Carson Wentz responds to allegations of poor practice habits originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Carson Wentz defended his practice habits Wednesday following a report by NFL Network's Michael Silver that characterized his work habits as sloppy.
Silver was live on NFL Network late Sunday night, hours after the Eagles fell to 3-5-1 with a 27-17 loss to the Giants, and among other things said there's a sense organizationally that Wentz has developed "some sloppy practice habits that he's been allowed to perpetuate."
Wentz is mired in a miserable season and ranks at or near the bottom of the NFL in virtually every statistical category.
He spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon for the first time since Silver's report and was asked his reaction.
"Are my practices perfect? No," he said. "That's why it's practice. But as far as sloppy practice habits and those things? For one, you guys are out there every day and then you guys are asked to leave (after warm-ups and individual drills). So the media's not even out there, so I don't know where that's coming from. But it is what it is. I know I'm not perfect, that's why it's practice, and I've got to be better all the time. But I'm always out there working, and I know everybody else is, so I haven't seen any of that from myself or really from anybody. We're out there busting our tails every day. Do mistakes happen? Absolutely. But is that something that I've seen or worried about from anybody else? No, I'm not."
Wentz's 73.1 passer rating and 58.2 completion percentage both rank 33rd out of 35 quarterbacks, and his 12 interceptions lead all quarterbacks. He's tied for 22nd in touchdown passes, and his 6.1 yards per attempt is also 33rd in the league.
The Eagles, 3-5-1, remain in first place in the NFC East heading into a five-game stretch against five teams that are a combined 32-13, four of them ranked among the top-11 in the NFL in defense.
Although Wentz said he doesn't see sloppy practice habits from anybody, Brandon Graham spoke to the media a few minutes after Wentz and said he believes the entire team needs to improve its practice habits.
Although Graham didn't mention Wentz or any other individuals, he did connect the team's struggles on the field with subpar practices.
"Some of the stuff that's showing up out there, we're just being real with ourselves, is happening in practice," he said. "Jumping offsides, pre-snap penalties, false starts, people dropping balls, us not getting off the rock. So it's just all stuff that we just need to hone in on as a team and I think that we're doing a good job addressing that elephant in the room. Because you want to just say, 'Everything's going to be all right, it's going to be all right,' but we're at the point now where that stuff is affecting us and we've got to clean that up."
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