PHILADELPHIA – New Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he “cannot answer” whether quarterback Carson Wentz will be on the team in 2021 as he is “evaluating everything”.
“What we need to do is evaluate the entire selection,” Sirianni said at his introductory press conference on Friday. “We have two quarterbacks in Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts who are first-class quarterbacks. A lot of teams don’t have any. So I’m just really excited to work with both of them.”
Sirianni added that he is not ready to say if there will be open competition with the quarterback off-season, and has not set a timeline for when to choose his starter.
Wentz’s relationship with the organization became tense during a 2020 season where he led the league with interceptions (15) and sacks (50) and was in favor of Hurts in the last four games. He planned to ask for a swap this off-season due to a breakup with coach Doug Pederson, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Pederson was fired on January 11 after he and owner Jeffrey Lurie failed to advance a vision for the team.
Both Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen have spoken with Wentz over the past week. Sirianni said he couldn’t talk about issues between Wentz and the team, but had a “good chat” with Wentz.
Sirianni has also spoken with Hurts, the team’s second-round pick in 2020, who sparked the attack when he was placed in the lineup before cooling off a bit.
“The same conversation with him is that I am very excited to work with him,” said Sirianni. “We studied him last year, he had a great college tape. He played meaningful snaps this year that he played well at.”
Still hiring assistant coaches and getting used to his new role, Sirianni said he and his staff have not yet dived into the game movie, including the quarterbacks’.
“Every position will be evaluated, and every position will be open,” he said, “and we can’t wait to look at the tape and see what our players can do.”