every week. That's expectations. When we step out on that field, I mean, you want to play good every week. It ain't no 'OK, let me tone it down a little bit.' We're going to try to play like that every week.
"He has it. All we've got to do is keep the pocket clean, and he's going to throw it to the open guy. Point blank. We're going to eat them up."
Look, anything other than complete adoration today for Wentz is going to make someone sound like the biggest wet blanket at the best party in town. Celek was right: It's difficult to envision how Wentz's first game could have gone better, and had it gone worse, had he thrown a couple of interceptions and the Browns managed to win, a citywide panic might have arisen over whether the Eagles had tied their future to a quarterback who wasn't cut out to be a franchise's centerpiece.
No one has to ask those questions for the next week, but everyone around here, Wentz most of all, needs to remember that it's good to be confident but better to stay calm. This is the NFL. Nothing is settled after a single game, and for anyone arguing otherwise, the quarterback who crossed Lincoln Financial Field to shake Carson Wentz's hand Sunday still remains the consummate cautionary tale.
@MikeSielski