Speaker 1: You've been waiting for this day forever. Um, he I know,
Speaker 1: for twelve months, right, Um, No, he has been cleared.
Speaker 1: He has been cleared, and and so we're we're all
Speaker 1: excited about that. What were the you know, what were
Speaker 1: some of the final steps that he had to clear
Speaker 1: to be to be well. I mean to listen, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to get into the whole reports. This is lengthy,
Speaker 1: but but I mean just just medically, you know, where
Speaker 1: from from the date of surgery to where he has
Speaker 1: it today, through his you know, all his rehab through
Speaker 1: eleven on eleven through you know, everything he did in
Speaker 1: the wait room, everything, everything about it was was a
Speaker 1: big part of uh, you know, um getting getting to
Speaker 1: this point. On your part of it. You know, you
Speaker 1: start him Sunday, regardless of you did you think about,
Speaker 1: you know, giving him a week to be cleared for
Speaker 1: contact overs just a he's cleared, he starts. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's cleared, he goes. Um. I've said all along that
Speaker 1: you know, he's our guy, we draft him to be
Speaker 1: our guy, and uh, you know, you you're it's it's
Speaker 1: kind of like week one. I mean a lot of
Speaker 1: your starters, you know, um, guys like Jason Peters sproles
Speaker 1: haven't been used to a lot of contact whatever, you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit in camp. But um, yeah, we're we're
Speaker 1: we're cleared to go and we'll go. Indeed, on Carson,
Speaker 1: can you kind of tell where he is compared to
Speaker 1: last year or the areas where you still expect him
Speaker 1: to kind of gradually ramp up or what are those
Speaker 1: kind of numbers tell you about where he is physically? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, last year I thought he took a really
Speaker 1: big step forward in the situational aspect of the games,
Speaker 1: you know, the knowing the down and distance, knowing um,
Speaker 1: where he is on the field, things that he took
Speaker 1: a big big step forward last year. Obviously, you know
Speaker 1: with every year we can continue to get better in
Speaker 1: those in those situations from from a quarterback standpoint, but
Speaker 1: you know, I think, uh, just watching him, you know,
Speaker 1: move around physically and some of the things he's done,
Speaker 1: I mean just um, you know, he's ready and he's
Speaker 1: ready to ready to take the reins again and move forward.
Speaker 1: What's realistic for him his first game? He hasn't played
Speaker 1: football in a long time. What do you mean what's realistic?
Speaker 1: Is he going to be the same player we saw
Speaker 1: last season right away? Or is that gonna take me?
Speaker 1: I think there's gonna be I think there's gonna be, Um,
Speaker 1: maybe an issue or two, you know. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: gonna take some time to get back into the rhythm
Speaker 1: and the flow of the game. The speed of the
Speaker 1: game is different than the speed of practice, you know,
Speaker 1: And so we do everything we can to try to
Speaker 1: simulate that during the week and try to prepare him
Speaker 1: that way. And listen, he he's a guy that that
Speaker 1: will be totally prepared. He comes in early studies the tape,
Speaker 1: as do all the quarterbacks, stays uh, you know, obviously
Speaker 1: late in the day, asked a lot of questions, has
Speaker 1: a lot of ideas. Um, you know. So he's he's
Speaker 1: gonna be He's gonna be prepared mentally. Now it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of the physical part taken over. Will there
Speaker 1: be any restrictions and I will you we need to
Speaker 1: temper his aggressiveness, no, I mean, you know, um, you
Speaker 1: know in my mind, you know, and we all felt
Speaker 1: the same way that that he's cleared. He's cleared and
Speaker 1: there's no need to hold back now and we're still
Speaker 1: going to have conversations no different when he was healthy.
Speaker 1: We're still gonna have conversations about protecting yourself as we
Speaker 1: do with all the quarterbacks, and you know, making sure
Speaker 1: we do the right things there. But um, there's there's
Speaker 1: no limitations. Your play calling goes Doug as you're easy
Speaker 1: them in making sure that he's not getting exposed a
Speaker 1: whole lot early on. Well, I mean, think about the
Speaker 1: game yesterday. How many times the nig get hit, you know,
Speaker 1: and and it's it's part of the game, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't. The thing is, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to coach. I'm not going to coach scared. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to coach paranoid. I'm not gonna go in thinking
Speaker 1: oh no, we can't do this, we can't do that. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, we just have to continue to go play.
Speaker 1: And I got to coach that way and and uh,
Speaker 1: that's where the confidence with the team comes, you know,
Speaker 1: by doing that. But now, if there's if there's opportunities
Speaker 1: to you know, max the protection and and do some
Speaker 1: things there, we'll do that by game plans, by design.
Speaker 1: But but I don't think that things are going to
Speaker 1: change too much. What's the conversation like with Nick who
Speaker 1: wins the Super Bowl MVP and and now goes to
Speaker 1: the bench. You know, the the greatest thing for me
Speaker 1: is that room has no egos and Nick all along
Speaker 1: has understood, UM, that this is Carson's football team. You know,
Speaker 1: we drafted Carson to be the guy, and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we owe a lot of gratitude to Nick
Speaker 1: Foles for what he's done, what he has done obviously,
Speaker 1: what he's done this season, and and how he's led
Speaker 1: this football team. And he's a pros pro, so no egos.
Speaker 1: They check him at the door, and and he'll be
Speaker 1: very supportive, has been very supportive and and uh, you
Speaker 1: know we'll be that way from from here on. The
Speaker 1: word that that Carson was cleared, was he in the
Speaker 1: room with you or Carson? Yeah? So did you then
Speaker 1: get to be the one to break the news to him? Um? Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: you know, actually our medical team UM was able to
Speaker 1: meet with him and and talk with him and all that,
Speaker 1: and U you know, we'll have more conversation today and
Speaker 1: these next couple of days, you know, going over the
Speaker 1: game plan and getting ready for Indianapolis. But but uh,
Speaker 1: he was not in the room. I mean, he's excited,
Speaker 1: he's ready. I mean he was probably in his mind,
Speaker 1: he was probably ready a month ago, you know, but
Speaker 1: um our plan was in place, he understood it, and
Speaker 1: uh he embraced that and now he's ready. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: anytime you get one of your when your starters back,
Speaker 1: it's great, you know, and you know, I'm excited to
Speaker 1: to get him back out there. But you know, at
Speaker 1: the same time, it's it's not about one guy. And
Speaker 1: and we can't lose sight of that. You know, we
Speaker 1: got other issues, you know, offensively, defensing, special teams that
Speaker 1: we need to coach up and and uh, as as
Speaker 1: exciting it is to have him back, you're starting quarterback,
Speaker 1: we still have some other areas to fix. On the
Speaker 1: radio this morning, you said that you know, um, you know,
Speaker 1: a team makes a miracle. And when you when you
Speaker 1: look at the healthy options you have an offense right now,
Speaker 1: do you think you have enough healthy playmakers around Carson
Speaker 1: right now? I think we're constantly looking at adding depth
Speaker 1: and talent at any position, in every position, you know,
Speaker 1: and obviously that's probably the focal point right now. Um,
Speaker 1: So we're constantly you know, Howie and his team and
Speaker 1: Joe Douglass are constantly looking to help you know better
Speaker 1: our roster and then so we're in that process right now.
Speaker 1: How yeah, he you know again, he's a week to
Speaker 1: week guy. Um, I'm not going to put a timetable
Speaker 1: on him. It's very similar to to Carson Wentz and
Speaker 1: when when he's clear, I'll let you know on him.
Speaker 1: Carson probably that he was ready about a month ago.
Speaker 1: And you allude to this before you know what kind
Speaker 1: of process? How difficult was I guess too kind of
Speaker 1: massages feelings in terms of his competitiveness about wanting to
Speaker 1: play and you guys obviously listening to the doctors. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a fine line. But um,
Speaker 1: you know there's uh. I guess the thing too is
Speaker 1: is just having conversation and being being open with him,
Speaker 1: being honest with him, and saying that you know, and
Speaker 1: just reiterating this is our plan for you, the health
Speaker 1: of you and he and I having conversations and and
Speaker 1: saying listen, I want you to be you know, regardless
Speaker 1: off Doug Peterson is here or not. I want your
Speaker 1: career to extend for many, many years. I don't want
Speaker 1: to I don't want to rush anything, you know, any
Speaker 1: decision like this, so um he was very uh obviously,
Speaker 1: very appreciative of that. And and the fact that we
Speaker 1: were having conversations you know, um, just about weekly. You
Speaker 1: know that this is this is for his benefit, not
Speaker 1: for anybody else's. You were reluctant to talk about the
Speaker 1: plan so to speak, during the past month or two.
Speaker 1: Now that it's over. Was this the plan all along
Speaker 1: to have him back four week three? Was this a
Speaker 1: target that well? No, um, it was basically it was
Speaker 1: it was strictly a medical decision, you know, and and uh,
Speaker 1: um we we put it in we you know, I say,
Speaker 1: we the organization and really put it on our medical
Speaker 1: team and and said, hey, physically, when is he going
Speaker 1: to be ready? And whenever that date was, you know,
Speaker 1: we were going to be ready to go. So it
Speaker 1: just so happens it's this week. But it was never
Speaker 1: really the idea or the intent that we got to say, hey, boom,
Speaker 1: let's focus on week three. Could have been week four
Speaker 1: or five. So who knows, I do not, but yeah,
Speaker 1: Mike wa Yeah, So Mike suffered a fibulous fracture um
Speaker 1: in the game, and we'll miss the next few weeks. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Jason Peters, he Um, let's see, he had a quad
Speaker 1: in the game. Happened about the third, third, or fourth
Speaker 1: play in the game. Um, tweaked it just a little bit,
Speaker 1: and so uh just couldn't put the pressure on it
Speaker 1: that he that he felt he needed to in the game.
Speaker 1: Not not not yet. Not at this point. We're still
Speaker 1: going to evaluate. He's got a few more tests here
Speaker 1: in the next couple of days. But UM, we know
Speaker 1: exactly it's a it's a fracture, and and uh you
Speaker 1: know that's gonna be a couple of weeks. Well can
Speaker 1: you talk about the whole I mean, obviously now you
Speaker 1: have two wide receivers on the fifty three who aren't
Speaker 1: going to play. Um mac is out. Um, you have
Speaker 1: a lot of inexperienced guys around Nelson. Uh what what
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on that whole position right now? And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, going up against the Colts with this group,
Speaker 1: Well that's why it goes back to, you know, to
Speaker 1: us always and constantly looking you know, outside to help
Speaker 1: bring in some guys. You know, it takes a while
Speaker 1: to get a guy. Can you bring in a guy
Speaker 1: who can help you? You know, I think I think
Speaker 1: a veteran player, you know. I mean, if you just
Speaker 1: ask me, a veteran player would be a lot easier
Speaker 1: to work with and than a young rookie player, you know,
Speaker 1: to get them caught up. Plus a guy that's had
Speaker 1: game experience, you know, um, definitely gonna have to you know,
Speaker 1: rely on the tight ends more, gonna have to rely
Speaker 1: on the running game a little bit more. Um and
Speaker 1: and you know, uh kind of kind of lean that direction,
Speaker 1: you know, until we can until we can figure this out.
Speaker 1: Does that mean when you see rely on the run
Speaker 1: game and tight ends, do after these two games kind
Speaker 1: of go back to the drawing board a little bit
Speaker 1: with usually like three wide receiver sets and you haven't
Speaker 1: used Goddard or two wide receiver sets as much as three.
Speaker 1: Are you going to reevaluate that and look forward or yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll evaluate that this week, um, as we do every week.
Speaker 1: But again, you know, when we put game plans together,
Speaker 1: you know, we try to use lives, you know, our
Speaker 1: Zebra eleven personnel, twelve personnel with the two tights and
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. I think I think we're
Speaker 1: we've had in the past, We've had some advantages there,
Speaker 1: you know from a personnel standpoint, but Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we're dealing we're dealing with it right now. We're we're
Speaker 1: working through it, and you know, we'll we'll see where
Speaker 1: we're out on Wednesday, we'll go to practice. Did you
Speaker 1: say you have out of out of your eleven personnel?
Speaker 1: Was it more the what kind of defense? Usually? Response
Speaker 1: to that that you like to do things? A lot
Speaker 1: of times a team comes in with a third corner
Speaker 1: typically or moves a corner into nickel and it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's a difficult situation. Plus we can
Speaker 1: we can get a little more speed sometimes on the field,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, those are all things we'll have
Speaker 1: to evaluate in the next couple of days. Has Braxton
Speaker 1: Miller been here long enough to make an impression on
Speaker 1: you that well, he had, I mean he's made he's
Speaker 1: made some you know, an impression. But you know he's
Speaker 1: another one that, uh, you know, we got to continue
Speaker 1: to coach up and see where he's at, you know,
Speaker 1: because he hasn't had any really exposure to our offense yet.
Speaker 1: He's almost that the exact orate said. The expectation can't
Speaker 1: be Carson comes in and a superman and fixes everything
Speaker 1: from your perspective, how much can improve by having Carson? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean I think he's He's accurate, you know in
Speaker 1: that statement. You know, Carson's not Superman. Obviously, it's going
Speaker 1: to take all ten other guys around him, you know,
Speaker 1: to get it done. Um Listen, you know, as far
Speaker 1: as as far as the execution, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: he's going to see the same things that was seeing,
Speaker 1: you know, from from defensive structure, the blitzes, protection, the
Speaker 1: whole thing. So you know, we just got to make
Speaker 1: sure that that we have those guys coached out, you know,
Speaker 1: and that he's he's going with the right you know,
Speaker 1: going to the right places with the football and making
Speaker 1: the right decisions in the run game. Um. But I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a um AN attack one way or
Speaker 1: the other on the on the quarterback position formulations to Carson.
Speaker 1: How much changed? What changed in two weeks? And how
Speaker 1: important was the nine months? I mean, that's that's that's important.
Speaker 1: I mean that and I'm not a doctor, but but
Speaker 1: I'm assuming that's. Ah, that was a big factor in
Speaker 1: in the uh, in the decision. You know, it was
Speaker 1: just the extra time to heal and and to to
Speaker 1: get stronger you know with with the uh, with the injury,
Speaker 1: when the organization is looking for help on the outside
Speaker 1: and there's there's players that have, um, you know a
Speaker 1: little bit of a past. What are the things that
Speaker 1: that you're looking for, the questions that you want to
Speaker 1: get answered before you feel comfortable kind of signing off
Speaker 1: point like that. Well, there's a lot of things, um,
Speaker 1: And I think I think the biggest thing just you know, uh,
Speaker 1: not only can they play football? You know, obviously that's
Speaker 1: a that's an important part of it, because we were
Speaker 1: always looking for guys they can they can they can
Speaker 1: help us in any position and and can they play ball?
Speaker 1: But you know you also want to you know, particularly
Speaker 1: look at guys that can they how well do they
Speaker 1: how well will the current team embrace players? Um? You
Speaker 1: know we've seen it over the over the course of
Speaker 1: the last couple of seasons, you know, when we bring
Speaker 1: a guy like Jay and you know, and how the
Speaker 1: team embraces him and surrounds him or Legarrett Blunt and
Speaker 1: these guys turn out to be you know, awesome individuals
Speaker 1: and great teammates and great players and and so you know,
Speaker 1: you leaned a lot on the character and the the
Speaker 1: the culture of the football team. You know a lot
Speaker 1: and uh um, but you know, can the guys, can
Speaker 1: the guys that you want to bring to your team,
Speaker 1: can they help you win? Can they help you win
Speaker 1: football games? But again, it's not at an all cost
Speaker 1: decision that that that you make make moves like that
Speaker 1: so much so much of Carson's game last year was
Speaker 1: using his legs to not just scramble, but to buy time. Um,
Speaker 1: is he gonna be able to do that right away?
Speaker 1: Does he have the mobility right now? I will see
Speaker 1: in hindsight just toys games