Eagles Ready To Get Back To Work
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles were forced to take a hiatus after a 3-0 start. It is clear the team is eager to get back to work.
The schedule makers gave the Eagles an early week off in 2016 as the bye week fell early for Doug Pederson's squad. The responsibility fell on Pederson to get his team back up and running with a game in Detroit looming on Sunday. Pederson had a plan in place to get his team back on track for a busy week of practice.
"You want them to get away and get rest and sort of get healthy," said Pederson. "I think they did. A lot of times, getting their football legs back a little bit this week can be a little bit of a struggle. That is why I bring them in and do some stuff on Monday and get them refocused again mentally, as well."
The mental part does not seem to be a problem for most of the players, who insist they are ready to get back on the field. One of those players is Tight End Zach Ertz, who will return this week after missing two games with a rib injury. As far Ertz is concerned, it will be a clean slate on Sunday.
"We just approaching this week since it's so early in the season as 0-0," Ertz said. "We're going to learn from our mistakes from the first three weeks. Now, we're going to have 13 straight weeks, so that's how we look at it."
Malcolm Jenkins understands the challenges of recharging after a bye week. Jenkins knows the team not only has to get back in game shape for Sunday's showdown with the Lions, but also block out all of the high praise they have received in the early part of the season.
"We had to sit back for a whole week and hear about how good we've been," said Jenkins. "When you have a young team, you want to make sure you come back and you're grinding even harder than you were the first three weeks."
Carson Wentz has been the player who has received the most attention both locally and nationally. The rookie quarterback insists he has the same mentality as Jenkins and has remained humbled during the bye week. Wentz has also had the chance to get a sense of the buzz about his play in the state of his former college home at North Dakota.
"The people out there support the heck out of me," Wentz said. "It was all really good, but I'm always cautious about taking too much praise. I realize it's only three games, and we've got a long way to go."
